Before beginning my journey into high school this past summer, I was provided a summer reading book which had to be completed prior to my beginning of the ninth grade. I can see the teachers beginning to create their list of required reading that included “ A Separate Peace”. The question now can be asked, for the purpose of required pre high school summer reading, do books that are listened to, as audio books are, count as books that I have read and should I be credited with completing my summer reading assignment if I have never even picked up a book or touched a typed page? If I only push “play” on a device and hear the book read to me, is that the same as me physically handling the pages? “The Hobbit”, for instance, is available in audio book form and if listened to completely, it will take 11 hours and 16 minutes (Dell’ Antonia 2012) Did I just read that? It is my opinion that I did. I am going to be perfectly honest with you right now, at this point in my teenage life, I do not enjoy reading. For whatever reason, it does not excite me. But, in my mind, I have heard in my brain every word that has been written, I have listened to and understand the story and its content to the point that should there be a test on the material, that I may or may not pass. I have never touched a page or held the book in my hand, but I know the …show more content…
I’m not necessarily into first and second world war and all those types of genre but I have to believe that if I were to listen to an audiobook version of A Separate Peace, in a deep male’s voice it would be way more interesting than hearing my minds ear read the words. My voice is the voice of a young woman; I do not sound like John Knowles. When I listen to a book I like, the characters will come alive in my mind and the difference in what I hear in my head can help me to enjoy a book
When you read, especially fiction, you experience a broad sweep of human life. You gain access to the thoughts of others, look at history through another person’s eyes and learn from their mistakes, something that you otherwise would not be able to experience.
In a country like the United States of America, with a history of every individual having an equal opportunity to reach their dreams, it becomes harder and harder to grasp the reality that equal opportunity is diminishing as the years go on. The book Our Kids by Robert Putnam illustrates this reality and compares life during the 1950’s and today’s society and how it has gradually gotten to a point of inequality. In particular, he goes into two touching stories, one that shows the changes in the communities we live in and another that illustrates the change of family structure. In the end he shows how both stories contribute to the American dream slipping away from our hands.
Over the course of this summer I read four books. The books I read were Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry again. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling was the first book I read this summer and I really liked it. I decided to read the 5th Harry Potter book because I had it and I never really got a chance to read it. The book begins were it had left you of in the 4th book when Harry is just about to enter his 5th year at Hogwarts. He still lives with his aunt and uncle whom he hates because they are mean and evil to him. The letters from his friends are very dull and they have nothing to say, which confuses him and makes him furious. He is also mad because he’s still stuck with the Dursleys all summer long. The story goes with his adventures and challenges throughout his 5th year. The genre is fantasy complete with magic. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes the Harry Potter books. I would also recommend that if you have never read any of the previous books you start from the beginning. I can’t wait ‘till the next book comes out!
Literary Analysis Anthem and Station Eleven are both dystopian novels. Both books relate to the citizen having little to no freedom with the government that is controlling them. Anthem was written by Ayn Rand, she wrote about how the government in this area controls what each person is destined to be whether you like it or not. Whereas in Station Eleven the world has practically ended due to a deadly flu virus and, somehow, ended up with a man as many know as the Prophet attempting to rule the word. Both dystopian novels have a very unfair dictatorship type government.
People read for many reasons, some of which are to pass the time, to seek out new experiences, for the sheer pleasure of the language and for the quest of knowledge. Literature is an art, and like art can be very subjective. What one person or society values as good literature may not be looked upon in the same light by another person or society. Some literature transcends time, and will continue to be relevant hundreds of years after it is written, and some literature is relevant at the time it is written, however later may be largely forgotten. For literature to be considered great it must stand the test of time and be captivating, able to elicit an emotional and/or intellectual response. It should also enlighten
I came into this class under the impression that I already wrote well enough and wouldn’t need to improve. However, as I progressed through the semester I learned that there is always room to grow. The first paper I produced was not at the level I was hoping but after I actively decided to improve my writing my papers became much better. Looking back on my work in the class I wonder how much my writing has changed and where I still have room to improve. Without evaluating my work I can’t hope to become any better. Through this class I have grown much as a writer but there is still more I can learn.
“Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life” (Samuel Ullman). As teens go along in life, they learn through the things they read, hear, and see; in particular, when one reads a book, they can connect with the connotations and it can alter someone or influence. Being able to connect to something that another is feeling can really draw people in like bugs to a light. As more and more people can connect to books it becomes more popular so that they may feel a sense of security. Anthem by Ayn Rand and The Giver by Lois Lowry are two very great examples
Over the course of five weeks we’ve had to write three essays (four if you include this one). With every essay I’ve written I have improved my writing process. Having the chance to practice my writing skills in English 102 has made me a better all-around writer. From the beginning of this course, I knew I had a few major issues that I needed to overcome to improve my writing. The biggest being my issues with punctuation, specifically comma splices. Comma splices are something that I just can’t seem to wrap my head around. Although I have gotten better at recognizing comma splices they still seem to sneak in to my writing.
Having never been a proficient reader, getting through the book by myself was difficult, but the need to understand the story had me rereading every page. Harry Potter contained no profound, life changing morals but it did capture the imagination and ignited my passion for reading. What I had once associated with boredom and saw as a chore, I now actively sought out more, to the point where reading replaced watching television as a favorite pastime. Afterwards, the first books I would read of my own violation all had compelling stories, like Harry Potter, and the more I read, the less intimidated I was of reading. I no longer stuttered over big words, the need to reread pages diminished, and e...
Ever since I was a young child, I have loved to read. Whether it was Chet Gecko, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, A Series of Unfortunate Events or Animorphs, or Diary of a Wimpy Kid, they all provided me with hours of entertainment and an escape from everyday life. Throughout elementary and middle school, I read constantly and frequently visited the library to find new volumes to digest. Each novel was it’s own world, a new adventure with new friends along the way and an opportunity to travel the world, through time and dimensions, with only the time that you spent reading, in exchange. One year in
My reading experience in junior-high and first three years of high school were not so much different. I had never been enthusiastic to read about predetermined topics assigned by my teacher and they continued to assign predetermined reading topics that made me feel frustrated and at times uncomfortable. But there was positivity that came out of these repulsive and devastating books, such as Lord of The Flies by William Golding or The Night by Elie Wiesel. Lord of the Flies caused me to confirm that humans must have rules and a government to help
Before reading Harry Potter, I very rarely read for pleasure. I found reading boring, almost old fashioned. My frame of mind more readily paralleled Danny Divito in the movie Matlida, who says that “[t]here's nothing you can get from a book that you can't get from a television faster.” While my view of reading as a child could be summed up in that quote, everything changed when I was introduced to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I can remember to this day when my Dad began reading Harry Potter to me, and how I did not understand just how much this book would change me. Harry Potter and his world of wizardry became my own personal Shangri-La, my escape, my own world. Anytime I wanted, I could ascend to a world of fantasy and explore the depths of my own imagination in a way that I had never been capable of doing before. I became obsessed with the book, reading it before, during, and after sc...
When I was younger, I didn’t like reading much at all. I always questioned my teachers what was the purpose of reading; I never got an answer from either teacher until I was in the seventh grade. Starting junior high school was different from elementary. In seventh grade, we were in our reading class for two hours a day. I asked the teachers why didn’t we have the privilege to stay in our other classes for two hours; I never received an answer from my teachers.
Reading was never something I fussed about growing up. As a child, I loved genres of realistic fiction. I was hooked on The New Adventures of Mary Kate and Ashley, Goosebumps, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes, Judy Moody, and especially, Zoobooks and Highlights magazines. My mother was always ready to help build my reading and writing skills. She took me to the library constantly to feed my passion for books and knowledge. I loved exploring the shelfs, organizing the books, and filling up my library cart. I tried keeping a diary in elementary school to keep track of my outings with my parents and grandparents to museums, zoos, movies, and libraries. This flash of writing enthusiasm was spun from books I read in the 4th and 5th grade that were
During the course of this class, I have had the opportunity to read literature from authors who come from different backgrounds and places in the world. Some of the stories and poetry we read were straight forward while others were confusing and sometimes required a second look. But one thing is clear, it changed the way I think about literature in a few ways that I wasn’t expecting. Three works in particular stand out in my mind. “ I Wont Let You Go” by Rabindranath Tagore, “To New York” by Leopold Senghor, and Pedro Peramo by Juan Rulfo all had an impact on my thinking for similar yet different reasons. They all incorporate their cultural backgrounds into their work through the setting of their pieces. They also compose their pieces in a way that makes you want to research their history to find the deeper meaning. Finally, a couple of the authors write about things they are emotionally connected to. Some of the examples we will look at, really opened my eyes to going beyond a superficial understanding of literature.