The type of literature that I enjoy is the fantasy genre. I love that I can follow characters through a world that almost seems real through the pages of the book. A different but similar genre that I also enjoy is science fiction.
The article The Death of Reading is Threatening the Soul by Philip Yancey focuses on how many people are no longer “deep reading” and instead are reading “fewer of the [types] of books that require hard work” (Yancey 1). This is because the brain experiences a dopamine rush that occurs “when we learn something quick and new” (Yancey 2). Yancey agrees with many other intelligent, well-known people who stress the need to read many books or book pages daily. He adds that they acknowledge that it’s “beyond reach for [everyone] but [a] few people” so there’s no reason not to partake in the goal, especially since it is extremely beneficial (Yancey 3). Yancey describes reading lots of books has helped unleash his creativity and diminish his writer’s
I would check out books simply because we were told to, not because I was actually going to read and enjoy them. My interest in reading died down completely. It wasn’t that reading was difficult for me, I was just lazy and didn’t want to read. My STAR Reading test scores also started to go down hill. I never got a bad score, but I stopped getting the advanced scores that I used to get before. In middle school, we started to really focus on writing papers, which before, I felt that writing was my strong suit in English class because I have always had teachers tell me that I excelled at writing. I felt that way until I failed a paper we were assigned to write in 7th grade. I don’t remember much about the paper because I’ve tried to push it out of my memory as best as I could, but what I do remember is, it was a persuasive essay and apparently I didn’t do an amazing job at persuading my teacher it was good enough. Since failing what I thought was an essay deserving of an A, I became discouraged and uniterested in
Reading has always been a pass time I enjoyed doing, there was just something about the fact that endless stories could be created with a combination of words and phrases. Without a doubt, Reading expands one’s knowledge on endless topics as well as expands creativity through inspiration of the various works and forms or literature. Personally, as I grew older and more curious with reading I began exploring different genres to read. My causal reading went from basic non-fiction books to reading things like
For me reading became easier as I got older. The more books I read the less I
Fiction books are much more enjoyable than non-fiction books. Think of the book, The Hunger Games, and think of a textbook. Which is more likely to interest you? If you are like me, then you are probably on the fiction side! The Hunger Games because in The Hunger Games there's suspense everywhere you look. However, in an informational non-fiction book there will not be hardly any suspense. The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has suspense everywhere you looked. The 8th Grade class reads, “Tell Tale Heart” and, “Annabel Lee.” They each had some really good examples of suspense. Fiction is just made for suspense, that is what makes fiction novels so great.
My experience with literature started when I was in the first grade. My first-grade teacher was named Ms. Young. Every Friday, all the teachers would come together to have story time and read the children a book. I would be so excited for story time because I would sit down with my best friends Ashley and Jordan, and we would listen to the teacher that was assigned to read to us. During story time, all the children would gather around in a big circle and the teacher would be in the center in a big brown rocking chair, and read. Over time in the school year, the children would read bigger and longer books like the Junie B. Jones series, chapter books, and the extreme level, which would be the Harry potter series. Sometimes I would fall asleep because the book that was read was very dull. I remember Ms. Young read to us the “Very Hungary Caterpillar”9 by Eric Carle. I loved that book as a child. It had great illustrations of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly. This book made me love reading for the rest of my life. Now in college, I love to read books. I only
I have made it my goal this year to read harder and older books rather than newer and easy books. I think that I have followed through quite well, though I did read a few easy books. Three years ago I purchased an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite I have found it easier to read challenging books. It makes books easier to read because, of the in-text dictionary I can look at the definition of an unknown word inside the book, it takes the words I have searched and, makes them into flashcards that I can go through later. By virtue of this technology I was able to read many challenging books such as the Three Musketeers, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, a quarterly synthetic biology journal, and many other challenging books. Fiction books I read mainly for pleasure, unless assigned or if it's a fiction wrote in an historic time period. I appreciate historic books because they offer an insight on the thinking and way of life of the people of that era. I also think that reading books written in an classical style influences your writing style. It is my opinion that some of today's literature has become more simply worded and not nearly as descriptive as previous eras. I found that in Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne there were many outdated theories that I had never heard of this gave me an insight into the ways people thought. I have two mediums by which I read first of which is my Kindle Paperwhite which has almost every
