Prompt: Think of a book that has shaped the reader that you are. How has that book impacted the way you take on text? How has reading impacted you, your schooling, your outlook? I have given you a glimmer into my reading world. It is personal and it makes me a little vulnerable. Please respect this glimmer. Perhaps, you will see how out of the ashes of failure, knowledge can rise.
As a child I did not read much. Not because I did not want to. Reading was hard. I never really read until middle school. I decided that I wanted to get better at reading. So, I went to the library, and I picked the book The Grapes of Wrath. This was a book I had heard of and the people in my world all spoke so highly of the text. I checked it out and took it home to read. The book was hard for a 6th grader and I only understood that it was about people who were poor and had to move. This book was returned, and I was a defeated reader. I could read all of the words. The problem, I lacked the ability to read the layers.
As a child I did not read much. Not because I did not want to. Reading was hard. I never really read until middle school. I decided that I wanted to get better at reading. So, I went to the library, and I picked the book The Grapes of Wrath. This was a book I had heard of and the people in my world all spoke so highly of the text. I checked it out and took it home to read. The book was hard for a 6th grader and I only understood that it was about people who were poor and had to move. This book was returned, and I was a defeated reader. I could read all of the words. The problem, I lacked the ability to read the layers.
This book needed to be peeled back piece by piece. As a 6th grader, this was not my goal. I just wanted to read something good. I went back to the library and grabbed a book that was in the adult section, like the previous book, but further down the alphabet of authors. That summer, I read all kinds of books that would be considered beach reads. These books taught me to unravel characters, to identify patterns in plot, to pick up on archetypes--I did not know that word then--to differentiate between sentence structures that worked and ones that did not, and to know what good writing sounded like.
My uncle who was and is an advocate for the classics questioned my book choices. My response, "I'm a teenager who reads. That should be enough." That summer, through these books not deemed by those who dub books as having literary merit, I turned into a reader. It was this door that became my wardrobe leading to Narnia. Words and their power awoke within me a new language hidden behind my own ignorance. It was here that those layers I could not peel back before began to emerge. I could look at text and pull each layer back. Each layer revealed something about the text and it revealed something about me as a reader: constant reading and attention to language made me smarter in all aspects of my learning. I realized that no one is just born a good reader. It takes time, patience, and a willingness to wrestle with what is not understood. Once this happened, this ability to take on text created a hunger in me that only reading could satisfy.
My uncle who was and is an advocate for the classics questioned my book choices. My response, "I'm a teenager who reads. That should be enough." That summer, through these books not deemed by those who dub books as having literary merit, I turned into a reader. It was this door that became my wardrobe leading to Narnia. Words and their power awoke within me a new language hidden behind my own ignorance. It was here that those layers I could not peel back before began to emerge. I could look at text and pull each layer back. Each layer revealed something about the text and it revealed something about me as a reader: constant reading and attention to language made me smarter in all aspects of my learning. I realized that no one is just born a good reader. It takes time, patience, and a willingness to wrestle with what is not understood. Once this happened, this ability to take on text created a hunger in me that only reading could satisfy.
I read constantly: books, poetry, magazine articles, news articles, professional development texts, essays, and the like. Since then, I have come to terms with Steinbeck. His books are nourishment for any
reader. But, I have him to thank. Without his text being a struggle for a young ambitious reader, I do not think I would be where I am today. His text taught me to look at text as ever changing. Though I am older, and his words are the same, the meaning I glean from our conversation is forever changing. I just need to be willing to look.
reader. But, I have him to thank. Without his text being a struggle for a young ambitious reader, I do not think I would be where I am today. His text taught me to look at text as ever changing. Though I am older, and his words are the same, the meaning I glean from our conversation is forever changing. I just need to be willing to look.
Reading has always been a major part of my life. As a child, I would put together lists of summer reading books and try to read 100 books a summer. Now, being a high school student there is much less time for reading when you have to work, do almost three hours of homework a night, and participate in sports and clubs, but I still try and make time for it. One of the books I read when I went through that crazy reading binge in middle school was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, which I once again read last year for AP language arts. When I first read the novel I was not interested in looking at the deeper meaning behind everything and allusions in the book. All I wanted was a great plot line which I got from The Fault in Our Stars. This book has influenced my life in more ways than one. The first being, since I read this book twice, but the years are so far apart, the way I first felt about the book is incredibly different than when reading it last year. During middle school I was wrapped up in the idea of love and the love story that is between Hazel and Augustus. Now, after going through the difficulties and hardships of being a teenager/young adult and having responsibilities and seeing relationships fail so easily I no longer believe in true love and that has actually reinforced my enjoyment of The Fault in Our Stars.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this in the eleventh grade, I dove deep into this book because I enjoyed it so much. Before we even researched anything in class, I had found allusions to “The Red Wheelbarrow,” “Magritte Pipe,” “Julius Caesar,” “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock,” Zeno’s Tortoise Paradox”, and “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” I related each of these allusions (which I did use shmoop to find) back to the book and saw how the character’s developed throughout the novel. Not only has The Fault in Our Stars influenced my life, but John Green himself has. In AP Biology I first started watching Hank Green’s videos and soon found out that this was John Green’s brother. After finding a channel on Youtube for John Green I have watched many of their videos and I have learned about everything from astronomy all the way to world history. Overall, The Fault in Our Stars and John Green have influenced my life by teaching me how to read deeply and truly enjoy novels while also teaching me life lessons.
- Bolger, J. 2
I never liked to read very much when I was a kid. I think it was mainly to do with selection and not so much initiative. I was always snobby about books, much as I am now, regrettably. I didn’t really enjoy reading the Babysitters Club or Magic Tree House, but at least I knew back in the day that these were the better choices in a selection consisting mainly of I Spy and Captain Underpants. And don’t forget Nancy Drew. I hated Nancy Drew. Rarely did I like a book- I remember I liked Benjamin Bartholomew Piff for a while. In middle school I actually liked reading- with it came hours of true entertainment. I knew there was probably little to no literary value in my books, but I liked to read them, and I thought that was enough. I read the series in middle school- Twilight and Harry Potter and the Mortal Instruments and Hunger Games and the Giver and all of that. I enjoyed it too.
ReplyDeleteThe first important book I ever read was The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway in ninth grade. I didn’t want to read it except that I was excruciatingly bored; bored in the way that numbs your brain to the point where even murdering your last remaining bit of sanity with dusty, old, pretentious blather would be a relief. I hated it. It was beautiful, certainly; but in such a way that it left me for weeks after in a state of complete shock and depression. Because books are not supposed to end like that! They are supposed to be happy and teach you something and have a plot and say things that make sense and not talk endlessly of problems long extinct. Because these problems- senseless suffering, absolutely lost future expectations, insecurity, destructive forces of love, blind violence, the always carrying on- are extinct, right? I emerged, eventually, from the post-book depression with two revelations: no, they aren’t, and yes, The Sun Also Rises is a work of genius.
It was the worldview, I think, that got me most about Hemingway. The plain interpretation of the world for how it is and not how it can be. I think there’s too much of that in literature today; the what if. I suppose in a way that Hemingway contributed a great deal to my prejudice when I approach reading. I like books that say something big and original that had to be said. Nothing sends my nose straight into the air faster than dystopia. A close second would probably be mysteries. Then werewolves, but not quite as strongly. When I approach literature, I read purposefully from many different styles and genres, despite my presumptions. I honestly like experiencing the different perspectives on the world, living a different life and then returning with new eyes to my own. I find, through my reading so broadly, that my favorite books are never the ones that I can relate to, but much more the ones that are so completely foreign that they force me to form a new mindset to understand them. This being said, The Sun Also Rises is not my favorite book. It is one of them, but definitely not at the top of the list. It’s just the book that changed everything in my approach to reading and writing and life, for better and worse.
I think that with reading I have learned to take a more philosophical approach to all topics in school. I have realized recently that in a lot of my writing, I keep incorporating little bits of AP biology into metaphors. I guess I’ve ben thinking about the phospholipid bilayer as something quite metaphorical in my subconscious. Who knew? Recently I was reading a biology textbook and picked out a quote (“Thus, organisms are islands of low entropy in an increasingly random universe”) because it struck me as incredibly deep- the type of thing I would underline in a novel. It’s a disease, I think- reading. It sneaks up on you, gets you when you’re just innocently trying to do your biology homework. And in a way I think it gives a great depth to learning; where I’m not just processing information but applying it to a philosophical purpose. And it makes me sound pretty scientific in my college essays so…that’s a plus I guess.
Jankovsky A. 7-8*
Conceivably one of the most profound books in my reading career is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I took on this book in my 11th grade AP Language Arts class, and it provoked a feeling in me that I had never felt before. I found so much depth in the piece that was not blatantly obvious at the base of the text, and though this text hadn’t been one of the most diverse or complicated pieces I have read, it showed me how to unpack a story until it is more than the obvious plot. Through this piece I found symbols. We made charts in this class that broke down the color choices used in the book and their meanings. Yellow represented happiness, a common color seen in the novel, while green represented hope and longing, an also obvious theme. I have never marked up a book quite like this one, it just really caught my attention. Students that had taken this course the year before me had said that I would not appreciate the book until we discussed it in class. They had been absolutely correct because the discussions we had about this novel may possibly be my favorite part of last year, we broke it down so much that it was almost impossible not to find something further. Since I read this, I have found so much more appreciation for symbols in texts, making sure I look further into them, and loving them so much more when I do. I pay special attention to colors that I never paid before, and I find symbols in places I didn’t expect. This book enchanced my overall reading techniques, and changed the way I look at things for the better. I have learned to become a better reader through this and had I not read this text I don’t think I would have as much appreciation for literature as I have now.
