My Literary Development

As far as my 18 year old mind can remember the most influential sponsor in my literary development was school. Sure, my parents also influenced what I read and even taught me how to read, but school was what developed my creative literary ability. Reading is the gateway to becoming a good writer, and regardless of what the student reads, or the topic of interest, a child can apply it to their writing. The sponsor that has the most influence on my literary ability is school.

The main sponsor that held it all together, that intertwined all of these skills, and turned me into the good or terrible writer I am today, is school. Oh how I loathed writing, especially in fourth grade. I loved reading, I could read all day, but I loathed writing, and

My new school was Metea Valley High School. A school that had already become one of the top high schools within the last 3 years of being built. On my first day I understood why it was ranked so highly. My old and new high school are opposites of each other. The first day I walked into my new English class the teacher and students were sitting in their desks just chatting. I thought this was odd, but also an easy class: no worksheets, no drawn out homework assignments, or lectures, just sit and chat. Boy was I wrong! The discussion the teacher and students were having was on great works of literary merit, specifically American classics. We bounced ideas off of each other, discussed the author’s tone and intent, and even joyfully wrote our end of the book essays. Compared to my old English class, where writing a one page review after each reading assignment and never sharing ideas was the norm, these discussions in class were more productive towards gaining new insights. At Metea, the teaching style was modern, less scripted; the teachers were passionate and the students had more freedom. The new methods employed in Metea worked well, and it showed in my academics. I quickly enjoyed my classes, did well, and moved up to AP classes. People underestimate the school or classroom environment as a sponsor on a student, but it is truly what molds the student’s opinions on the class subject, and builds their

As a student, I finally had the freedom to write in whichever tone I desired, and also had flexibility on the subject of the paper. Through the influence of the teaching styles employed with what I learned from my most influential English teacher: Mr. Simon, who taught me A.P Literature; I found my rhetorical voice, and the tone that I am most comfortable writing in. In one particular assignment, we were to pick any novel worth of literary merit, and justify why we thought it was worthy. Thus allowing the student to pick and voice an opinion while sticking to the AP curriculum of American Classic novels. Mr. Simon was a harsh grader, but he was in tune with his students, and knew where to lead class discussions or what topics the class is interested in. He intertwined the AP curriculum with the student’s interests and therefor made what could have been a hard, boring, and tedious class into a fun, challenging, and positive learning