Popular Fiction: Out Of My Mind, Classic

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

Throughout all of time, literature has played an important role in people’s lives. Books are more than just stories to laugh at, cry with, or fall asleep to, but books can teach. Books can teach a person a simple task such as baking cookies or an extremely complex one such as solving for the derivative of a trigonometric path and its parabolic motion. Whatever the subject, whomever the reader, books can teach people many lessons. One of the most important lessons that a book can teach a reader is a lesson about himself, about the difficulties of life, and about living a good life. As time has passed, so has literature itself. Older books focused on historical events, fictional poetry, and important figures; however, books now have evolved to

Reading novels is my answer to every obstacle and every complication that I ever experience. I recall my elder’s claiming I will not understand anything at all The Great Gatsby says when I first bought it. I was ten the first time I read The Great Gatsby, and till now I have read it thirteen times. At the end of each book I read I analyze them, and if they come to be one of my favorites, I even write a paper for myself. Reading novels taught me to understand people, it inspired me to learn more. Every book I finish leaves me longing for

It is seven forty-five. There are still a few precious minutes until bedtime. My younger sister and I have already dressed for bed, but our plot is to drag out every second we have left before eight o’clock. Only one thing remains for us to do to accomplish our mission: read. We beg our parents to read to us, and they, as predicted, agree. The two of us sprint to our shared bedroom in order to stare at the bookshelf. Two toddlers find it difficult to the correct book. We must choose a book that both of us will enjoy, we must choose a book on a shelf that one of us can actually reach, but most importantly, we must choose a lengthy book. So we, of course, choose the longest two books we can reach. I snatch a treasury of children’s stories, and my sister selects a treasury of Dora the Explorer stories. Never had we read either one of these in one sitting, but we regularly tried to push the boundaries just a bit farther.

The way I’ve gone through literature in the past and how I have gone through it now, have changed drastically. In fact, it has changed quite a bit. When I was once a wee lad, I used to read a lot. Mostly likely I would’ve read most of the time because my mother would make me read the same book over, and over, and over all the time. The book that we read together is Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. If I had my own copy today, I’d read it quite often on my own due to the current situation with my mother. This book had meant so much to me since I was a child because of the personal story that was created through the pages, the story of the bond between my mother and I. But, I believe that after reading

The name Dr. Seuss is well-known all around the world. When one hears the name Dr. Seuss, amusing rhymes and quirky characters are surely what come to their mind. However, Seuss should be recognized for much more. His eccentric characters and captivating rhyme scheme grasp the reader’s attention; also giving them an experience that they will cherish for their entire lives, and pass on to their children. It is obvious that his books are not in short demand, one just needs to walk into any book store and there are shelves upon shelves full of his many books. Individuals grow up having their parents read his books to them. Many have learned to read by using his books and have owned at least one of these iconic books. Seuss not only wrote children’s books but he also: drew ads for major companies, wrote war propaganda and films while in the U.S. Army, wrote two books for adults and fit historical events into many of his children’s books. One could say that Seuss is one of the most varied and prolific American authors of all time.

Growing up in a family of bookworms, it is unavoidable that I would become a reader of great fiction. My mom read to me from the time I was born, and it wasn’t long before I was reading back to her. From books on backhoes to children’s literature, we read almost everything together. In elementary school, I read Holes and The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp multiple times, as I loved them so much. These two books about somewhat ordinary boys facing unusual situations offered an opportunity to dream about how I would handle some unknown, fantastical situation if presented a chance.

