To say I dislike reading and writing is an understatement. From the time I was a young student in elementary school to who I am today, English has always been my least favorite academic discipline. The required assigned readings have failed to catch my attention and writing is a rather boring process for me. To me a book is an outdated form of entertainment that requires a significant amount of time and concentration, and writing as a chore that I dislike doing. I have almost always felt this way about reading and writing. In the second grade I remember being assigned a book report and I waited until the night before the report was due to even start reading the book. I naturally picked The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss due to it being incredibly short. Even in the second grade this book was below the reading level expected of me but I really did not care. Throughout the entire assignment I was complaining to my mom that “this is a waste of time” and “I hate reading”. Throughout the rest of elementary school and middle school my views on literature have gotten progressively more negative. While in the fourth grade my teacher Mrs. Monohan announced that the class would need to read a book, make a diorama and present it to the class, it was easy to hear people …show more content…
Many people would also consider reading to be classier or more “cultured” than seeing a movie and that never made sense to me because at their core they are both forms of entertainment that just appeal to different types of people. I think I personally believe that books are seen as important simply because society keeps the traditional view that reading is an activity for the cultured and the wealthy as a result of their availability in the past, where the only literate people were the wealthy elite and books were hand written up until the printing press was
Going through the alphabet day after day, practicing each letter of the alphabet, is probably what made me dislike writing so much. The summer after third grade, my parents, made me work in reading and writing books to help me improve, but I hated doing them so my skills never really improved. Ever since then, my ability to comprehend what I read has been very difficult.
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
Living in the Southern United States during eighteenth century was a difficult time for African-Americans. Majority of them were slaves who received manipulation, sexual abuse and brutally whips to the spin. They were treated this way in order to stop them from gaining hope, knowledge and understanding of the world. Some African Americans managed to obtain these qualities from books and use them to escape from slavery. Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist who wrote an autobiography, from which the excerpt "Learning to Read and Write" explains how he developed literacy. In the excerpt, an African American slave banned from learning to read and write, breaks the law in an attempt to free his mind from the restricted beliefs of his master. One significant idea portrayed from Douglass's ordeal is that reading and writing is a vital skill that benefits humanity.
Beginning in grade school students are taught a basic curriculum for English, some of the basics being: five sentences equaling a paragraph and five paragraphs equaling a essay. The beginning of the English learning stage is a time to get engaged in reading and writing. Honestly, most children when they are younger start loving to read and write but do they stay that way throughout middle school, high school, or even college? No, nine out of ten times kids who started out loving to read and write end up dreading it. But why? Every students has their own personal reason. Some may have never fully understood how to read or write and was to embarrassed to speak up others may have disorders such as dyslexia which makes reading and writing difficult. In my case I had a passion for reading and writing when I was younger. As I grew up I did not like the material that had to be read or the papers that was required to be written; but since I knew the work had to be done accurately in order for me to pass the class I learned to tolerate the subject.
Prose has noticed through her experience that college students are unable to read even the basic pieces of literature. Some are also “incapable of doing the close line-by-line reading necessary to disclose the most basic information.” This is due to the little concentration and focus on the writing of a book. These students are also the ones who loathe literature. The students are quick to make judgements about books and their character because they have been taught that in high school. This is taught to them through reading questions asking about the student’s opinion on a certain character or even the author. This diverts their minds totally from learning about literature to learning about how to judge a character or story.
In the past I did not enjoy reading because I never wanted to ever sit down and take the time to read and think about what the author was actually trying to say. I was never really taught how to evaluate and solve the authors mysteries until this semester. Until now I never knew to pay attention to the figurative language, style, and structure because those can really express hidden things about the author. Now that I know how too, I enjoy reading a lot more. I plan on reading more in the future.