ReplyDeleteMewhinney, M 2
As soon as I read this week's prompt I automatically thought of The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Yes, the infamous Stephanie Meyer, author of twilight. Despite the groans and over-exaggerated eye rolling that this author's name causes, this book has greatly impacted my outlook on life and people. I first picked up the book because a friend (who was obsessed with twilight) had told me how good the book was. Having nothing better to read I got the book and began reading it. I am so glad to this day I did because that book taught me a great lesson: Just because we are human, does not mean we act like one.That made me realize that not everyone who seems nice and sweet is nice and sweet. This change in the outlook of people has caused me to think twice before I make a judgement about a person or thing. This was also the first book that I got really emotionally engaged in. I had never hated a character as much as I hate The Seeker in the novel. I was really surprised how much I could feel towards a fictional character and since then that has changed the way I read literature because now I really try to get into the shoes of that character. This book might not have the most eloquent of vocabulary or deep hidden symbols but it really impacted my personal and literary life.
ReplyDeleteGalvan, E. 2nd
As a child, my appetite for books was extraordinary. I wanted to go to the library twice a week and for my birthday I wanted books. For this reason, my reading level soon surpassed what was expected of me. I began pulling books off of my mom’s bookshelf as soon as I was allowed. My mom had the rule beginning in middle school, that if I could read it and understand it, then I was allowed to read it, despite questionable content. I’m sure she preferred me reading books considered a little more wholesome, but she also wanted me to challenge myself. One of these more wholesome books that she provided before I was allowed to venture into more mature books was A little Princess. She gave me a copy from the original publication that had been my grandmother’s, then hers; a copy I have sitting next to me as I write this. Not only did A little Princess hold sentimental value, but it held what would soon change me as a reader.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this book, I simply wanted to finish books. Sure, I enjoyed the plot or characters, but I never really connected to a book on a deeper level. This was the first book that really shaped me as a more complex reader because for the first time, I felt a character’s pain. I cried when it was revealed that Sara’s dad had died. I felt my heart racing in my chest at first mention of rats in the attic. When Sara soothed Lottie, I wanted to be right there beside her. For the first time, a book came alive for me. Sara was more than just black and white ink printed on a page to amuse me; she was a thriving person. After reading this book, I took more time with my reading. It became more personal to me. Now, a majority of the books I read leave an impact on me because I want to dive into them. I want to know that characters much like I came to know Sara in A little Princess. I think of books now as something very personal; a story that a writer did not have to share, but chose to anyways.
Let me start by saying that I am not an avid reader of literature. I read literature only when I have to read it. Yet, the interesting part is that many times I have read stories for class, I have actually enjoyed reading those stories. One of these stories is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. My sister had read this novel before I did, and she recommended that I read it, too. In sixth or seventh grade, I picked up her copy of the story from her bookshelf, sat myself comfortably atop my bed, and read the first page. By the fourth page, I was asleep. As I said, I am not an avid reader of literature. I put away the book, telling myself one day I would read it. That day came when I had to read it. In 9th grade, Mrs. Perrin made Life of Pi an option for a book that the class could read. Since I had to read a book, I decided that this was the perfect time to read Life of Pi.
ReplyDeleteFinally dedicating myself to Life of Pi, I was excited to read the book. The protagonist, Pi Patel, was Indian like me, so I was hoping that this could strengthen my bond with the book. Little did I realize that my similarities with Pi are beyond superficiality. As I travelled with Pi throughout his life journey, I saw myself immersed in this book. Martel’s writing is extremely descriptive and engaging, as it had to be, since not many writers could keep an audience’s attention by talking about being stranded on a boat for many months. Furthermore, he culminates all of the description of the journey on the boat into an unforgettable ending (I do not want to describe, because if someone is reading this that hasn’t read the book, I do not want to ruin it for you!). I learned through Martel’s writing that one could make the most mundane of situations into the most fantastic of joys.
My appreciation for Life of Pi was further developed by the themes Martel presented. The one I valued most was the coexistence of all humans. Pi is burdened by the war among pundits, priests, and imams. He understands that coexistence can occur; yet groups are too ignorant to make peace. This theme truly reflects my own existence. Born and raised in the United States, but born and raised as an Indian, I find myself pulled between two cultures. I do not want to give one or another, because I know that they both can coexist within me. Just as Pi looks for a balance among the three religions he accepts, I am constantly searching for equilibrium between the two cultures I value.
Life of Pi is the epitome of what reading can provide in one’s life. Not only does reading improve one’s perception of how to write, it also supports one’s purpose of reading. I do not read for pleasure, but that does not mean I do not read for meaning. I see reading as an outlet to help me grow as a person. When I pick up a book, I make it my goal to be able to find personal meaning through the text. Whether it is personal or it is reflecting of society, the meaning of a book helps shape my thinking of others and myself. It is my own acknowledgeable shame that I do not read beyond the mandate of my classes, but I am undeniably grateful of the opportunities to read.
Srivastava R, 2
One of the books, well, not book but series, that has affected me and shaped me as a reader is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. This is the first series that I have ever started and finished, and I started the series for the first time (out of like seven) in second grade. The books always made me want to keep reading and keep finding out what would happen next. The series has impacted the way I take on a text because it does not make me dread long texts as much as most people. The last 3 books in the series were pretty long for a second grader, yet I did not mind reading them because I knew they were going to be exciting. That’s kind of the way it is now, if I see a super long book we have to read I’m always like eh, it probably gets better once you get into it (sadly I have been wrong for most of the books we have to read nowadays). Reading has impacted me because it has opened up whole new worlds to me, has drawn me into the lives of the characters, and it has taught me so many things. For one, it has taught me to use my imagination, and let my mind stretch beyond the walls of reality. Also, reading has greatly expanded my vocabulary, and my writing skills. That brings me to schooling, reading has impacted my schooling because well for one we have to read for school. Two, some of the reading I have had to do has actually impacted me as well like The Fault In Our Stars that was actually hard to read because it was uber sad. I think reading has affected my outlook because I am able to read more (haha) into what is going on around me. I am able to use more of my imagination and it has sometimes changed my outlook on events that have occurred.
ReplyDeleteBunting A, 2
Like many others, I am not an avid reader. In the past, I have been able to sit down with a good book over the summer or a school break, but never during the scheduled school year. During the year, my schedule is crazy and I tend to not find time for personal pleasures. Long story short: I love reading; I just don’t have the time to do it.
ReplyDeleteThis crazy schedule that I live by forces me to enjoy any book that I read. This could be required reading or just an article in the newspaper. Although many books that I read are interesting, there is one that sticks out among all the others. This book is The Catcher in the Rye. When I originally saw this book on the summer reading list for eleventh grade, I did not know what to think. Every review I read called the main character (Holden Caulfield) and the entire plot weird and strange. To be honest, I pushed this book to the last possible moment of completion because I did not think it would be interesting to read. Finally, I decided to start reading to get it over as soon as possible. The first few chapters went slow, but after the fifth chapter, I was glued to it. I ended up finishing the book in three days. As the reader, I was able to create a bond with Caulfield. Although we are not alike in any way, I found it entertaining to follow him through the small section of his life.
After finishing the book, The Catcher and the Rye became one of my favorites for entertainment. I gained respect for it as a literature staple after the discussion with my peers in class. The discussion gave me a chance to dig deep and see what Caulfield represented as a character. From that I was able witness the themes of innocence and the process one goes through to take the step to adulthood. Although I could not directly relate this to my life, I had the chance to see a different perspective and gain respect to J.D. Salinger as the author.
The Catcher and the Rye is a perfect example of a book with a weird initial impression, a lasting impression that makes it one of my favorites. The saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover” stands true to this novel, and almost any one. One gets the most out of a novel when they open up and dig down deep with different themes and message. Although the message comes in a unique way, The Catcher in the Rye is the one book that has impacted me the most and has become one of best book I have ever read.
Wasylko, G 7/8
This prompt brought me back to my bookshelf. It’s nestled in the top of my closet and looks over me as I sit in my room. There are two rows to my bookshelf: hidden behind the front row are the books that I read as a kid, when I could read and only see the story at the surface. In the front sits every book I’ve read throughout high school. Some of these books bring back bad memories (Mythology), while other memories are more fond. It’s easy to find the book that has shaped me the most- you just need to look for the cover that is the most worn.
ReplyDeleteI first read ‘The Road’ when I was a freshman. My father had finished reading it and suggested that I pick it up as well. After a while, I bought a copy and decided to sit down and read it. At first, I was taken aback by the lack of punctuation and informal style of McCarthy. When I read it for the first time, I understood the story, but not much more. I read the book a second time at the end of my sophomore year for my Independent Novel Project. This time, I was forced to look a bit deeper into the text. I read the book a third time last year and ended up making a movie trailer for the book. What I find funny is the way that the pages are marked. On nearly every page, you see evidence of all three times I read the book. The marks increase in complexity and obscurity with each year.
The Road impacted the way that I take on a text tremendously. By reading it multiple times, I have come to realize that you can never actually be done reading a book. No matter how many times you read, you will always pick up something that you didn’t before. This realization has changed the way that I read. Whenever I pick up a book and come to a particularly important section, I will re-read the passage a few times. I then wait a few days and come back to it. For me, I have found this to be the best way to really break down a text. Before The Road, I had never re-read a book. Now, I realize how important it is to look back at how my interpretation is never the same from one time to the next.
Although this book has been impactful for me, I have never really like the plot of the novel. It’s always seemed a bit shallow and overused. However, McCarthy separates himself with the way he delivers the story. In most of my classes, I have always read authors with very similar writing styles. McCarthy does not care for such a rigid style, and fails to use punctuation properly. While others complain about this, his unique style has shown me that it is okay to not conform when writing. Because of McCarthy, I have been able to better appreciate author’ unique styles as I read. He has shown me that books with strange styles can still hold important lessons.
I will admit that when I first saw this prompt, I was a bit nervous. Because of my hectic life, I don’t ever have time to read for pleasure anymore. Lately, I have found myself reading news articles and scientific studies before I even consider picking up a book. I guess it’s because I really don’t know what to read- nobody ever talks to me about good books I should read. However, when I look back at my bookshelf, I realize that over the years I have read more than I think. There are books from all different genres, time periods, and authors. The Road has helped me to better appreciate all of these different books, and understand that there are no rules that literature must follow.
