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Literature And Society
Literature And Society
Literature And Society
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My grandmother introduced me to reading before I’d even entered school. She babysat me while my parents were at work, and spent hours reading to me from picture books as my wide eyes drank in the colorful illustrations. As a result, I entered my first year of school with an early passion for reading. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was captivated by tales of fire-breathing dragons, mystical wizards, and spirited foreign gods. A book accompanied me nearly everywhere I went, smuggled into my backpack or tucked safely under my arm. I was often the child who sat alone at lunch, not because she didn’t have friends, but because she was more interested in a wizards’ duel than the petty dramas of middle school girls. I was the child who passed every history test because she was the only kid who didn’t mind reading the textbook in her spare time, and the child who the school librarian knew by name. Reading provided a …show more content…
I began to read not out of entertainment but out of curiosity, for in each new book I discovered an element of real life. It is possible that I will learn more about society through literature than I ever will through personal experience. Having lived a safe, relatively sheltered life for only seventeen years, I don’t have much to offer in regards to worldly wisdom. Reading has opened doors to situations I will never encounter myself, giving me a better understanding of others and their situations. Through books, I’ve escaped from slavery, been tried for murder, and lived through the Cambodian genocide. I’ve been an immigrant, permanently disabled, and faced World War II death camps. Without books, I would be a significantly more close-minded person. My perception of the world has been more significantly impacted by the experiences I've gained through literature than those I've gained
Each year as I grow old, I tend to discover and learn new things about myself as a person as well as a reader, writer and a student as a whole. My educational journey so far has been pretty interesting and full of surprises. Back in Bangladesh where I studied until high school, my interest for learning, reading or writing was so very different compared to how it has become over the years. I could relate those learning days to Richard Rodriquez’s essay “The lonely Good Company of Books”. In the essay the author says, “Friends? Reading was, at best, only a chore.”(Rodriguez, page 294). During those days I sure did feel like reading was a chore for me and how I was unable to focus and I could never understand what all those jumbled up words ever meant. It was quite a struggle for me in class when the teachers used to assign us reading homework. I felt like reading a book was more difficult or painful than trying to move a mountain. Just like how moving a mountain is impossible, trying to find an interest in reading was
In “Why Literature Matters” the author Dana Gioia, from the start catches your attention using facts about America today. Within the first paragraph she develops the persuading argument on why reading needs to make its way back into the world.
My earliest memories can be found at the hands of paperback novels. Books were my escape from the world around me. The thrill of being able to leave behind the world and it’s baggage and enter another that books provided captivated me, and left an impact on me. The emotion I experienced solely from taking a small step into another person’s story was unlike any I had felt before. I desperately wanted others to feel what I had felt, and love whatever I had become entranced by with the same passion as I did.
I know that not everyone ever realizes this, but the moment when you realize how amazing it is to sit and read a book, to immerse yourself in a world other than your own, for the very first time is a truly magical moment. I remember when I was just starting kindergarten, and, having learned to read from my parents very early on, starting to read chapter books all by myself. While my brother and his friend were in the pool in the summer, I would take one of CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia books from my brothers collection, which I remember as a vast, overwhelming utopia of books, but in reality was just a couple shelves with a few books in it, and sit and read. Did I understand Lewis’s deep Christian allegory and symbolism at the time? Of course not. But that didn’t keep me from loving a story about four children not much older than myself becoming kings and queens. I was a reader.
Literature has been shaping and impacting society since time began. I believe that writing is one of the most significant forms of communication that we have seen all throughout history as well as today. Literature has a way of being able to transport individuals through time, countries, religions, and cultures. I, myself, am not a fan of reading due to I’m lazy, so when I do read it is usually because it is required or because it speaks to me. Luckily, I have been required to read some books that have really spoke to me and impacted the way I view the world around me.
Reading provides and builds the reader’s imagination and empathy towards others. Tim Gillespie supports this argument with analysis and by saying that reading. “…is the cultivation
As so happens often, unexpected challenges arose during my high school career: I gave birth to my daughter near the end of my sophomore year. While balancing school work and the responsibilities of motherhood, I find time to read a book with my child. I believe reading together is a special way to bond. She will always grab a book and sit next to me and insist, “Mommy book!” I believe every parent should know exactly why childhood reading is important. I would like to educate other parents the very
When I was younger, my mother and my sister were always glued to books. I could never understand what was so amazing about hundreds of pages with tiny print bound together with some ridiculous title and picture. As time passed and I got older, I dreaded any day that came with a present. I always got books I would never read instead of cool toys or simply money. It was not until I was about 16 years old in a tenth grade, English honors class that I realized I loved to read. That was the very first time I picked up Stephen King’s Christine. Instantly I fell in love with the hundreds of pages and tiny print. I know people may refer to reading as boring and time consuming. However, reading literature of any kind allows students to achieve their billion dollar dreams, instead of minimum wage nightmares.
Up until my Sophomore year, I lived and grew up in Providence, Utah. As a child in elementary school I had a continual and growing love of learning. My imagination primed by the countless hours of being read to aloud by one or both parents nightly, I excelled in school and quickly found that math soon became my favorite subject. I found it frustrating, and hard, but by mind seemed to crave the challenge math presented. I had little to no friends, and soon found them in the form of books. Up until 4th grade, my reading level was very low, however, up until then I had never understood what a book could do. A book takes you out of your own world, and teaches you moral principles without any harm to you. When I realized this, my love of books skyrocketed,
My love for reading came about in my elementary school days. I went through a short period where I felt like I didn’t fit in with any of the other students. I was never skillful at socializing or playing games. I only had a couple of friends and still was lost. Most of the time, I felt like I was alone. I thought no one else could possibly understand or even begin to understand. Was I right? I actually was not. I just didn’t realize this until I understood my vast affection for books and how they made an impact on my life.
One of the surprising findings of “Reading at Risk” was that literary readers are markedly more civically engaged than nonreaders, scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event. One reason for their higher social and cultural interactions may lie in the kind of civic and historical knowledge that comes with literary reading....
Growing up I didn’t have any interest in reading. All throughout elementary school I was placed in the lowest reading level and I took that position as a sign that I wasn’t good enough to read, so I didn’t enjoy it. Why did people read for fun? What was fun about reading?! I didn’t find any kind of interest in reading until fairly recently so today, I’ll share my journey with reading with you.
“Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light”( Nazarian 451). Literature gives individuals a chance to escape the current world for a moment, and become captivated in the words you are reading. Without Literature, our world would have no spark. There would be imagination, no passion, and no love.
For as long as I can remember, I have had a special place in my heart for reading. As a child, fantasy was always my go to genre. I was always excited to start a new adventure in these stories, that I quickly sped through them without a second thought. As one can imagine, its was hard to find a character that has as much of a love for books as the child reading the story might. The stories were always about the daring hero and his quest to defeat the vile villain and save the world.
Not only are books just fun to read, but they are educationally and fundamentally good for someone. They are a process of learning throughout our lives. Sure they’re daunting and adventurous, but books are going to benefit someone so much throughout his or her childhood and into their adult years. As some people know, books help people in so many different ways as we grow up and develop. Books can help anyone with their brain function, vocabulary, social skills, and are an essential part of child development.