Synthesizing Kevin Clarke's and Gary Lee's Reading Journey Visualize sitting in a classroom of seven year old children, addressed individually to read a passage aloud from within their reading book. When called upon, a child realizing the words are not right and make no sense, the racing heart, the twitching nerves, a flooding of thoughts wondering how to respond, what to do? Alas, act up and be a clown is an outlet for the embarrassment, illustrated by the warm, flushed face. The consequence of being sent to the office appears a better resolve, when compared to anyone realizing the words cannot be read. A secret kept to oneself. What a horrible feeling for a child to unknowingly bear and not understand how to convey. Does one merely give up, or does one rise up and overcome? Martin Luther King, Jr. once articulated, “Our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change” …show more content…
Kevin Clarke, Gary Lee, and I illustrated great courage and an ability to face the challenge of reading and writing adversities, through different, creative, and proactive ways. The benefits of facing one’s adversity in reading and writing are better communication, understanding and providing directions, being informed, safeguarding against being taken advantage of by others, and for the mere progression of life. In addition, a person cannot be believed simply for their words, thus reading is beneficial to ensure those words conveyed represent fact and truth. A last and important benefit of reading and writing is advancing in college to ensure securing a job, which allows one to establish a stable future and live above the poverty level. Therefore, my advice in overcoming adversity, is use the key of courage to unlock the bars, which imprison, step out of the cell by facing adversity, and redeem freedom through learning ways to overcome
At some point in life most people have allowed at least one challenge to defeat them, if not more. Then there are those people who view these challenges as simply that, a challenge. This was the theme throughout Kyle Maynard’s novel, No Excuses, I learned that it is how we go about conquering these challenges that defines us as people. Throughout his novel he notes things will not always come easily; therefore, it is up to us to dig deep and conquer our goals. By finding alternate routes and adjusting your mindset, we are able to achieve any goal we set our minds to. Because it is not the obstacle that holds us back but it is ourselves that keeps us from fulfilling our greatest
...s educational system on traditionalism that focuses on fluency, appreciation, and comprehension. King states, “no one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person” (138). As a whole we are “creatures of habit”, thus resisting changes in the traditional sphere of academics. King uses his spin on popular culture to engage future readers and inspire the next generation of writers. “Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will.” (King 269-270). “On Writing” is a poignant, educated, and inspiring book, a book that is sure to help hundreds of struggling writers and will motivate others who may pick up the book not for inspiration, but mere curiosity.
Adversities are often given a negative connotation and view, as most consider them to be hurdles which impede progress. Nevertheless when taken in and accepted under a positive light, adversities can serve as stepping stones through which an individual can better their character. In the face of looming obstacles individuals who persevere come out of the situation as stronger, determined, and more hopeful for the future.
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
The adversity that was displayed through racial inequalities became a platform for me to trust myself even more along with advocating an example for future young students to neglect any doubt previously conceived of them. It inspired the drive to exhibit triumph and became an ultimate fuel that leads me to the aspiration of love, hope, and success for the years to come. The configuration of a vision of fulfilling my own destiny shaped my undying dream. A dream to say, "I have a
If everyone thinks that without struggle, it is easy to obtain their goals that is entirely false. Struggle comes from the progress of our success and achievement. It is an indication that we poured all of our time and patience into the things we pursue. Jeannette Walls, the author of The Glass Castle, explain her struggles. She survives by finding foods from the trash can and earns money by babysitting, exchanging scrap metal, finding jobs, and from her parents. As a graduating student from high school, receiving my diploma is an indication that I ...
In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting three inspirational people and their experiences on reading and writing. Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and Sandra Cisneros all had different opinions about it. All of them overcame struggles that were different but similar in some way. What really intrigued me was that they followed their hearts in what they wanted to do even though people told them they couldn't.
Many people think that reading more can help them to think and develop before writing something. Others might think that they don’t need to read and or write that it can really help them to brainstorm things a lot quicker and to develop their own ideas immediately (right away). The author’s purpose of Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, is to understand the concepts, strategies and understandings of how to always read first and then start something. The importance of this essay is to understand and comprehend our reading and writing skills by brainstorming our ideas and thoughts a lot quicker. In other words, we must always try to read first before we can brainstorm some ideas and to think before we write something. There are many reasons why I chose Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, by many ways that reading can help you to comprehend, writing, can help you to evaluate and summarize things after reading a passage, if you read, it can help you to write things better and as you read, it can help you to think and evaluate of what to write about.
