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Being Read To
My parents would read stories to me throughout the day. As a young child, Sandra Boynton was my favorite author. This started my journey as a reader. -
Beginner Reader
I was able to begin reading easy books with occasional help with my parents. They would often ask me questions to further my understanding. -
Early Chapter Books
Going to library was my favorite special to happen in school because I was able to pick out a book. I really enjoyed reading the "Magic Treehouse" series. -
Big Interesting Novels
I found the series "Kingdom Keepers" in fourth grade which combined my love for reading with my love for Disney and darkness. They were thick novels that I would manage to finish in a few weeks between school work. I was always encouraged to keep reading. -
Poetry
While I had read poetry before, this was the first big hurrah into analyzing poetry, and I hated it. My teacher was bad at telling us how to analyze poetry and what to look out for. I vowed that I would hate poetry from there on. I am glad to say that I no longer despise poetry. -
Smaller Readings, More Meaning
This was the first highlight into how complex readings could be and how much figurative language could be packed into a paragraph. This is also the book that really just lost my interest in reading for fun. -
Mystery and Murder
Due to me being an irresponsible teenager, I got my technology taken away from my parents. With no way of contacting the outside world, I had to entertain myself, and this is where I resparked my love of reading, specifically murder and mystery books. It also inspired me to start writing again. -
Peer Reviewing
I was able to join an English class that focused on improving our writing and research skills through peer reviewing. This is where I began to learn how much I loved to write research papers as well as looking over others works to help them improve. That class is how I had to motivation to take on a secondary education degree. -
More Assignments, Less Fun
If you have read "Turn of the Screw" I applaud you. This book took away all the time I was hoping to have to read my fun books in turn to analyze the use of colors and children's' actions. My English teacher also had a grudge around my class, so it was at this point that I knew I just had to keep going and that this could be the rest of my college career. -
College Level English Classes
I finally made it to actual college, and in doing so, I had one of the best English classes I could ever have. In this I was able to grow my knowledge of literary analysis and criticism. I found that my college level English classes were not going to be filled entirely with boring books, but rather it was what I made of them and my time.