My first encounter with literature was unexpected. Spending five years in elementary school, I never showed much interest in small readings and poems that were assigned in class. As a matter of fact, having to memorize and analyze literary works that I did not like was a boring, mentally arduous process to me. “In desert and wilderness” by Henryk Sienkiewicz, however, changed my perspective towards both reading and writing in general.
While waiting for my cousin to buy his books before taking me to a new restaurant near home, I roved around the bookstore when Henryk Sienkiewicz’s “In desert and wilderness” suddenly popped into my eyes. I was never the kind to read thick books, yet somehow I chose to give it a try and such decision changed my life. After finishing the book, a whole new world opened in front of me: a world of imagination, emotions and knowledge, all seen through words. From then on, my fascination for reading remained solid and I continued to try other famous works around the world.
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Because I was able to approach profound as well as thought-provoking literary pieces that I am fond of, writing an essay to articulate what I thought was not as hard as before. In reality, I took great pleasure in understanding and analyzing Vietnamese literature and other notable works. Final literature exams, which required students to write an essay in about three or more pages expressing thoughts on a literary piece in fifty minutes, hence, was not so high of a wall for me anymore. After all, those classes about how to organize your essays at school did leave a positive
As one of the most renowned and well-known literary critics in the world of composition, Harold Bloom has self-importantly granted himself the privilege of specifying the reasons as to why we read. From human connection to self-actualization to the acquirement of knowledge, he adheres passionately and unquestionably that “the strongest, most authentic motive for deep reading…is the search for a difficult pleasure.” Bloom, as an experienced critic, fully recognizes the task of judging a book for its merit.
The book makes me understand the importance of reading and know how weak I’m in reading comprehension. Not only is my reading speed slow, but also my thoughts after reading are immature. I haven’t fix some time to read English books before so my background knowledge and vocabulary are far from abundant.
Trying to read this book again without biases was difficult but rewarding. Reading this book again really made me realize what it was I fell in love with in the first place. The vivid descriptions, thoughtful dialogue, and fast paced action really feed your senses. This book feeds the imagination, the body and the soul.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for me about this book is that I actually found it enjoyable and interesting to read. Not only did reading this book make me a better writer, it also refreshed my interest in writing fiction, an interest that I may pursue far beyond high school.
Richard Wright, in his essay “Discovering Books,” explains how reading books changed his outlook on life and eventually his life itself. The first book that widened his horizons was an overtly controversial book by H. L. Mencken. I have a story not so dissimilar from his.
I remember opening the worn library copy of the book, eager to start. The spine cracked and bent, the smell of aged paper filled my nose, just as any other old book before. Little did I know that this 180-page novel was about to change my life forever. I was completely
From reading Alice in Wonderland to now, I have grown to appreciate literature much more. At the beginning of the year, I read purely because it was assigned for me to read, and I only read for important events and story plots. When reading Alice in Wonderland for the first time, I missed everything that Lewis Carroll was trying to convey to the reader. I had no idea that he had written Alice in Wonderland with the intention of preparing children for the real world. I thought it was just a story full of random events and nonsense, but after my realization of a deeper meaning, I grew to appreciate his efforts. From then on from Beowulf to the Fairie Queene, I have learned to see literary works as more than just stories but a...
Loving to read since I was little, I believe that literature defines itself by its ability to capture the ineffable emotions of people. Through the process of understanding the written word I can open the door to the exterior world and experience a sense of belonging by understanding other’s feelings, in both fiction and non-fiction writing. I’ve “wandered lonely as a cloud” with William Wordsworth’s poems, recollecting those emotions of tranquility as if I was there. I’ve looked for the deepest longing for a sense of inner peace and purpose by roaming in Lost Horizon. I’ve struggled at the edges of love and hate for Shakespeare’s King
“I believe that I’m at least competent as a writer as I can usually fluidly express ideas, but those technical skills will be even further crucial once I enter college and the adult world. The sooner I can learn these skills to better my writing, the better prepared I’ll be for any writing situation I find myself in the future.” When I entered the class of Front Range Composition on January 10th, I was armed only with my expectations of what I hoped to learn and the basic writing knowledge I had gained from other classes. Writing had never been my strong suit in my academic years, but I was capable enough to work my way through and still pull off an A in the class. Not this class.
It wasn’t until this book that I really discovered my love for reading. Not only is it filled with fiction novels it also contains any information I could ever want to learn. I often find myself questioning many things and the library provides the information I need to know instead of just aimlessly wondering. Silence is another thing I can experience. It’s one of my favorite things
) My earliest memory of writing is from kindergarten when we had to rewrite a story that the teacher wrote on the whiteboard. I remember not really liking it because of how long it took me to write one sentence. I remember feeling so defeated because I once wrote the wrong story all together. Everyone in my class made fun of me as a result.
Writing is something that is intoxicating to me. When I write, my current problems disappear, and all of my focus turns to the stories my brain is itching to let free. At times writing becomes a coping mechanism for when it is a necessity to divert my attention away from my own mental anguish. From a young age reality is something that I have tried my best to avoid, due to the fact that I have had to live with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder. As a child the real world seemed entirely too frightening for me, so all of my attention turned towards fantasy.
I’ve had a lot of things in my life that I’ve taken for granted; we all have. I never considered the fact that my ability to read and write would be one of those things. I’ve always considered reading and writing a basic human task that everyone in this day and time knew how to do. While I grew up in a relatively poor community, the majority of people my age had common knowledge of reading, writing, and other elementary level skills. At least, that was what I thought.
I pride myself in being an avid reader and okay writer; my family does not agree with me. I can read a two-hundred page book in about four to five hours depending on my mood and whether I take breaks. I wrote an essay for a competition that goes from chapter level to state level to national level; I got first until national level, where I was in the top twenty, making it so for the whole competition I was in the top half of the top one percent. However, I do not see myself as a good writer. This does not explain why I think that; my experiences with reading are far different than my experiences with writing.
I never had any interest in writing before entering high school, I never enjoyed writing essays. I believe the reason was I did not find it necessary to write a 5-page essay on 'To Kill a Mockingbird '. In the real world we will write a page or two for job opportunities and some for the job itself, but hardly ever will you need to write an essay on some book or event in time;