-Ryan M. 2
When I was younger, reading was one of my most enjoyed activities. I read everywhere whenever I could, whether it was in the car on my way home from school or while I would play school and teach a language arts course. My most profound reading memories reflect a younger version of myself at my old house in Cleveland who would teach language arts courses to her Barbie dolls. My chalk board always stood to my left and I would ask my class questions about the characters in books, such as Harry Potter and The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, and write my analyses of the plot and characters on the board. This is where my love of reading grew as a young child.
ReplyDeleteIn the 6th grade, my language arts teacher would always have a contest to see who could read the most books over a certain period of time. I was constantly the student who read the most books, but it wasn’t because I wanted to win the competition, it was because I truly enjoyed reading at this time. Over the years, my passion of reading began to dwindle. Quickly, my reading for pleasure turned into having to read books that were required for a course. Although not intentional, I believe having being told I had to read certain books as a part of my coursework and not just for fun was what destroyed my passion for reading.
As my love for reading dwindled, my passion for math and science grew. I remember doing my language arts homework first so I could get it out of the way and concentrate on the courses, math and science, I liked. This was the pattern I fell into from 7th through 11th grade. At the end of my junior year of high school, my language arts class read the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I believe that this book was the first book that I have ever been able to truly analyze. I remember pulling out literary devices and being astounded at my ability to do so because I typically struggle with analyzing literature. The most memorable moment I had with this book is when I realized that Michael from the beginning of the novel was a literary reference to Angel Michael in the Bible. I saw layers in The Fault in Our Stars like I have never seen in any other book. When I was able to pull out literary devices in the book, I finally realized the impact and importance of literary devices: they shape the meaning a text has.
What I truly enjoyed about this novel is the fact that although it was required as a part of my coursework for AP English Language and Composition, the book was one that I would also read for pleasure. Through my experience with this novel, I was assured of my decision to take AP Literature the next school year. Over the summer, contrary to my typical actions, I read books, such as Paper Towns by John Green, for fun whenever I found time. Slowly, I have been getting back into reading books for pleasure. I want to have more “abracadabra” moments like I had with The Fault in Our Stars. I want more moments with books that make me want to research critiques and author interviews for hours in hopes of finding answers that may never come.
When I first started reading, it was mostly Nancy Drew and Judy Blum books. I would check out a Nancy Drew book from the library, read it in a day, then find a new one. I finished most of the series when I came across Judy Bloom books. My first one was titled “Blubber”, which was about a girl who was fat and got made fun of all the time and how she was bullied during that time. I felt like I connected well to Judy Blum’s writing, being only in 5th grade when reading, but it stuck out to me. It was realistic and I loved that. So then I started drifting away from my fictional mysteries and on to realistic problems that were aimed at readers, like myself, at that time. One book that I really became attached to was one of her most famous novels, “Are you there God? Its me, Margret”. I reread this book so many times I have not been able to keep track. Every situation Margret encountered, I was going through the same situation myself. I bonded well with the book, like a close friend, and it did not seem to reject me. To this day I still think its amazing how Judy Blum could connect me so well while she was writing from an adults perspective. Her novels led me to love other realistic novels as a teenager, such as Ellen Hopkins’ “Perfect”. This novel opened my eyes to the world. It showed me that life is imperfect, that people are imperfect, and that’s what makes us perfection. Being the people we want to aspire be and the motivation people have is what makes people perfect. To be honest, these novels may not have given me specific literary knowledge like finding theme or symbolisms, but they did teach me about life. They taught me what happens in our lives and how we cope, the way society looks at people when they assuming, that people have a layer underneath their face of someone they want to be. These novels showed me how to live and what to expect in the future and I could never repay them for that. They became my comfort zone of reading, even though I should expand, but I just cannot let go my love for the realistic situations these characters encounter. These novels showed me what its like to stay strong when something in life goes wrong.
ReplyDeleteS. Güt 7/8
When I was in elementary school, I used to love reading and I would read any type of book genre from the “Goosebumps” series to “The Magic Tree House.” Reading has always fascinated me because it allowed me to experience different adventure and learn more about the world as a whole. As a child, I could not stop reading. However, when I got to middle school I no longer had enough time to read nor did I consider it to be a “good use” of the little free time I had. Before freshman year, over my summer break, I decided to start reading for fun again. I went to the library to find any potentially fascinating books to read. That is when I discovered “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. This book has had a strong impact on the way I approach a text, as well as my life.
ReplyDeleteI was elated when I saw that one of my favorite books was on the AP Literature summer reading list. When I first read “the Picture of Dorian Gray,” I could not understand why Dorian Gray had turned against Basil or what his true motives were for hiding his portrait. After rereading the book again over the summer, I realized that, even though I read the book twice before, I only had a superficial understanding of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” To my surprise, annotating the book helped me discover new ideas presented in the text and how the characters’ evolution is gradual. Wilde’s commentary on society’s obsession with superficial aspects mainly youth, wealth, and power are depicted throughout the novel. Reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray” has allowed me to look for a deeper meaning in other literary works and not give up on them because they uses language or sentence structures that I am not familiar with. It also made me enjoy reading again.
Facing challenges head on was a life lesson that reading Oscar Wilde’s only novel gave me. It gave me the confidence that I needed to understand difficult subjects. As long as I took my time to read through the material and went back and tried to see how the material could be applied; I could succeed in any class from AP Biology to AP European History. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” has shown me how to look for patterns and trends in school subjects, just as I had to look for patterns and trends to understand the subtle ways in which Dorian Gray and Lord Henry had changed. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” taught me to look for a deeper meaning in literature. I no longer skim through the pages nor do I just wait for the author to explicitly states the plot of the story and his/her purpose for writing it.
Judele, C 2nd
Unlike some of my classmates, in my formative years reading was a big part of my life. I remember I was almost always reading something in elementary and middle school. Everything from Maximum Ride to more serious adult novels such as 1984, I was always reading.
ReplyDeleteThen I got to high school.
After that, I could kiss all of my free time goodbye, as mandatory reading and high level classes soaked up all the spare time I would have usually spent reading or doing some other activity.
But one book that I read in middle school, seventh grade, to be exact, completely changed my perspective on how novels, storytelling, and plot development worked, and that was a little book called Slaughterhouse-Five. Never had I encountered a book that was so brimming with satire and nonlinear storytelling. At first, I found it hugely confusing and inaccessible, but as I took my time and dug in deeper to the story, I found a unique a World-War Two meets time travel odyssey. My sister actually suggested this book to me, and if it not for that suggestion I would likely have never even picked this book up. It changed what I thought novels were supposed to look like. From there, I became a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut, reading a number of his books and loving all of them.
I think more anything, Vonnegut helped define the type of literature that I enjoy, and it made me realize that novels can be anything; they don’t have to follow a formula. I can’t say that these books necessarily affected my outlook though; I don’t interact with text like that. But the higher level of his books enhance my reading ability, vocabulary, and in a way, my interest in literature. I was significantly more fascinated with language arts and writing after reading his works, a fascination that I am losing as of late.
Crow, M, 7/8
In all honesty, reading has never really been one of my favorite things to do. When it comes to reading literature, I only do it if I have to. Very seldom am I able to sit down a read a book for enjoyment during the school year because I am always so busy with a lot of other things. Though reading is not always my favorite thing to do, however, give me a good book that really interests me, and I can definitely get into it.
ReplyDeleteOne book that has shaped who I am as a reader is The Giver by Lois Lowry. I read this book in seventh grade, and when I was first told that I had to read it, I was not too happy reason being because usually when you are told you have to read a book for school, you don’t really want to. This book, however, ended up being one of my favorite books that I have ever read. It was probably the first utopian/dystopian society novel that I had ever read, and it contents and diversity was so interesting to me. I fell in love with the novel as a whole, and I loved how Jonas, the protagonist, questioned the society that he lived in even though he wasn’t supposed to. I think that the idea that the characters in the novel see in black and white is really cool and it really portrays how “blind” they are to everything going on around them.
This novel is so different than any other one that I have read before which really makes it interesting to me. The idea that Jonas is a “Receiver of Memories” from an old man who is a Receiver is just so abstract and absurd and I love it. As I made my way through the book, I loved it more and more to the point that I would even recommend it to my friends who hadn’t read it. To this day, I still love the book and reread it any chance that I get. Though I have not read any other Lois Lowry books, I would definitely be interested in doing so because of this book. It’s always nice finding a book that I really enjoy reading; after all, it is books like these that keep me reading.
Shaniuk, B 7/8
Maybe it was a lack of interest in television or playing outside, but I spent most of my childhood reading. My elementary school had a program called Accelerated Reading. This program awarded points to students who read the most books. After I had read a book, I would go down to the school’s library, find a computer, and take a test on that book. The more questions I answered, the more points I was awarded. I ended up winning a lot of gift cards for my points, to places such as Barnes and Noble. The Accelerated Reading program really motivated me to want to read more. By the time I reached middle school, I could finish a book within two days (one if I was really absorbed in it). When high school came around the corner, I had to prioritize a bit more. For me, reading is fascinating. I can travel to thousands of places without actually physically moving. Each book I read adds to my knowledge about certain aspects of the world.
ReplyDeleteThe book that has an impacted me greatly is A Passage to India by E. M. Forster. I was shuffling through the shelves of the library last summer and the title of this book caught my eye. I was very curious and decided to read the book. This book is about the author’s journey to India during a time of unrest between the British and the Indians. Britain has a reputation for taking over certain countries, and India was one of them. Forster becomes friends with an Indian doctor in the book. The doctor is then accused of raping a British woman and is thrown in jail. The Indians despise the British and the British do not want to touch the Indians. However, Forster is different. He becomes friends with the doctor and stands up for him when he is accused. Although the language was on a higher level, this book was really opened my eyes about how life in India was when it was controlled by Britain.
A Passage to India also showed the struggle between the Muslims and Hindus. In this book, the doctor is Muslim. He has trouble working with Hindu doctors and sometimes despises them. Being a Hindu myself, when I visited India last summer, I saw how religion had a great impact on people. I could relate to this book because it pertains to my culture and India’s past. I liked reading about how India was before its independence through the eyes of a well-respected British author.
