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Phonics
Although it is difficult to remember my pre-school days, I discovered my phonics cards under a pile of keepsakes in my mother's storage room. It triggered memories of learning the basics of pronunciation and word recognition. -
Primary: Disney
My primary days were filled with books and movies produced by Disney; yes, my socialization had begun! I think the importance of reading at this stage is related to my identification with the fantasy of the story. I remember my imagination being quite active and Disney, as formative as their products are, really inspired me to pick up the next book. I think this stage of reading was important because I moved beyond just phonics into comprehension of simple narrative structure. -
Junior-Intermediate: Ramona Quimby
The Ramona Quimby series sticks out amongst others for the characterization of Ramona as inquisitive and self-assured. I think she was one character in my reading career that defined how I saw myself. In this stage of my literate life, I was beginning to evaluate texts based on my needs even though I wasn't yet reflecting upon the choices I was making. -
Junior-Intermediate: Goosebumps
As I take a moment to reflect about my "literate life," I realize how much of it was centered around series. When I look at my own students and see the Twilight craze, I remember my own rapture with a number of series throughout my junior years and this provides me with strategies for capturing reluctant readers. What is the most fascinating aspect of my obsession with "series" were the various aspects of my personality each revealed. -
Junior-Intermediate: The Baby-Sitters Club
Another series I was obsessed with was The Baby-Sitters Club. Again, I really think my experiences with reading (which took a considerable time out of each day) formed my perceptions of my role as a woman, as a friend and as a partner. I am quite conscious of these experiences and I often focus on "critical literacy" when teaching reading. It isn't until later that I learned to "critically evaluate" the texts I was reading. -
Junior-Intermediate: Choose Your Own Adventure
This series I think really affected my experience with reading as a previously linear process. I enjoyed having control over the journey of the story and I think it was at this point that I started considering the role of the author in my experience, even if it was just subconscious at the time. Quite frankly, I think this was the most important series in my young life as it required active participation as a reader; it completely changed my interaction with fiction. -
Intermediate: Sweet Valley High
My transition from a junior reader to an intermediate reader was punctuated by the series Sweet Valley High. As the name suggests, it is the story of two twins going through a typically scripted teenage American experience. It aligned well with my needs as a hormonal adolescent, although I didn't realize the extent to which this script directed my needs. I think it was at this stage that I became emotionally invested in the process of reading as well as the fantasy that it facilitated. -
Intermediate: Archie
Sexual innuendo! Here is the series that explicitly taught me how to infer layers of meaning in an otherwise "innocent" text. Otherwise, it certainly taught me how effective comics can be for reluctant readers. -
High School: Harry Potter
The Harry Potter series was probably the last in my affair with "series." For some reason, I abruptly cut series out of my life. Instead, I focused on the primary texts in my senior years and began to take literature, as a form, more seriously. I think this is the point to which I try to bring students. It is important that we read fiction to indulge our imagination but I also think there is a component we are missing when we do not engage with fiction critically and thoughtfully. -
Adult: The Classics
As an adult, I began to develop a taste for literature which I ironically mark with "The Classics," since it is the departure point toward my conscious break from Classics a year later. I turned to unconventional fiction and, in fact, extended into non-fiction for the first time. I find it interesting that we generally associate a literate life with "fiction," when it encompasses the vast world beyond it. -
Adult: Contemporary Theory
Currently I am consumed by linking the often disparate field of contemporary theory. Reading, at this point, is a means to discovering a history of "thinking" rather than just "imagining," although one does presuppose the other. I particularly love fiction that intersects between these two worlds. Thanks for taking the time to read my literate life. I hope the journey from reading as task to reading as fantasy to reading as empowerment has been made clear throughout my timeline.- Beyhan