They say never judge a book by its cover but I have found myself to do just that. My experience with literature has been roughly the same all throughout my life, if I see a good book then I’ll read it. But if it is something boring or I am being forced to read it then I will not read it. For instance, if someone handed me a Harry Potter book there would be no problem. However, hand me a textbook then it is a completely different story. All throughout grade school it was the same especially when it came to stories like “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet”. This can be tied to an earlier article we read about college kids avoiding literature, because they are forced to care about stories that we are told are so great. But in reality I feel as if I will always have this mind set about literature, because nothing I have read has changed my mind.
These two elements go hand in hand. Books bring much more than entertainment of a good story. In the future people could overlook the meaning in books and their qualities. ‘“And what does quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features’” (Bradbury 85). Books in today’s modern world are not as common as they used to be. They have been replaced. Pen and paper used to be the only way to get ideas spread. Now, books are only used if one has to. They are not valued like they used to be. In the future, this problem will only become greater. People will overlook all the importance and meaning an actual book has over a movie or play. A book leads the mind to explore and imagine. Books lead the reader to illustrate the story in their own way, and expand their thoughts. Books give time for one to understand and think about its meaning. ‘“Oh, but we’ve plenty of off hours.’ ‘Off hours yes. But time to think? . . . You can shut them, say ‘Hold on a moment.’ You play God to it’” (Bradbury 86). People will continue to overlook the benefits of a book. A reader can put the book down and think about what they just read. Books can go anywhere and do not depend on internet connection. Unlike in a television show, where the viewer watches time go by and doesn’t think twice about what they just saw. Books also can influence someone to act and make certain decisions. ‘“Number
Many summer reading books are just uninteresting; so for me reading then became a chore that I was being forced to do. I already had a negative experience with being embarrassed while reading, so then to get one boring book after the other just solidified that reading was not enjoyable. Other than bad summer reading books I was just a very active child, I enjoyed running around and playing sports. I did not have the patience as a child to read, I always wanted to be on the go.
No one could ever comprehend the hatred I had for reading- no one. Reading to me was just like being deathly ill, stuck inside, watching the neighbors play and know you couldn't join. On Monday morning I sat down in my teacher Mrs. Daniels class. I had a strange feeling reading would be an assignment coming up soon. I was dreading what I knew she was going to say next. “Class you will have 4 weeks to complete this book.” As I heard these words come out of her mouth I lowered myself into my seat like a turtle slowly going into its shell. I felt as if I was drowning and no one could save me until my life was over. Not only did I hate reading but I hated it even more when I was forced to. I thought in my head, “Why. Why make us read a dumb book that will do nothing but take away my social life.” Never did I know the book I was about to read would have such an impact
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 will be 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 and engage the
This is actually one of the reasons why I did not like reading when I was younger. The other reason why I did not like reading is because my teachers never chose books that interested me. Maybe, if teachers gave students a choice in what to read, provided interesting books for them, and did not make reading feel like test, they would like reading
When it comes writing words can not explain how i feel,but i will try to explain my hatred. First off writing for me is a outlet some people may think this is good thing. Well no they're wrong in my opinion. If a teacher gives a writing assignment about why cell phones are not allowed in school i will start by writing about cell phones and then trail off into why I hate the principle for banning cell phones in the first place. What I think makes a good paper or book is when the author takes life there life experiences and talk about it, but I take this to another level and ramble on and on . Life experiences are good to put in a paper but, facts are better. Another reason why i hate writing is someone always seem to have something to say about
My teacher, Ms. Peshca, came to a conclusion to that she didn’t know what to do or how to explain to me what’s the importance of reading. Ms. Peshca would send me to another reading teacher, and she would try to explain things better than her. Ms. Bell would sit me down and go through different books with me. I wasn’t interested in books that were my age appropriate. I started reading books that were not friendly with age group.
I personally do not enjoy writing like most people would feel about reading a dictionary. I am cautiously treading water with every word I type. I have always found writing to be a tedious process. I have never found ease in wording something the way I want to; therefore, it usually sounds so much better in my head. I’ve never considered myself to be comfortable with writing in general. For example, I always had a hard time telling if I needed a comma in a sentence or not. Sometimes it was obvious, but it seems more confusing most of the time.