Patel, D 2
The only way I can describe my reading habits is with the phrase “insatiable appetite.” If a book is a meal, I gorge myself until I physically can’t swallow one more bite. I’m a sloppy reader; when I delve into a text I often forget table manners and use my hands to rip the meat off the bone. I get invested and I get attached – I take books into my head like food into my body. They are my nourishment. Without them, I wouldn’t function. Without them, I would be stripped of my identity.
ReplyDeleteThe best book I ever read was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Never in my life have I felt so connected to a novel. It was as if the author had peered into my mind and produced a story written specifically for me. Seeing my darkest, innermost thoughts come spilling out of someone else’s head – someone I’ve never even met – gave me new eyes. The Book Thief taught me that humanity and understanding are universal, that I’m not the first (and certainly won’t be the last) person to think certain thoughts or feel certain ways. My copy is tattered and worn and yellow from being read, reread, borrowed, and returned, and all I have to do is hold it in my hands to instantly connect with my love for literature and writing and the human condition overall.
I take on texts differently now because I’m not afraid to really give myself up to a story. Books can transcend our general experience of life, and The Book Thief taught me that. I find it easier now to step into a character’s shoes and to see out of their eyes – to become another person, with all their inner workings intact. The Book Thief taught me that empathy is the basis for everything. We read, write, talk, and listen all because we are trying to reach a common understanding with our fellow man. I am not ashamed to admit I get emotional over books and to this day can’t make it through the last thirty pages of The Book Thief without crying until my stomach hurts. The Book Thief taught me that a good story can be summed up in one line. This is how I personally recognize and classify good literature. If I come across one single, solitary sentence that can stand on its own two feet with the entire story in its arms, I know I’ve found something truly great.
John Green once said, ““Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” The Book Thief is that book to me. It’s the book I need and that I feel the world needs. It broke me and made something better of the pieces, and I know I wouldn’t be the person, reader, or writer I am today without ever having read it.
Keller N 7/8
Looking back at my childhood, I can tell someone which book or series I was hooked on at each stage of my life. In first grade it was The Littles, in third it was any Beverly Cleary book that had an appearance from Ramona, and in fourth it was the Indian in the Cupboard. Honestly, though, the books that shaped me the most as an early reader where those that were read to me. My third grade teacher read us the BFG and I vividly remember her changing the voices for each character and truly making the book come to life. I can remember four different books being read by my fifth grade teacher. I would be hanging on to every word she said and would join the chorus of kids singing to read just one more chapter, only to wait in suspense until the next day’s reading time. I believe the life given to these stories has helped me as I work backstage at theater. I have to go through the scripts to find any needed costumes and props and having a love for the transformation of words to scenes in my imagination helps me make my imagination come to life for the actors on stage.
ReplyDeleteIn middle school, I continued this love of reading, choosing books from my language arts teacher’s library whenever I had the chance. The summer before seventh grade was when I saw a Harry Potter film for the first time and I was quickly hooked on the books. Reading, although I enjoy it, has been a struggle for me: I read incredibly slowly. Even though that entire summer I could barely put the books down, I did not finish the series. I don’t remember having time to read them during my eighth grade year, but I’m sure I picked them up every once in a while between the other books I was reading for class. Unfortunately I have still not finished the last two books. I don’t remember when I discovered that I am a slow reader. It was probably when talking to other people about how much time they spent reading to Kill and Mockingbird the night before. I just know that this occurred to me sometime in middle school, and it has caused problems for me ever since.
Reading has continuously gotten harder for me throughout high school. Summer reading before freshman year was full of tears and pain. I would read those books that I found to be super boring and find myself having to read words over and over again with no hope of actually understanding. Reading became a chore. I can only recall reading a couple books for pleasure since Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I don’t have time, nor the will power to sit through books anymore.
After all of this I still have not answered the main question: What book shaped me as the reader I am today? It kills me that I have to choose a book that was required in class instead of one that I chose myself, but I believe that Kettle Bottom, even though I hated it at the time, was a book that has changed the way I read. After all of those books that I mentioned before, the books in freshman honors language arts were ones that for the first time I tore apart to find deeper meanings. Poetry is another challenge for me, which often leaves me discouraged. I have a hard enough time getting through novels that are not written for the sole purpose of metaphors and symbolism. Being able to conquer that challenge and actually understand the words on the page gave me such a feeling of accomplishment. Now in AP Lit, I still struggle getting through the texts and it probably takes me twice as long to get through any piece of work as my peers, but knowing that I will be able to understand by looking deeply into the texts and that gives me the motivation to not give up.
Woods, L 2
As a kid I read a lot, I didn't read that many hard books that hard really deep literary meaning but I loved to read. When I was little and I most of my free time was spent reading. My school had an accelerated reading program, which I think motivated me to read even more. I know this isn't just one book but the Harry Potter series was a book series that affected me the most as a child.
ReplyDeleteI grew up reading that series and really connected to the characters. I grew up with the characters, they taught me lessons that I think affected me in a big way. They were so easy to relate to and they taught me how to handle problems I had in school.
As I got older, I found it harder to read some books. Some books, like the Percy Jackson series I found really easy to read. But, some books like school ones it was either a hit or miss. I either loved the book or I dreaded picking up the book.
Reading has greatly affected my life it has taught me so many things and taken me to so many other worlds and places. I have lived so many lives through the characters I connected to in the books I have read.
Gall, A 2
From the time that I was very little my mom was adamant on the fact that I read books. Most of the time I read because I had to fill up the thirty minutes a day my mom devoted to reading. Books were just a hassle rather than something that I enjoyed. The summer going into fourth grade my mom signed my brother and I up for the library’s summer reading program. The librarian suggested that I try something more difficult; I ended up picking Harry Potter. So I started to read the book, I completed the book within a few days of starting it. While everyone is talking about how much of a literary impact on his or her life mine wasn’t exactly that. It is not that I don’t love to analyze books and understand what it is saying, but books have had a different impact on me.
ReplyDeleteHarry Potter was the first book where I was completely captured by the story. I had loved reading the book; the words brought me into a world that seemed completely at home. Later in that summer one of my best friends had moved to North Carolina. All the other kids in my neighborhood were older so I had not one to play with. I found myself reading more and more. Reading offered me an escape from the things that were happening in my own world. At the same time I related to so many things in the book that it was almost like this imaginary world was my own. For the first time in my life I had found that reading was my escape. Since I was in third grade when things start getting hard I often find myself reading a book. Whether that is healthy or not is questionable, but that is my coping mechanism.
The only other book that has had the same amount of impact in my life is The Book Thief. I read the book for school in eighth grade and I feel that there should not be a person in the world who doesn’t read it. The subject may not necessarily be a pleasant one but I feel that it can speak to anyone. The book speaks of humanity so truthfully and reassured me that no one is alone in this world. Reading the book may have been the first time I enjoyed sitting down and breaking a text apart. There were so many levels to the book but struggling to pick it apart was fun because the end result was so worth it. I think if I had never read that book I would not be sitting her typing this blog. Taking a book and peeling it back can feel so hard and pointless at times. However in the end we can find out so much out about ourselves, and humanity as a whole.
A, Sansone 2nd period
The sad thing is I didn’t actually find an appreciation for literature until this year. Now that sounds horrible, and before someone pulls the literary fire alarm, allow me to explain myself. I have always read. Not in my own time, but what I had to for class. I wasn’t necessarily enchanted when it came to reading. I would read the books instructed, do the projects assigned and that was the end of it. Now don’t get me wrong, some books I have read for class were heavily amusing. For instance, Catalyst, The Hunger Games, The Fault in Our Stars, these books really caught my interest. I would floor through the pages, and fall in love with the characters, the plot, and other aspects of the storyline. Also, it is not as if I have only learned to analyze the books I like. My literary knowledge has progressed a lot over my educational career. More prominently in ninth grade, with Mrs. Perrin actually, I learned far more about literary analysis than I had ever learned in the past. That probably has to do a lot with why I didn’t really attach to reading in the first place. For instance, one time in 7th grade we had to annotate and explain the meaning of this poem. I went on this long analysis of how it was a symbol for this, and it was about that, with a side of this, and it turns out it was about a boat- I was substantially off. It was moments like these when I was not a fan of reading, not because I felt inferior, but literary breakdown never really did anything aesthetically for me, and I am also a sucker for pride.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this has all changed this year. I stopped reading fictional books with deep literary thoughts, and read non-fiction, life style books. For instance, I read a psychology series called “The Enneagram”, one of the few books I read out of personal enjoyment. I read the first, then the second, then the third, until I found myself on Amazon buying every other book I could get my hands on. It was with this that I found myself in reading. For me, reading was not about whether I had heard about the book at academic challenge, nor did it matter what other people thought of it, nor did it matter whether or not the author had literary merit, I found myself in the books of life, in psychology, medicine, agriculture. It was starting to read these real-life, college oriented books that really showed my passion for reading. It allowed me to find out I just did not necessarily like the books everyone else was reading.
In terms of school, this helped me have a more open-minded approach. I have always been able to pull back layers, not any book in particular caused this. However, The Enneagram pushed me into accepting more books. Reading for personal gratification has allowed me to increase my fluency, and to work on my abilities, and as a result, I have a lot easier time with the books in school and also the desire to read them. This also plays into my outlook substantially. It is with that books I have read this year that I have found true enjoyment in reading, and literary works. Without books like The Enneagram, I probably would still struggle with reading abilities and desires, and it makes me glad to know I have the capacity to enjoy books. I just had to find the one’s that mean something to me.
Megan Lear 2nd
I was never much of a reader. When I was homeschooled, my academics were much more focused on mathematics and social studies. Reading was more difficult for me. I was a slow reader, and quite frankly I still am. It was difficult for me to remember and process everything that I read. If I was bored with the text, there was a slim chance I could actually recall what I had just read. Unfortunately, that still holds true with some books I read today. I did start to read more for pleasure than work in middle school and early high school, but there was no specific book that shaped my life significantly during this time. The books I read did help me in my ability to read, but they were all for enjoyment and hardly looked at for substance.