I had always wanted to be an English major. In high school it was the only class that I enjoyed. I loved reading and writing about literature. There was something in the words of struggle and sadness that so many authors wrote about that gave my life meaning through a context of the joy and sorrow that are inextricably linked to living. Despite this, when it came time to choose a major in college, I steered clear of English, my thoughts filled with the intimidating associations of stodgy professors who deconstructed every sentence on a page, bantered using esoteric verbs, and deemed students the flawed population, and that they, erudite and pristine, were socially obligated to instill a fraction of their wisdom into these malleable minds of the naÔve, or just plain stupid. I did not want to willingly submit myself to a major where I perceived I would be subjected to daily criticism of my intelligence. Throughout college, I changed majors several times, each time considering English, but turning away for fear of failure. When I graduated, after a period of complete indecision, I decided that I was going back to school and getting a degree in English. This strange, motivating desire to possess an English degree consumed me, and I knew that I had to prove to myself that I was capable of earning this degree. I had to prove to myself that I could overcome this hurdle. It is funny how one obstacle can create in our minds this wall of fear. So much of life is learning to overcome a fear that often dictates our decisions, desires and dreams.
Reading is seen as a simple task that a person learns at a young age. This is not true. In the Introduction to the book called “Ways of Reading” by David Bartholomae, Anthony Petrosky, and Stacey Waite explain that reading and writing is a complex process that may be difficult to understand. Two terms mentioned heavily in this book are reading against or with the grain. These being two complex terms when it comes down to reading. In most novels the author gives the reader the opportunity to agree or disagree with them. Reading with the grain is taking the author’s insight, while reading against the grain is not supporting the author’s view but your own. Both of these terms have different meanings but when it comes down to reading both of these
It was finally time to head to gym class in the afternoon where we were instructed to take part of a physical test. This test would determine how fit or unfit we are based on a system that was implemented by those with greater authority, on which concluded that it was on such a scale society should be based on. So it was that afternoon that I preformed the tasks that were instructed on to me and my peers. I was able to completed them to my utmost potential which can be consider to be something not so distinctive. It was on this day that I was mocked by one my peers of my lack of ability to preform the instructed physical tasks, that was a no brainer to such a fit individual like himself. It
The ability to articulate my thoughts, aspirations and hardships has been a big part of my recent literacy. From personal essays to an open discussion with a panel. To put my thoughts into words on a paper or have a discussion, I have had the privilege to be heard from many around my city and in other states.
While there are many things standing in my way, my experiences have prepared me. My mother’s kidney disease shows me the importance of being financially prepared for the unexpected. My dad’s hard work and sacrifice has shown me how to be a hard-working woman and to put others before myself. And most importantly, I have learned that no matter a person’s race, gender, or class, you never truly know a person’s
Throughout people’s lives, many are tested, in which they are pushed to their own limits. These personal experiences help the person to realize what makes them different from others, what makes them unique and stand out from the crowd. Even, sometimes with these experiences, people learn more about themselves, push themselves to their limit and test their abilities to work under pressure and other times adapt. In my case, the most important experience that I went through that helped me develop skills that I use to excel in my academics is something that most people don’t go through until late in life, the loss of a parent, in this case, my mother.
Chapter five, Writing as Healing and the Rhetorical Tradition: Sorting Out Plato, Postmodernism, Writing Pedagogy, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder written by T.R. Johnson of the University of New Orleans describes the different views of how language helps a person who has encountered a traumatic experience overcome and heal. Chapter nine, Pathography and Enabling Myths: The Process of Healing written by Anne Hunsaker Hawkins of Pennsylvania State University discusses how personal writing, such as autobiographies and biographies, promote healing in regards to illness. Both of these two chapters speak about writing in regards to healing, but chapter nine speaks about a specific writing that tends to be more effective.