Reading, Writing, and Walking with God- Personal Narrative
I love God. With my entire heart I burn for him. As a freshman in high school He called me, not with words or anything audible, but by his mere presence; a holy desire within my spirit that wants to love his people, and bring them into a romantic love-relationship with Him. The calling was as a whisper at first, just a small urge, almost a whim, but now it has grown into a war cry that rages in my soul.
I'm not sure exactly how literature has affected that, well secular literature; the main influence on my faith has definitely been the Bible. When I was fourteen my pastor said on a Sunday morning, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12) Don't believe it because I say it, your parents say it, or your friends say it, GET INTO THE WORD AND WORK IT OUT!" So I did. I read the whole thing, all of it, in a year and a half. I learned a lot during that time, and my faith was greatly influenced and my convictions were shaped. I know I subconsciously and even consciously picked out in my mind the things I personally found important to hold on to. Nevertheless I developed a great respect for the Bible and everything it says, and I agree with Gallagher and Lundin that the Bible should be viewed as literature to be best understood. Robert Altar and Frank Kermode offer " 'a new view of the Bible as a work of great literary force and authority.' They even claim that 'literary analysis must come first' before all other uses of the Bible. Without prior literary analysis, the other ways of using the Bible will be hopelessly misguided, for unless we have a sound understanding of how the text fits together as a literary work, 'it will not be of much value in other respects' " (Gallagher and Lundin, 66)
I have always enjoyed reading because I am an imaginative person. I will refuse to watch a movie if I have already read the book because I like the way I have it imagined, and I feel the same way about our textbook. I prefer not to read Bedford's comments after the stories in the text, because I would rather not listen when someone else is telling me what I should think as opposed to my own imagination.
In the essay titled “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading” written by John Holt and published in Reading for writers in 2013, Mr. Holt discusses why most children aren’t interested in reading. Mr. Holt spent fourteen years as an elementary school teacher. He believed classroom activities destroy a student’s learning ability. Mr. Holt never let his students say what they thought about a book. He wanted his students to look up every word they didn’t know. People can learn difficult words without looking them up in the dictionary.
On October 10th, 2017 at Springhurst Elementary School, I conducted a “Reading Interest Survey” and the “Elementary Reading Attitude Survey.” These surveys were conducted on a 1st grade student, Jax, to determine what his feelings are towards reading in different settings, what genres he prefers to read, and interests. It was found that Jax doesn’t mind reading, but prefers a few different topics. This was evident through his raw score of 30 on recreational reading, and a raw score of 31 on academic reading.
Pearson UK (n.d.) stated “Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. In fact, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.”
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.
refugees, and the second generation who were born here in the states. Finally, I feel now that I have the vision to work on myself to know more about my attitude, my future therapeutic values in the field practices. At the same time, I am planning to work more with my personal therapist on the values, beliefs, and emotions and I will be happy to know about myself more.
I would only read books that were required for class, and even then I usually would not finish them. Reading was never something that I liked. When I got into high school, I started reading books for fun a little more than before. I was always a Harry Potter fan but since I did not like to read I only watched the movies. I remember reading those books and actually liking them. My junior year was also a time in my reading history that I remember well. As a class we were reading the Great Gatsby in time to see the movie for the midnight premier. Each day we were instructed to read up to a certain page, no further. I did not like the book at first, just like any other book I was forced to read for school. But, one night I was reading and the book got so interesting for me I could not put it down. That was the first book in along time that I enjoyed reading that was assigned to me. After my junior year, I went right back to my old ways of not reading books. My senior year I took AP English, so this required a lot of books. Thinking back to that year of school I remember finishing maybe one or two of those books. Although, I didn’t read all of those books, I still got a good grade in the class. One thing I did learn from that class about not reading all the books was reading the summaries is not good enough because, they leave out all the
The idea of literature being an important aspect of life has always been greatly prevalent in my upbringing. This notion that I supported was spurred on at the cause of my obstinate parents insisting upon my reading of two books a week to benefit my vocabulary and to develop the articulate thought process of a skilled reader. As a young child, my biggest influences were my parents’ passionate and persuasive ideas regarding the correlation between
The year was 1945, the blazing blizzard was harsh and cold, so cold that people froze to death if they went outside, children crying and parents trying to stay warm, all I can hear is the death and sorrow of the people as they struggle to find warmth. This winter in particular was the worst winter that we had ever faced, frostbite was a definite for those who wished to travel the winter baron. I am a poor simple man yet still alive, some would call it luck some would call it a gift from god. No person has a gift from god, I only think this because I am atheist and see no way in there being a higher power. I have been on the streets for 10 years now, I am 27 years old and ever since my parents had died I have had to defend myself and find ways for me to
I read because it brings me pleasure and because I never want to stop learning. Recently I have been reading a lot of multicultural women's literature and Victorian medical textbooks.
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.
Every Sunday. Stares and disappointment. I sat with my grandmother at this big church. People would stare when they realized I didn't know the prayers or songs. I was trying to learn more about religion why did I feel so scared? Am I going to find where I belong? Will I have enough time? These are questions I sometimes have to ask myself. When I was little I explored many religions but now that i'm older I am frightened about faith.
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
"Who Is God To Me" God means many different things to many different people. There are a lot of people who believe that there is no such thing as a God. There are people who believe that there is no God because no one has ever seen him. I personally believe that there is a God because of my faith. I have faith in God and I feel that God is real. I have many reasons why I believe in God and who God is to me. But I have three reasons that stand out for me about who God is to me. They are the following: God is always there for me, God is my friend, and God is my creator. These are my three most important reasons of who God is and what God means to me. God has never let me down in my life. Sometimes I feel that God has let me down or that He did not answer my prayers in times that I most needed Him. But I have to realize that everything that God does is for a reason. God has taken a few friends of mine from this Earth at a very young age. I have prayed to God and asked Him why? But I have never seemed to fully understand why. I have come to the conclusion that God works in mysterious ways. I do not think that anyone can fully understand why God does what He does. So for this, I do not feel that God has ever let me down. He just does these things for a reason and if you believe in Him, He will never let you down either. God is the longest lasting friend I have ever had in my life. He was there for me before I was born and He will be there for me after I leave this Earth. God is the best listener also. I can talk to God anywhere at anytime. Every time I want to talk to Him or ask Him a question, He is there for me. Most of my other friends are at least a phone call away, but not God. He has always been there in time of need, even though sometimes I feel like He is not. Even when I do something wrong, He is there to forgive me and set me straight.
The journey of life follows a predetermined pattern; we evolve from needing influence and guidance to finally reaching that point where our lives are up to us. I consider myself very lucky up to this point in my journey. Some people become sidetracked and wind up on a far different course than initially planned, but the detours I made have only assisted in embellishing the individual instead of devouring it.
Reading has been a part of my life from the second I was born. All throughout my childhood, my parents read to me, and I loved it. I grew up going to the library and being read to constantly. Especially in the years before Kindergarten, reading was my favorite thing to do. I grew up loving fairy tales and thriving on the knowledge that I could have any book I wanted, to be read to me that night. Having no siblings, my only examples were my parents, and they read constantly. Without a family that supported my love of reading throughout my childhood, I wouldn’t appreciate it nearly as much as I have and do now.