ReplyDeleteThe first book that I felt differently about was given as an assignment last year in AP Language Arts. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey let me dive into the text while still enjoying the overall story. It was the first time I felt like I could look into all of the details and understand what was happening. It is kind of funny, even now when thinking about the book and the discussions that took place in class, I get a little bit excited. I found electrified motivation and wanted to tear up the text, but in a good way. I actually wanted to scratch through the surface and dig through the layers. It was interesting and enriching and sparked something in me that I never felt before when reading or discussing books. I it was the first time I felt passion when reading a book.
After reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, I found more interest in the books I read and more interest in looking at them piece by piece. I never accept things just as they seem when it comes to stories, books, and plays. I look for the deeper meaning and all of the possibilities the text will hold within its lines and words. Now I am excited about reading.
Hornung, A. 7/8
I grew up around books. Both sisters of mine are avid readers, my mother and father who thoroughly enjoy the classics, and myself who cannot put down a good book if the world was ending. I love literature, but the classics never spoke to me the way Ellen Hopkins did in the Crank series. I was probably much too young to be reading about sex, drugs, violence, and mental disorders, but I find that much more interesting than Russian literature. (Sorry Mrs. Perrin) I was able to complete these hundreds of pages in hours. My family knew the moment I grabbed my book, a cup of green tea with just a pinch of honey, a blanket and my pillow, that I was to be useless to the world for however amount of time it took me to complete the book. The Crank series taught me about the world. It helped me unravel the layers of not only the text, but people in general. I had not really been taught was drugs were and how they could destroy someone so easily. I did not understand all the taboo topics of sex. She cleared those up very quickly. This was not something I was used to so young. Of course her writing did make me go out and do those things, but it taught me a different perspective on them. Her writing was so raw. Everything she talked about was realistic. Ellen Hopkins assured her readers that the world was not all roses and rainbows. The stories in her books were based off her daughter. All stories told were mostly true, and all held a vast amount of depth. I would read her text, and then about one hundred or so pages later, I would find myself gasping because a point she made had clicked. Something she had symbolized previously was now being unraveled in my mind. For example, in her book Identical, she indulges on the subject of Dissociative Personality Disorder. While this what the heart of the book is about, her readers would not come to that conclusion very easily. She portrays one girl, with two personalities. Kaeleigh and Raeanne are polar opposites but are living as ‘identical twins’, or so the readers thought. This is just a small glimpse of the book, but just from this you can see that she writes with more underlying depth than a lot of modern day authors. Hopkins’ books taught me to never look at another book for what it is. Read the book, then take everything you thought was going on and look miles further. Chances are, I was wrong about the idea of the book the first time through. She helped me to see that there is always more to an author’s writing. The crank series shaped me as a reader. If it is a rainy day, or I am just I the mood for a good book, I know I can dive into the third level of my bookshelf and grab one of her books.
ReplyDeleteOne book that shaped me as a reader would be “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey. It was one of the first books that I read in my Ap Language Arts class that really changed how closely I read texts. The books plot takes place in a hospital ward where patients are under the superior power of a worker named Nurse Ratched. She obtains a large amount of control over the patients by instilling fear of lobotomy’s or electric shock treatment if they do not obey her rules. When the main character, McMurphy, is sent to the Ward he defies all the authority Nurse Ratched has maintained. Themes of power, contrast of freedom to constraint, manipulation and rebellion are portrayed vastly throughout the text.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started reading the novel, I did not know how to dig beneath the text or relate the symbols of the book to create a greater meaning. When I started reading I just highlighted and made a note of the repeated words and situations. It was not until class discussion where I learned that my peers and I had marked similar passages in the text and was able to break down the author’s words. This book was the stepping-stone to unraveling texts of greater thematic works. This book taught me to search for the subtle ideas of the text and gave me the power to relate its themes back to society.
Even though the most frequent time that I read books is during school, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” helped me to look for greater meaning in novels by looking at colors, character foils, and depictions of the plot. If I did not come across that novel I don’t think that I would be able to fully interpret text on my own without leaning on my peers shoulders for guidance. I have become more independent when reading and I actually enjoy reading more books now than I did before, because I finally have some skills to effectively dive into a text. Kesey’s novel gave me freedom and experience that helped to peel back works of other brilliant authors.
Ramsumair M 7/8
As a child, I cannot remember a day I didn't read - I am finding this typical of my classmates above me. It was and indistinguishable fire, ripping through page after page and reading above my grade level. There was nothing I wouldn't read, anything that had the printed word begged to be consumed from the time I was little until around my freshman year. All those pages I ripped through eventually caught up to me - for when you read, you absorb the lives of thousands of characters and countless stories and adventures, and the weight of all these voices and stories seemingly pushed me down into what I can only refer to a depression through the sudden realization that I was now an adult, passed the age my favorite characters started their journey's on, and that no magical being or great task was coming my way anytime soon, if ever.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's ironic to use when describing books themselves, my appetite for reading had developed a raging Peter Pan complex within me that is still there, albeit much quieter.
Around the tail end of my Sophomore year, I developed a new policy when reading: life is too short for bad books. Like a child, I had suddenly found myself cranky and impatient with things that bored me, I would toss aside book after book within only a few chapters, if it hadn't enthralled me by then, I didn't believe it could ever. On top of this, when I found a book I truly enjoyed, the ending of it would often have me in a post-book bout of sadness that involved not being able to get over the plot or characters for days, sometimes weeks. The biggest offender of this is Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk.
The verse-style writing had me captivated - in fact, this is the writing style that has influenced my personal writing the most - the characters and twists and turns in the plot kept me up at night until it was completed. I now own three separate copies of the book, including the 'special' version with added scenes. The re-reads of it show through cracked spines and creased pages, and it's quickly bumped up to a 'if I wanted to get tattoo'd, it would be from this book' type of love affair. My influence was a little late in the game for me, but I always seem to fall back into the horrendous deeds of Invisible Monster's characters time and time again. It taught me how to look at clues and figure out plot details, how to develop a character even when the plot itself doesn't move, how to shock and awe people with your writing and most of all - it both refreshed and inspired me with it's brutal, honest version of humanity. Invisible Monsters offered me brutal honesty in a way no other author of the YA variety had before, those authors had coddled me and led me to believe my adventure was coming - Palahniuk, however, offered me a sharper, crisper view, and I haven't looked back since.
- Daugherty, 7/8
I always seemed to have a book in hand throughout my upbringing. I sprinted through many book series that provided me with a feeling of enchantment: Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games are a few of the series that fueled my child-like hunger for all things thrilling and magical. These books of course have left impressions on the way I read and my style in evaluating a text; but I do not regard these series or any of the books within them as having the greatest influence over the way I read in casual and scholastic settings. The one book in particular that has held sway over the ways in which I read and interpret a text; the way I decipher and dissect in the margins, is One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This book transformed the way I unravel a text: the themes, motifs, symbols, and literary elements rolled off the pages and stood out to me in such staggering numbers it was as if they were stars in the night sky. Kesey’s style was so elegant, and I was amazed even further by the fact that large portions of the text had been written under the influence of psychedelic drugs. Kesey portrayed the greater themes of rebellion, confinement, and power in such a way that I couldn’t put the text down and pondered the questions he posed in the texts for hours outside of the classroom. The way in which I dissected One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest worked so well for me that I have essentially used the same method for every text I have read since. It is this effect of my reading One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest that has made this text so powerful in my life. Reading the book revolutionized the way I read, and that is why I hold it in such a high regard.
ReplyDeleteBruggeman, J 7/8th
I have been reading ever since I was a child and my mom encouraged a half an hour with a book after school. I have read so many books that some parts stick in my mind while others I almost forget and rediscover when I pick them up on accident. One book in particular sticks with me. Two years ago on a dare I read Beauty Queens by Libbra Bray. Before beauty Queens I never strayed from fiction that ranged from fantasy to dark horror, so when I was dared to read this book that was very girly and extremely different than what I was used to, it took me completely by surprise. The book was about these 50 contestants for a miss teen America pageant that are stranded on an island when their plane crashes. Only 13 survive the initial crash and must learn to survive on their own. The first time I read the book I found that there were often deeper meanings to a text than just what was on the surface. It was the first time I had seen an authors view on society put into the text, and the first time I was able to make connections to other poems and ideas that I had read before.
ReplyDeleteBeauty Queens made me realize I was a feminist. It is a novel with very feminist values and when reading it for the first or eleventh time I still relate or see new things that I missed in the past. It taught me to believe that there’s so much more out there to do and that as a female I shouldn’t be ashamed to identify with my gender. The ideals that you are not limited to what you’re told you can do, that you must find yourself and that identifying with something that you like or are a part of is not a bad thing. I now look for these ideals I any book that I read, and see if I can connect to the characters the characters in the book I’m reading now to Beauty Queens. It is by far my favorite book, and is the book that I turn to when I need a boost in confidence, or when I just want to laugh.
-Rachael Supina 2
I was not very fond of reading during my early elementary school years. My mom tells me stories all the time of how she used to force me to sit down and read for ten minutes a day just to be sure I was reading SOMETHING every day. When I got to fourth grade, I had a fantastic teacher. Mrs. Kingsbury was a very fast-paced teacher and encouraged us to challenge ourselves. We read "A Wrinkle In Time" in fourth grade and that book shocked me out of my dislike of reading. I remember coming home and gossiping with my mom about this book. It was just so full of complex story-telling and it had such a twisty plot. This book is definitely the reason that I've come to love fantasy and sci-fi media.
ReplyDeleteI didn't choose to start reading on my own until after I'd read "A Wrinkle In Time" with my class. The first book I read of my own accord after that was "Where the Red Fern Grows", a book I'd borrowed from Mrs. Kingsbury's bookshelf. This was the first book that I actually cried while reading. It was another deeply riveting story to me, it helped me live through the eyes of a hunter (something I had no experience with whatsoever). I adored this book in fourth grade and that particular book helped me realize that reading brought knowledge to the reader. I've learned many of the things I know today from reading books and for that I'm very grateful. Today, it shocks me that I used to hate reading. I know now that books are a huge part of my life and I wouldn't give my reading time up for anything.