Once again, I was not particularly taken by reading at first; I read when my second-grade self felt like it. However, when I got hooked on Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism, I was charmed by the adventures of an orphan-turned-starlet-and-hypnotist-extraordinaire and her pet pug. From then on, I became a voracious reader. Science magazines, fanfiction, online articles, manga, and insanely convoluted series: I dabble in a little in everything. Anything that catches my fancy at the moment spurs me to read about the topic, even if it requires a bit of research or seemingly random questions directed at those around
My favorite non-fiction piece is The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, which tells the (mostly) true story of how a case of hemorrhagic fever spread as well as the extensive process involved in finding and implementing cures. Growing up with two parents involved in medicine left me assuming that I knew the expanse of every field. The areas of pathology and epidemiology, however were completely new to me. The realization that the monstrous disease was based on something real was a wake up call of sorts that inspired me to delve into epidemiology and public health. I had never truly felt passionate or even remotely confident about my plans for the future, but this new knowledge gave me a foundation to build on. Of course the book was entertaining
During our recent winter break, I started reading as many novels, novellas, and biographies that piqued my interest. Once I sat down, curled up on the couch, I would start a story and wouldn’t stop reading until I was done, whether the book was 80 pages or 573 pages. Even if the book was horrible, I would still finish what I started. Although I’m concentrating on college and succeeding, I’m falling in love with reading again. Just during our winter break, I read over fifty novels, biographies, and novellas ranging from science fiction, paranormal romance, history, and classical horror
When I was younger, I would read book after book. I would get through multiple series and have fun while doing so. Ever since I’ve gotten to know more about the internet, and since it has impacted my education, this has changed. We use technology to write papers, research topics, or to do our homework. But, while doing so, we tend to wander and do other things too, such as play games or go on social media. Ever since the internet and all that it has to offer has come into my life, my ability to read long books has changed. In junior year of high school I assigned to read 20 to 30 pages everyday out of my book for the AP U.S. History course I was taking. When I would sit down to read these set of pages every day, I would feel as if it were a chore, as if reading had now become a chore for me. In addition, my attention span while reading those pages would decrease the more I read. The further into the pages I got, the more distracted I got. The internet took a hold of me and has changed my way of thinking just like the millions of others that use
Now that I was attending college, the use of ebooks have been made more accessible. I had taken the advantage of using my smartphone to read and write my essays while I sat at the park. The convenience of ebooks allowed me to reread a text while brainstorming ideas for an essay. In addition, having the internet, online dictionary, and audiobooks on hand made studying more pleasurable. I found my self reading and writing more frequently as result to having my materials everywhere I went. As the years went by, the stress of reading became enjoyable and my growing interest in topics to read had expanded. Up until college I probably never had finished reading a whole novel. As of today, I can say I have been able to complete about fifteen novels, along with the many essays I have read. I believe my experience in college had a great impact on me for many reasons, but most certainly it had uncovered a passion that which many others
Reading is a wonderful pastime. It allows me to mentally travel to far away lands in the present, the archaic past, or the advanced technological future. Reading allows me to be present during every struggle or joy the protagonist may face. It is a wonderful way to learn about fascinating cultures without physically traveling to other lands. It is a gateway to long, sleepless nights because I can become fully entranced by a story. Favorite books of mine include Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Both of these stories wonderfully illustrate internal human conflict as well as love, loyalty, and emotional and physical pain. These are just a few of the joys of
Raymond Mar, a psychologist at Your University in Canada and Keith Oatley a professor An The University of Toronto, they both say that “individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathies with them and view the world from their perspectives.” I agree that reading certain types of books can help people further understand and see things from a different point of view. Reading helps to open people's eyes and to teach life lessons or to show there are other things to believe in and know other than what they have always been told to know. Getting different types of books, types that are not always the same as the books that you normally read can help you to view things differently. For example from personal experience a new book can help your imagination grow, readings helps me a lot when I need to come up with new ideas for an art class. The new places a book takes you the new images you see while you are reading the new stores you hear and the happy ending your book might have can change the way you are feeling it can brighten up your day.