As a child, every night before going to sleep my mother would set me on my wildest dreams. She would read me my two favorite books Another Monster at the End of this Book and Are You My Mother? Other nights she might surprise with a Dr.Seuss book, such as, Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, or The Foot Book. Dr.Seuss was one of my favorite authors; we had almost every book written by him. I remember trying to teach myself how to read a Dr.Seuss book when mother wasn’t around. Going to my Grandmother’s house I would bring a different book every visit. I would read to her Clifford the Big Red Dog, No David, Corduroy, the Snowy Day, and Dick and

Nina Sankovitch, a reader who blogs about what she reads, explains how she feels when she is reading a book in this quote “I found the peace in sitting still and reading for hours at a time” (Sankovitch). When I was around ten years of age, I loved reading, I would read all day, sitting with a book in my hand was relaxing and peaceful. One day I was in my guest room reading a book, it was intriguing to me at this age, the book is one of my favorite series of all time called Diary of A Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. I was reading away and apparently my mother called me for dinner, however I did not hear her since I was deeply reading my book. The Diary of A Wimpy Kid series was compelling and I could not stop reading it until I reached the end,

There are few books that can transport us to another world, truly make us feel for the characters and evoke a sense of loss when the characters are stripped viscously from the pages. Though a book does not have to take away a beloved character to make you feel, it tends to evoke more feeling when you truly feel like you lost a part of yourself when the character disappeared. Books that we can relate to are the ones that are the most provocative, ones that involve us in the character’s story and truly arouse a connection to an experience, whether it be recent or 10 years ago. A book should truly change us and engrave its message into our soul, showing everyone who we are. If a book can do this, than it can truly change someone’s life, requiring

Over the past hundred years or so, looking back across the many forms and numerous amounts of literature and cinema throughout the years on what we as a people consider as ‘classic’ fiction; how many of the heroes and protagonists can we say were of color and not just Caucasian? A study was done by the UCLA School of Law along with the Chicano Studies Research Center found that Latino, African American, Native American and Asian American actors have had few acting opportunities made available to them. (Bernardi & Patton, 2007) Bernardi & Patton proposed that 69 percent of role were withheld for white actors and another 8.5 percent of roles were opened to nonwhite actors as well as white actors. With nonwhite actors being limited to between

“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave,” This is the last sentence of the National Anthem. The National Anthem is played before every game, before every race to remind us why we are able to sit there, why we are able watch these activities. The National Anthem is played so as a country we feel as if we are all one, all standing for the same thing.

I remember some of the first books I read as a child, before being introduced to the massive variety of literature that can be found everywhere. I remember focusing on the images and drawings that the illustrators made which brought these stories to life. I remember most significantly the author, Kevin Henkes, and his different interpretations on dealing with solitude as a child. I remember relating to the mice which he created within the stories. I remember imagining myself within the books, hoping to join in on the endless adventures that the characters went on. I remember discovering my growing interest in reading.

Over the summer I was opened up to a new and adventurous side of literature. From a plane crash and savagery, to racial issues, to child suffrage it really widened my view on life's hardships. Reading Ellen Foster, Lord of the Flies, and To Kill a Mockingbird really stretched my imagination. Each book had there own twists and turns, but I believe they all linked in amazing ways. One way all three novels connected in my opinion, would be how tenacious kids are when they have to overcome adversity.

I love books because my books love me back . In moments of distress literature guides me. When I am heavy hearted, I turn to my favorite novels, they reassure me that even in the worst situation good fate always wins . When I am lonely, I reacquaint myself with the safe and familiar characters that I have grew to love. When I am happy, I smile because I have lived the lives of warriors, enchantresses, and even the commonday person. Although the emotional connection between literature and myself is imperishable, there was a time in my life when that bond was nonexistent. However, for one to understand the significant impact stories have had on my life, one must know my life. Thus this story begins with my childhood. A conventional upbringing of sorts but of course my childhood doesn't begin with me. It begins with my parents. My parents met each other at high school when they were fourteen years old . Call it destiny, or mere luck, this one cue meet would define their lives for the next twenty two years. My parents fell quickly and passionately in love. Their devotion for one another as an imminent as their fallout, however, we are not there yet. We are at the bittersweet moments of young love. The moments that make one believe in eternity although these moments themselves cease to last just as long. My parents own version of forever welcomed a young little girl named Nicte Impala Perez on March 18th 1998. In that moment, my parents believed that the three of us could defeat