-S. Bahr, 7/8*
I never had trouble reading when I was younger. But, everyone has their weakest link, and that for me was math. I was in advanced language arts all through middle school, and with that brought many different books that tried to challenge me. Now that I am in high school, the books given to offer a nice challenge, which excites me. But through this all, there has been one book that has meant a lot to me. The book is called "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book is about a freshman in high school who is the outcast. She is hated among the entire student body, for calling the police at a party in the summer previous. Do to there being alcoholic beverages and drugs, many kids were arrested. But, what people do not know is why she called. She called because she was raped by an upperclassman, but does not come clean about it to anyone. This book may seem inappropriate for a middle-schooler's mind, but the book has a truly deep meaning. It's when I first understood to never judge a book by it's cover. It was when I learned that you may know someone's name, but that does not mean you know their story. I indulged in the book many times, and it caused me to start underlining and picking through the text. It not only made me a better reader, but it also built up my overall character.
ReplyDeleteAll the books!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteEvery book has impacted the way I read; each author's style a little different, each character's attitude more unique than the next. I would be lying if I said I didn’t subconsciously compare one author to the next with each turn of the page. Every book has impacted who I am, too, immediately absorbed into my imagination, becoming a part of me, effecting my outlook on life. To pick only one would be offensive to all other books I’ve read…
The Bible is the most obvious answer to “what book has impacted me, my schooling, and my outlook?” It has definitely impacted my life the greatest, but I’m not sure this is the answer you were looking for.
I could also sarcastically answer that a thesaurus has “impacted the way I take on text,” but again it is probably not the answer you were looking for.
So like my peers, I have journeyed back in time to find One Single Book that has shaped the reader that I am today. That book, suggested to me by my daddy, is On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony.
This book first opened my mind into the world of personification and perspective. No longer was I reading a book of fairy tales or child-hood adventures, but my 12 year old brain entered a world completely new- a story told by Death. I went on to read the entire Incarnations of Immortality series, engulfed in the personification of intangible concepts. I love the ability of stretching my mind around completely new perspectives, which I haven’t found in many books outside this series. This book opened me to a world I never want to leave. A world of beautiful, life changing literature.
K Brav 7/8*
During the childhood days I had no true passion for literature and books until the seventh grade. In elementary schools we were taught to read for competition, to have the most stickers onto our charts, to receive a piece of candy when we read an hour. When I reached the sixth grade I was shocked as my language arts teacher on the first day, stood by her book shelf and wondrously summarized every book on that abnormally large book shelf. It was fascinating. My first chapter book that I fell in love with was James Pattersons, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. That book introduced me to first person point of view, a maximum amount of three pages per chapter, and more importantly; books can be fun and thrilling to read. After reading it I began to look for other books, somehow fate had led me to C.S. Lewis. I read his Narnia series and was happy until the final book, The Last Battle was in my hands. It was the New Year when I finished the book (confession time) and I sobbed for two hours. That book changed me; I learned to appreciate life, knowing that it can all be taken away within seconds, unknowingly, until it’s too late.
ReplyDeleteThe Last Battle was a raw story that shaped my expectations as a reader. Now whenever I read, I constantly try to imagine myself into that person’s perspective of one’s situation. Also, some may have noticed that I look at the “useless” things that are unique but have no real impact on a stories plot. It was the little things I focused on. When reading The Last Battle I ignored the little things mentioned in the story, such as what was in the stable during the last chapters, and why did the clever, cocky cat run out of the stable with such terror, as if he saw the devil himself? If I had caught the little details then I probably wouldn’t have cried in the end. Now as I read it’s now a rare pleasure, with everything happening so quickly in a high school senior’s life. Books are like old friends I try to acquaintance myself with often.
Turnea, D 2nd period
When I was a child, I almost never read. I liked to read small little books like "Go Dog Go" by Dr. Seuss when I was really young, but anything without pictures on every page was a no go. However, there is a book that I read in fourth grade that changed my mind about reading forever, and ever since I chanced upon that book, I have loved reading with a fierce might. This book is not well known at all and is not even published yet, but was probably the biggest step I ever took in my literary career. This book was the first of a series and was called "Moss Academy of Myths, Magick, and More", and it was written by my mother. This book was her little brain baby that she had started writing short stories about when she was in seventh grade, and right about the time I was in fourth grade, the first of the series was written. My older sister, Tia, read it and so I wanted to read it as well. It was written by my mom after all. So I went from reading books no longer than thirty pages to reading this book that was a whopping 800 plus pages long. It was a hard read for someone so inexperienced in reading, but I loved the plot line. The book was about magic and adventure, which would keep any child interested. However, it also had mystery. I had to solve riddles and analyze characters to figure out who was who and which person was evil. There were allusions to mythology and other famous writings. There was so much figurative language and the sentence structure was so different from the other books I had read before it. I did not know it at the time, but my mom’s book introduced me to a new way of thinking about literature and how to understand it. It taught me that there was so much more to books than a colorful picture. The book was amazing and after finishing it, I asked my mom for whatever she had of the next one. From what I recall, the series is approaching its end and is about eight books long. I have not read the whole series, but the first book is the one that I care the most about. It taught me that just because a book did not have pictures, does not make it a bad one. I love reading now and most books I read are never below 450 pages. I do not read as much as I used to because I am so busy with homework and other activities, but I still love to read. I mostly read short stories that I find online, but I do read an actual book every once and a while. If it had not been for my mom’s book shocking me into a whole new world of literature, I do not think that I would be the at the same level of thinking as I am today.
ReplyDelete^ Sorry, I forgot to put my name^
Delete-C. Lenhoff 2nd period
I have always been a reader. As a child, I picked up anything and everything I could lay my eyes on. I was a flashlight-under-the-covers reader. When I was young, I loved fiction. I devoured the Harry Potter series, the Chronicles of Narnia, even the Hardy Boys got my attention. Throughout elementary school I was often reprimanded for reading during class, though, in my defense I only read when I had already understood the lesson that was being taught. I was always stuck between the pages of a book. When I went into middle school, I found that my taste in books had changed. I found myself picking books from my parent’s shelves. Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and James Patterson became my new reality. I spent hours reading books that had themes that were far too mature for me.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn’t until I was assigned to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee that I truly changed the way I read. I really do not like to be assigned books, as it is extremely off-putting to me. Eighth grade was surely no exception. When I was handed my very own copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, I wanted nothing to do with it. Nevertheless, I tried to read it, as I always do, to salvage my grade and ensure that I could keep up with classroom discussion. As I read it, I fell in love. It was the first time I had ever read a book where the story wasn’t nearly as important as the meaning. The concept of an underlying message was completely foreign to me.
Even though we were only supposed to read one chapter a night, I finished it the day we received the book. Never have I been stuck to a text as if it were glue. The themes of oppression and racism evoked emotion. I had never felt such strong feelings after reading a book. Before that, I had taken books at face value. It was such a dramatic change for me that I have never read anything the same. Even today, when reading books for pleasure, I find myself searching for the hidden message, as if it were a treasure. I can only trace it back to eighth grade language arts. I was truly changed as a reader.
-Kett, J 2
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ReplyDeleteWhen I was in elementary school I absolutely despised reading. I never understood what was so appealing about sitting down with something that was only words. I didn't like it and I faked all the silent reading time we were given. Because of this I was at lower reading level than everyone else and that made me dislike reading even more. I was given special help to improve my reading skills, but it did not help much and I felt incapable of reading, and was not interested in it. I struggled through all of the assigned reading for school or I did not read the book at all sometimes. Then in seventh grade my friends convinced me to read the Twilight series. As cliché as it sounds that is the reason I have a positive outlook on reading. I had seen the first movie and did not like it, and I struggled through the first book. It took me a month to get halfway through it, and then I gave up. Then I had seen the second movie and thought it was a little more interesting, but still not that great. I decided I wanted to know more about the other characters that were introduced in that movie though so I started on the second book. It took me a day to get halfway through it. I was fascinated by the different characters and how different they were from the movie. That series took me into a new world, and it showed me how imaginative you can be on your own while reading. After that I was in love with reading, I found out that there is so much more offered from a book, you have a say on how you can interpret something. After that series I borrowed whatever books my friends suggested and I wouldn't be seen without a book in my hand. Once I hit high school the free time to read was less, but I was okay with reading for school now too. I may not like the book but I have an easier time getting through it. I have also expanded my reading genres and am willing to try almost anything.
ReplyDeleteLoDolce, A 7/8
When I was younger, I hated reading. My parents would sit me at our kitchen table and would try to get me to read but I had absolutely no desire to. I had heard that reading was “dumb” and “boring” from the older kids in my neighborhood and had unfortunately taken their words to heart. That is until I was sitting at my best friend’s house while her aunt was visiting. Her aunt had brought her a new book to read, but she had already owned it so she gave it to me. Now, my friend was several years older than me and I was little (kindergarten age), I looked up to her. The fact that she had given me this book made it special and I set out to read it.
ReplyDeleteThat book was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and it changed my life. I used to sit up under the covers at night with a flashlight and read way past my bedtime. I was enthralled by JK Rowling’s characters and the world she created. My parents were shocked by this sudden change of heart and used to have me read the passages out loud to them and summarize to prove that I knew what I was reading. They made a deal with me to buy me each Harry Potter book as it came out, but my appetite for reading could not be staunched by a single series. Rowling’s novels had opened the floodgates and so I visited the library twice a week (racking up a considerable sum of late fees). When my family went to the mall, they used to just drop me off at the bookstore, knowing that I would just sit and read there. Books became my escape, my passion, my everything. They took me places beyond what I could ever learn in the classroom. Now, as I am older, I have little time for reading for pleasure. But whenever I do, I am reminded of how much I love it.
