There are many different types of events that shape who we are as writers and how we view literacy. Reading and writing is viewed as a chore among a number of people because of bad experiences they had when they were first starting to read and write. In my experience reading and writing has always been something to rejoice, not renounce, and that is because I have had positive memories about them. Memories are things that shape our feelings and what we chose work on for many, if not all, different subjects. The most affluent memory I have concerning reading was that I remember reading books such as the Eragon and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. These memories are the earliest I have of reading and because I enjoyed them so much I have been very fond of reading many different books. I cannot remember anything about reading before these books, which was sometime around the 4th grade, so the memories have influenced me to enjoy reading a more fantasy style. All of my favorite books and stories have been fantasy and I believe this to be the case because of the major influence of the Eragon books, which fascinated me, that I read early on. Before reading the fantasy genre of books I do not remember …show more content…
Whenever I write anything that is not more than a few sentences I feel as though my writing is average at best. My belief is that I write slow because I have never written anything that I really wanted to write, such as a fantasy story, and almost always write persuasive essays, biographical writing, or informative writing that schools always push onto me. This has shaped my view of writing to be more of a punishment so I do not want to do it so it makes me go slower than I should. Because of my joy of reading I feel as though I have above-average word-choice, however, I do not feel the same way about
Over this past semester I have grown greatly as a writer. At the beginning of the semester I was not very confident in my writing because I did not think I had the skills to create strong pieces of writing. Not only have I grown as a writer, but I now enjoy writing more. I believe I have grown as a writer in many ways. Some of these include; I am now able to extend my wording to fit a page requirement, I am able to format my writing in MLA format, I have learned new writing strategies, and I am able to write in many styles of writing.
Reading and writing are fundamental to basic human life and can be enjoyable, but some people don't like to read or they are forced not to. For example in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the government is controlling society and they are not aloud to read books because books are banned. If they are found they are burned, but in Reading books is Fundamental by Charles Blow the society are not forced to read but choose not to. Ray Bradbury and Charles blow both talk about how reading and writing is important and why people need it, yet society doesn't want to read.
In recent years the meaning of literacy has become much more than that. Now literacy includes things such as, numbers, images, and technology. Literacy can be something that developed through things like Books, the internet, television, family, and many other resources. In this literacy narrative I will discuss the origins of my current attitudes about writing, and reading.
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.
So far this year, I felt pretty satisfied with my progress this semester. I feel like I am slowly adapting to the new way papers and assignments are handled. All my college work depends solely on me now. No one is going to baby me anymore and whether I succeed or fail depends on how much effort I put into something. For the first time in my life I wrote a paper. Not just a five paragraph essay but actual pages, which is extremely challenging. It’s also been my first time studying for five hours straight so I can pass an actual test. I didn’t know I possessed this level of dedication, it’s probably because it isn’t free.
Who am I as a reader? I think of myself as an average reader. I first began to read, when in elementary when the English teachers, told us we had to read a book, and from there, I began to read books. I didn’t really like to read books, but we were told to do so. The book which I had to read in elementary school, were not bad for a little child to read. The books could have been better, as of now all the elementary books are good in some certain circumstances.
My relationship with writing has been much like roller coaster.Some experiences I had no control over. Other experiences were more influential. Ultimately it wasn’t until I started reading not because I had to read but because I wanted to, that's when my relationship reached change. I would have probably never cared about writing as I do today if it weren't for the critics in my family. When I was a child, my aunts and uncles always been in competition with who's child is better in school. I have always hated reading and writing because of the pressure to prove my family wrong was overwhelming for me. I had to prove them wrong and show them that I was capable of being "smart" which according to them was getting straight A's in all your classes.
My literacy journey began long before I had actually learned how to read or write. While recently going through baby pictures with my mother, we came across a photo of my father and I book shopping on the Logos boat, a boat that would come to my island every year that was filled with books for our purchasing. Upon looking at this picture, my mother was quite nostalgic and explained how they began my journey to literacy through experiences like this. My earliest memory of experiencing literature was as a small child. My parents would read bedtime stories to me each night before I went to bed. I vividly remember us sitting on the bed together with this big book of “365 bedtime stories for 365 days” and we read one story each day until we had
Growing up in working class family, my mom worked all the time for the living of a big family with five kids, and my dad was in re-education camp because of his association with U.S. government before 1975. My grandma was my primary guardian. “Go to study, go to read your books, read anything you like to read if you want to have a better life,” my grandma kept bouncing that phrase in my childhood. It becomes the sole rule for me to have better future. I become curious and wonder what the inside of reading and write can make my life difference. In my old days, there was no computer, no laptop, no phone…etc, to play or to spend time with, other than books. I had no other choice than read, and read and tended to dig deep in science books, math books, and chemistry books. I tended to interest in how the problem was solved. I even used my saving money to buy my own math books to read more problems and how to solve the problem. I remembered that I ended up reading the same math book as my seventh grade teacher. She used to throw the challenge questions on every quiz to pick out the brighter student. There was few students know how to solve those challenge questions. I was the one who fortunately nailed it every single time. My passion and my logic for reading and writing came to me through that experience, and also through my grandma and my mom who plant the seed in me, who want their kids to have happy and better life than they were. In my own dictionary, literacy is not just the ability to read and write, it is a strong foundation to build up the knowledge to have better life, to become who I am today.
Learning to read and write is something we all have experienced. Some experiences being difficult than others. As a kid, I can remember trying to read the daily newspapers, different types of magazines, books, and addresses on mail; basically, I tried reading anything that had words on it. My favorite thing to read were the back of cereal boxes. Nothing made me more excited than sitting at my white and pink Barbie table and chair set eating cereal while eyeballing the back of a cereal box. Only being able to correctly read one or two words, it was the first time I really felt accomplished.
Everyone is supposed to have a story about how he/she became the reader and writer he/she is today. For me, my story is not just about how I became an exceptional reader and writer; it is about how I became the person I am. I do not have some dark childhood story filled with depressed memories. I had a delightful childhood and cannot complain about anything that I have been through. However, I feel as if I live a life much different from all the children I knew.
Being such a pragmatic individual (If I may be so bold to say), I often take definitions at face value. As such literacy for me is simply the act of being coherent in a field be it reading, writing, painting, finance and others. I view Literacy in the context of the English language as absolutely necessary: Humans are social creatures and we thrive on the interactions we have with others on a daily basis. Writing and language as a whole is an essential tool in the toolbox of life. While I would not consider myself a ‘bookworm’ or an avid reader, I do enjoy a good book from time to time. Much of my fondness towards reading is a direct result of the active role my parents took in my English education from youth. Had they not weaned me onto books that were both denser and more elaborate as the years went by, I probably would have a strong aversion to reading literature. Writing literature however is a different affair. My relationship with writing is fragile at best. I enjoy the concept of writing, especially of stories. In fact, one of my most enjoyable pastimes is creating names of books and imagining the plot never to
“Zarais can you read page number three?” I looked up at the teacher and panicked.
I am not the kind of person who talks or writes much. Putting my thoughts on papers is something I have always struggled with doing. I believe this class will help me improve on transferring my thoughts to paper, in an organized fashion. I look forward to becoming a better writer because of this class.
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