-Harris, S 2*
I have always loved to read. If you were to step into my room you would find shelves of books above my desk and a pile of all the recent books I have read next to my bed. I am a book hoarder. I have kept all the books I have ever read, ranging from Dr. Seuss books to Fifty Shades of Grey. My love affair with books started in the first grade with my discovery of the Harry Potter series. I read the books religiously, and I still read them in such a manner to this day. Although Harry Potter was/still is my favorite book, I delved into anything I could get my hands on. I was the type of kid who would spend an entire winter or spring break reading a book series and I would do nothing else. Through elementary school and most of middle school I mostly stuck to fictitious books, until I came across the book Crank by Ellen Hopkins in the eighth grade. While perusing the discount books at Barnes & Noble I came across this book by mere chance. A week later, the way I read and interpreted books was drastically changed. Crank was a non-fiction book written by the mother of a girl who became a meth addict. The book was heavy with the reality of life and the raw emotion of the author. I had never read anything like it and I still have never read anything that has evoked such an emotional response in me as Crank did. The shocking reality of the book enriched the way I read books by granting me the ability to pick up on underlying themes that are applicable to real life. Sadly, when I got to high school my reading habits did a 180°. I came to resent reading as most of the reading I did was consumed by the dry books we were required to read. Coupled with this, my time for reading for pleasure was limited due to the abundance of activities I involved myself in as well as a hard class schedule. I do not read as often as I would like, but my thoughts occasionally go back to moment when I got my first taste of reality.
ReplyDeleteAguinaga, C 7/8*
I am fortunate enough to have grown up with an avid bookworm as a mother. I vividly remember participating in Lakewood’s library summer reading program and tracking all the books I had read within the two month span. Reading was, and still is when I have free time, the only place I feel accepted for everything I am. Books didn’t question my quirky habits or unmatched clothes. Reading even helped me conquer my severe speech impediment. I would often strive to read as many stories as possible. It probably wasn’t until I picked up The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin that I had the epiphany that reading was about quality, and not quantity. The book follows the sixteen heirs of Sam Westing who has suspiciously died. His will contains several sets of clues; whoever solves the mystery of the murder, and which of the sixteen heirs killed him, would inherent $200,000,000 and his company. This book introduced naïve, 2nd grade Hannah to the idea that lying could be connected to one’s identify; that sin and flaws sometimes had purpose or valid reason. It was the first book I could I found a theme in by myself. A murder mystery with (SPOLIER,) no real murder was so shocking and exciting for me that I read it over and over. Before then I would read to gain experience, and occupy my time. The Westing Game created an atmosphere where I wanted to read books multiple times because I knew I would find foreshadowing and new answers each time I read.
ReplyDeleteRaskin’s young adult novel also included such diverse characters that allowed me to not only expand my imagination, but feel celebrated as a shy, young girl. The symbolism of the game of chess inspired me to always take a second look at every situation, and pause before making any decision while still having the air of confidence. Looking back on the story, The Westing Game has many challenging ideas about race, class, and disability which have stuck with me through the years. If it wasn’t for The Westing Game I might not have been eager to pick up more difficult books for my age that had deeper meanings as a young student.
-Grabowski, H. 7/8
I think I have always really liked reading, I remember my begging my parents to read to me when I was younger but they were too tired from work and so I would fumble through old charlie brown books as my parents told me they were just "resting their eyes" beside their bed every night. I remember learning the word "enthusiastic: from one of those books and using it every single chance I got, and then I would learn another big word and use it over and over. I was always excited about reading, when I was really young I would stay inside during recess and read Beverly Cleary books over and over.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until about 8th grade a different class than mine was reading The Book Thief and the title intrigued me and I asked my teacher if I could read it too and of course she said yes and let me borrow a copy. To this day it is my favorite book, though sad and tragic the holocaust told from the perspective of death about a family who was neither Jewish nor in favor of Hitler was incredible. I don't think more tears have ever been shed than reading this book. Someone once asked me what my favorite book was and when I didn't have an answer they said, "If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?" and my answer would have to be The Book Thief.
I really do not read as much as I would like, and unfortunately when I do read, it's not for pleasure but instead for assignments. The pressure of deadlines sometimes takes the enjoyment out of reading without having the time to absorb every sentence, every page turn. It's just a vicious "read this by tomorrow" deal. I have about 30 books on my book shelf I'm dying to read but I just don't have time for. However when I do, I know the impact my favorite book has had on me carries with me to other pieces of literature.
Bethany W 2nd period.
The book that affected how I read today most profoundly is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I had read several works of literature before Coelho, including Night and Lone Survivor, but this is the book that truly opened my eyes as to what writing could achieve for a reader. The other books of real merit I mentioned interested me, but in my mind I did not see what set them apart from the books I read just for myself. It was just characters moving through a predictable setting, with the same old problems; they existed only for themselves, never straying into the world I lived in. With Alchemist, though, it was different. Since the main character acts more like a bystander, learning from the people he encounters on his journey, I got more of a full view of the world he lived in. Coelho’s simple open sentences left a lot of room for your brain to flesh it out with your own thoughts, and the allusions (mostly to the Bible) shows you where he got his ideas and how they are ingrained into your own existence. I saw not just Santiago and his traveling companions, but a whole living breathing world that, if I tried, I could slip my hand right though the page and touch. And I really could touch it, because I lived by the same rules that applied to Santiago. Ever since then, I have been able to pick out connections to real life and my own life in any school text, which helps me understand how the characters are thinking and why the book was deemed relevant.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this prompt, it inspired me to take out my Alchemist copy and look through what I had marked in it for the first time in years. I realized that many of the quotes I had underlined or highlighted were ideas or frames of mind that have become the core of my life philosophy. Santiago’s return to the ruin streathened my belief that everything you do comes back to meet you. The “magic” rocks and the desert omens are why I believe so much in the power of chance and coincidence. In short, if I had not read this book, I would not be the person I am today. I would still be that shallow, timid (yes, timid) little creature who was afraid to look beyond the pages. I’ll admit, I’m still not very good, but at least now I can see the depth for what it truly is: a reflection of the world we live in and the authors interpretation of this one bit, this one piece of the puzzle.
As for what reading in general has done for me, I think it has given me the key to interacting with other people. Though watching characters interact with each other I have learned other people reactions to emotions and how to recognize them in people I interact with. In essence, I can “read” people. I may not be able to communicate with them very well, but I can tell when something is wrong and try to help the best I can. Reading, as King said in On Writing, has influenced my writing as well. Aside from the obvious see-what’s-already-been-done tract, it has fleshed out my description considerably and given my ideas to tweak and make my own. This is another thing Alchemist showed me: how writing is like magic; you take ideas from what you see and hear and read, and you make it your own. Someday, I hope to create a world every bit as colorful and deep as Coelho’s, and this is where that began. Maktub.
Maslach, K 2
From a young age, I was in love with reading. We have a book shelf in my living room completely filled with books from my childhood. I was always pushing my parents to read to me and because of this, I learned how to read before I was in preschool. I didn't just read books, I had my own magazine subscriptions by first grade, widening my horizons even more. As far as actual literature goes. my first series of books were the Narnia books, which I started in second grade. I remember going to a book fair, seeing the entire set on the shelf, and demanding that my parents buy them for me. I distinctly remember seeing the cover art on the last book, a unicorn with blood on its horn, and getting really excited to read the entire series. But, being a child, I gave up at the fifthbook because I found it terribly boring. To this day, I don't know why the unicorn has blood on its horn.
ReplyDeleteThe first book that popped into my regarding the subject of which novel had impacted me the most was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. I read this book my sophomore year and it impacted me by introducing different opinions and perpspectives on popular issues of teenage life. The reason why it quickly became favorite book, and remains to be to this day, is because it came to me at a point in a low part of my life and I found ways to connect the life lessons from the book to the conflicts of real life, which genuinely helped me. One of the lessons taught in the book is that not everybody is what they seem to be, a concept of open-mindedness that I try to carry with me. It is a very important book to me and will alwaya hold a soft spot in my heart.
-Javorsky, R 2°
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ReplyDeleteSince I could remember, I had always been the person to read for pleasure. I never dissected books for all they were worth; but instead, enjoyed a riveting plot and interesting characters I could connect with. It wasn’t until my first high school Enriched Language Arts 9 with Mrs. Perrin that I really learned what it was to read. You could say I hardcore struggled in the beginning of the class. I can’t quite place my finger on the title of the book, but it was a collection of poems about the life of coal miners and their families. When we were assigned to read them and break them down, I always interpreted them completely differently than the rest of the class, and quite frankly, I felt indefinitely stupid. It was during this class and the coursework of this book that I learned what I needed to learn. I needed to learn how to break the text down and figure out what it really meant instead of just taking it at face value and not asking anymore questions. Ever since that book and that class, I slowly made my way into interpreting texts correctly and intelligently.
ReplyDeleteI always have been, and I believe I always will be, a person that has two separate mindsets when it comes to reading. When I just want to read the book for fun, I’m probably not going to mark up the margins and delve deep into the depths of the book. School books on the other hand, I have learned that they are a different realm and most of those books have more to offer than the dampened ‘plot twists’ I’m reading simply to read.
-Gettle, B 2
As a self-proclaimed “nerdy kid”, I have always found comfort in reading. As a child I carried books with me wherever I went. I took them in the car and read until I was carsick, on family vacations, and often could be found up past bed time, hiding under my covers with a flashlight and book. Reading for me has always been my truest escape, a place where I could travel to far away worlds, and live among fabulous and extraordinary people. I have read such a wide variety of books I can barely pick a favorite or most influential book. As a child, my first obsession was found within the pages of Harry Potter. The wonderful, wizarding world J.K. Rowling created for me has sparked my love for literature from the age of six. I was enamored with these people who I have never met, and never truly seen, except for in my mind, who became some of my best friends. From there, I travelled through many different genres, my favorite being historical fiction or satirical writing. Anything by Michelle Moran, the historical fiction writer is a quick and excellent read, full of intrigue and drama. I enjoy Kurt Vonnegut’s writing as a more serious author. The book The Handmaid’s Tale, however, changed my outlook on the world as a woman. This dystopian book is commonly assigned reading for college gender studies classes, and I stumbled upon it during the summer before my freshman year. This time, between middle school and high school, is a very exploratory one, and I truly believe reading The Handmaid’s Tale shaped my ideals as a feminist as I began to find myself. So many books have each had their own little influence on me. All of my life, reading has shaped me, whether it be for pleasure or for academia. I hope this never changes, and that I will be able to read something new every day for the rest of my life.
ReplyDeleteFlorek, E. 7/8
When I was in elementary school, I was an awful speller. I failed so many spelling tests and would study for so long. In the fifth grade my teacher called me out in front of the class for always “dose” instead of “does”. Thinking I couldn’t write, I didn’t read. Throughout grade school my my sister was reading A Series of Unfortunate Events and I constantly asked her to read to me, as she read before bed and we shared a room. Then came the Harry Potter series, which she also would read aloud to me.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn’t until middle school I started reading myself. I went to the library and would get all the young adult girly love stories, I realized I enjoyed reading when I stayed up until two in the morning to finish a book. The first book that truly shaped me as reader and person is CRANK by Ellen Hopkins. If you have never read a book by Ellen Hopkins I truly recommend it. The subject matter was a little mature for 12 year old Cali but being sheltered my whole life,reading a book about drugs, regrets and relationships taught me what books could do. I went on to read more of Ellen Hopkins’ work, her style is poetic, usually only about 50 words to a page and the words created pictures. I learned so much about the world and looking back, I probably didn’t understand half of it. These books opened doors for me to read more, another one of my favorites being Skinny by Ibi Kaslik. These books showed me not to look at the world through rose colored glasses as i always had. These books taught to question the world around me but also find the goodness in strangers.
I don’t look at texts the same way, I question things. I can’t just read something and think “oh I like the story”, since growing older I focus on the text and the writing so much more. Not only what the author is saying but how they say it because normally that shows the truth of the story. I have loved to read for a long time, and I hope I never stop even though I am still not very good at spelling.
Parey C 7/8
A book that has shaped me as a reader would be Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. This book is one of only two books that have actually had the power to make me cry because of something that happens to the characters in the book, the other being The Fault in Our Stars. The difference between Eleanor and Park and The Fault in Our Stars is that I chose to read Eleanor and Park on my own. Even though I only read it last year and now when I was younger as Mrs. Perrin’s glimmer is set, it has shown me that it is possible for the characters to feel so real and to feel that connected to them that you actually show emotion when something happens to them. I now look for and want a book that makes me that emotional as a reader because I believe that any good book should be able to evoke that sort of reaction, whether it is anger or sadness or disbelief. I am not and will not say that Rainbow Rowell has “literary merit” but what I do know is that while I read the last five or so chapters of Eleanor and Park I could not stop the tears and my mother came into my room trying to explain to me that they are not real people and that they do not exist and even though I knew that, they felt very real to me.
ReplyDeleteDame, E 2*
As a child, I always read and was always learning. My first serious books were The Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snickett. I learned many of what I now know to be archetypes. Colors were not just colors anymore. Green was jealousy and red was passion. Even the shades had meaning. This microalanysis helped me to better understand books as I went up in difficulty. The meanings became more in depth and harder to understand but it was a good beginning for me.
ReplyDeleteReading has impacted me by making me look between the lines. I no longer can just look at anything and say it is what it is. Everything has a deeper meaning whether it is understood the same way be everyone. Which is good because understanding is up to each persons interpretation. It also helps me to gather information and create my own individual meanings and understandings of not just texts but morals and ideas. In school, reading has made me want to achieve higher and learn more. It helps me look past the vague text on smart boards or on handouts to realize for myself.
Sarah palmer 7/8
As a child, I always did well in my classes and got good grades. And I was always reading. One of the first books that I can remember that I truly loved reading was Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. This book allowed me to delve into Winnie’s world, and I saw everything through her eyes: the fence that confined her, the spring that produced water that made you immortal, the beautiful lake next to the Tuck’s house, everything. I even felt myself developing what was probably my first character crush on Jesse Tuck. I came back to read this book several times, and still occasionally pick it up just to see what I’ve forgotten. It’s a wonderful feeling. This book was the first to really open up my eyes to the joys of reading, and it has significantly impacted me as a reader. It taught me to analyze characters, even though I didn’t realize that that is what I was doing. I saw how Mae’s motherly instinct kicked in when she realized that they had to take Winnie, and how she desperately wished they could keep her because she had always wanted a daughter. None of this was directly stated, but I felt it. It also taught me how to create a scene in my head, how to use the words on the page to paint a picture in my mind. Even to this day, I can still picture in my mind’s eye the setting that I created. It fascinates me how certain things have that ability to stick with you, even after years and years.
ReplyDeleteReading Tuck Everlasting began my wonderful literary journey, and I have never stopped loving books. Sometimes, it is difficult for me to read, what with school and homework and, this year, college, but I hope that I will always be able to find time. This past summer, I wasn’t reading anything for a solid month due to vacations and beaches and camps. Then I picked up the Harry Potter series and began reading them for the first time and remembered all that I had been missing. Reading is a passion of mine, and those nights that I stay up until four in the morning pouring over a novel are my favorites. Getting lost in imaginary worlds will never cease to entice me. All it took was a little girl, escaping to freedom, finding young love, and realizing what it truly means to be a family for me to fall in love with literature.
-Dushek, K 2˚
I will admit, I have always hated to read. As a kid, I read books like I Love You, Stinky Feet and Today I Feel Silly. Getting into middle school, however, I didn’t read much. I just didn’t have a passion for it. Math was my forte back then. I typically only read when it was required; summer reading, language arts assignments, etc. However one day, I overheard the school librarian going on about this author, Sarah Dessen, and how she wrote books for kids in the middle school range of ages. Being the not-so-avid reader I was, I didn’t think too much of it.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks later, I noticed a book sitting on the shelf of the media center in my school. The author’s name stood out to me. At first I couldn’t figure out why, but then I remembered about the librarian and what she had said. The author was Sarah Dessen, and the book on the shelf was Lock and Key. I picked it up and flipped from front cover to back once or twice. Then, I read the summary on the back cover. It sounded interesting, so eventually I bought my own copy and began to read. Immediately, I was sucked in.
The imagery in this book was so outstanding, and little 12-year-old Shaena just absolutely adored the troubled love story plot. I’ve always been a horrifically slow reader, but somehow, I managed to read this book twice as quick as I would’ve read any other book. I was so intrigued by the words Dessen slathered onto the pages and I just could not pull myself away. I read the book at least four times. Each time, I was just as excited as the last to read the upcoming conflicts and resolutions. The book was almost a mystery at some points, which drove me absolutely insane... I’m a sucker for mysteries.
This was the first book that I was ever actually interested in, which meant a whole lot to me. It gave me a whole new appreciation for literature. I finally was able to understand how people could read novel after novel without boring themselves to death. Lock and Key gave me a new sense of hope that I could still get sucked into literature. Although I didn’t, it still helped me a lot to be more interested in reading. This book instilled in me a dedication to become intrigued by some part of everything I read, whether it be the entire text or just a small detail, such as imagery or figurative language.
Cruse, S 2
When I was little, my parents would read a lot to me. I had this disney princess box that was full of little books from each one of the princess' and every night my dad would sit me on his lap and read a story to me. During the holidays we would pull out the Santa Claus stories with little kids waiting for him to arrive, and I just remember getting so into the pictures and words, and be filled with excitement. As I got older into the upper years of elementary school, I was obsessed with the 'Captain Underpants' and 'Junie B. Jones' series. I always thought that the more I read, the smarter I would become. So once a book was finished, my self esteem and (what I believed my intellect) would go skyrocketing. There was not one specific book though that has stuck with me or taught me some great lesson as a child. I guess I kind of just read in the moment and enjoyed it, then they left my mind.
ReplyDeleteNow as I am almost finished in highschool, I honestly only read what is assigned by the teachers. I know most do not like too, but marking up the book with annotations for me helps with remembering specific parts of the book, and not just forgetting about it like I did as a kid. It is not that I do not like reading anymore, because I do, it is just difficult sometimes to find the time with there only being twenty four hours in a day.
Asturi, V 7/8
Reading has been, and hopefully always will be, a fundamental part of my life. From the time I was four and started those little “Hooked on Phonics” books and CDs to my picking up Gone With the Wind when I was eleven, I have been in love with the craft. My parents always encouraged me to read when I was younger, getting my whole collections of golden books and Winny the Pooh and The Magic Tree-house. I truly believe they spent more money on books and book-related things than all of my other toys combined, and that ‘s purely because I kept asking for them. I can proudly say I have 3 bookshelves in my room, a bookshelf headboard on my bed, one in the basement, and one in my brother’s room FULL of novels and literature belonging to me.
ReplyDeleteDespite all of that though, I will say that for me, reading is a matter of quality over quantity. My genre of choice was and always will be fiction and, more than that, series. The book that started it all for me, personally, was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I was probably about six years old when my mom would come in every night before I went to sleep and read me a chapter from the novel, and as that went on I became absolutely hooked. Mesmerized. I loved how the characters and stories transported me to a different place and time. Around first grade, I began to immerse myself in every and all books that I could get my hands on. The Magic Tree-houses, Judy B. Jones, Harry Potter, Pendragon, The Inheritance Cycle, The Sister’s Grimm, etc. Then I hit my goth phase in middle school, and EVERYTHING was about witchcraft and vampires. I probably read about 30 different series between 6th and 8th grade.
All throughout these phases and such, I started working my way through the big titles that everybody knows. Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Flowers in the Attic, IT, The Scarlet Letter, and even the complete works of Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe.
Every one of these fantastical and fiction and every single one became an escape from my own realities. I read so I can be new places with new people. Instead of on my back deck, I’m creeping around the moors with Katherine and Heathcliff, watching and listening as they fall deeper in their violent and passionate relationship. Rather than sitting cross-legged on top of my washer waiting for the buzzer to sound, I’m running down the corridors of Hogwarts with Harry and Hermione and Ron, spells flying past on from our pursuers. Reading has changed me in ways I can’t even express and I will be forever grateful.
- Graf, A. 2*