The Importance Of Books In My Life

When times are filled with despair and unhappiness, we are driven away from the comfort of our mental home, and there is no greater relief than emerging one’s self into an activity or person that grants us a dry place to survive in life’s created storm. We turn to these things until the storm passes, and while we wait, we often discover something worth bringing back home. For me, my safe haven, my anchor, my shield against the rain, was reading books. Reading has opened many doors for me, planted seeds of new perspectives that I wouldn't have ever grew myself if I hadn't found the words and stories that nurture them. The luxary of reading has been taken away from many because of war, hate, and ignorance over the course of mankind, and I understand

In summary, I felt as if I changed after the fourth grade. Like video games, I could be in a fantasy and pretend I was actually in the hero’s position. I could be a part of a story. This contest of literacy competition started a passion of reading books for me. Now that I’m older if I ever want to escape the real world after having a long hard stressful day all I have to do is crack open a book a let the adventure begin. Even though my teacher never followed through on her promise of a prize I was rewarded with something so much more Important, a burning passion for

The students at our school can be influenced about what to think based on the books that they read without even knowing it. They can change our ideas of what should and should not be written about by either eliminating the positive or the negative part of the story and by only containing one side of a story. In the library at this school, almost all students can see representations of themselves and their life experiences in the books, but some do not. Although literature tries to appeal and relate to everyone, there are always a few stories that are not told and have not been represented. These people whose stories are not represented can grow up to tell their own stories and possibly change the world.

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are,” (Cooley). Throughout our lives, reading has impacted us in many ways. Often times books give people different perspectives on their lives. People with high stress levels often find comfort in reading books to take their mind off of their concerns. Sometimes, people just need to take a step back from their lives and relax for a while; therefore, reading is a great tool. In fact, all kinds of books have also helped me become a better writer. There are many different books that have impacted me over the years.

My mom signed me up for the community library when I just turned 6 years old. Even if I did not know how to properly read at the time, I had to go there every afternoon to keep myself busy as an only child. Being opened to books at such an early clearly has had a major impact on my life and personality. From the local tales of my beloved Senegalese society to the deep and sophisticated French literature, I have traveled through cultures and generations. Whether it is Emile Zola’s collection of novels or Albert Camus’s philosophical texts, these books raised me and taught me about life, love, and resilience. As times went by, reading was no more a regular pastime but a detrimental part of my existence. The lessons and morality I gained from each story always pushed me to challenge the status quo, to be curious, to be adventurous but most importantly to be a problem solver.

It may be cliché, but books have always held a spot close to my heart. When I was three I had a book called Bitsy Witch that went wherever I did. When I was seven, my mom read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone every night. In middle school, I worked my way through the entire children’s section at my local library. In high school, I took every English class offered, and when I entered college I to compromise with my family that I would also pursue a pre-professional program. My time outside of class was spent on my pre-professional degree until, my senior year in college. I took two classes that focused on children’s and young adult texts. Before those classes, I hadn’t realized that specializing in Children’s literature was

Richard Rodriguez writes in his essay, “The Lonely, Good Company of Books,” how he once struggled with the concept of being “educated” while studying in school (191). It is true that society has developed the idea that to be educated means to be successful in life, but is this really true? Education is certainly a contributing factor to one’s future, however, what exactly does it mean to be “educated” in today’s world? Although the times have changed and the world has become more modernized, learning has remained as important, if not more so, as it had when it was first discovered that it was essential to function in an advanced society. Being educated means that they know the basic knowledge, are able to apply those skills to different situations, and use them to comprehend and give back to the community.

I spent my childhood consumed by books. I kept one in my bag and took every spare moment that I could to read, even if it was only a page. My parents made my teacher’s promise that I wouldn’t read during recess. In the mornings when they woke me up for school, they found me sleeping, still clutching my book from the night before, unable to put it down in spite of the tug of sleep.

It is nice to take a seat, relax, and break open a book of yours to read. With nothing else in mind, you embark on an adventure as the words guide you through your journey. This is the idea a reader normally accompany the feeling of reading a book. For many other people, like me before, they find it dreadfully painful as for each page turned is like trying to get closer to escape from captivity. I am unsure when my hatred associated with literature started, maybe caused by the hauntingly boring books I was forced to read by my former teachers. However, as time goes by, my attitude towards books gradually lifted when I was unchained from my shackles and allowed the freedom to choose my books. It wasn't that the books were bad, well, maybe, but

Throughout my childhood I enjoyed reading a variety of books as a method of escaping my troubles and delving into someone else’s world for a short time. But it is my belief that being an avid reader also helped me become

“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all”(by Oscar Wilde). Originally, I disliked reading, but soon did I realize that the only reason I despised reading was because I kept reading the wrong type of books. By reading a wide selection of different types of books this year, it really opened up my eyes. In other words, by reviewing numerous amount of books, it has impacted me by making me realize that a book is just more then thousands of words and hundreds of pages. But instead a story that has dramtically impacted me and how i can look upon situations. That being said, by reading and viewing many different books, it has changed my outlook on how I judge relating to reading and books.

Since the mid 20th century literature has been a prominent aspect of life in American culture, beginning how to read it in our childhood to benefiting by it throughout adulthood. Throughout the texts of “Heels over Hemingway”, “Why Literature Matters” , and “Good-bad books” all similarly argue the idea that Literature has changed over the years, due to the fact that American has changed as well effecting literature. For this reason Dowd, Orwell, and Gioia assert to their audience the importance of literature, and that it should have a place in society by utilizing rhetorical strategies such as analogy, ethos, pathos, logos, and diction.

Even today when browsing for an interesting read I would always be taken away by some captivating picture of an article. However, the more I read the better I became at understanding and visualizing a narrative. This piloted me towards thicker books where stories were more enjoyable and longer.I was in my school’s book club. We had to read three selected books and compete with another school’s club to discern which team understood the books to a greater extent. It was quite embarrassing because I didn’t answer any of the questions right about the books even though I’ve read it. This led me to realize that books were more than just a mere combination of words. This was when writing and reading became difficult for me. I was abruptly introduced to the literary elements of plot, theme, and tone of literature. The more I knew the more I would have to learn. This is something I would come to understand as I was presented figurative language, irony, and foreshadowing. These being literary techniques brought me closer to the understanding of my own literary

I would like to preface this essay by stating that I am not fond of reading books. Starting in elementary school, with the way literature was handled, I began perceiving reading books as an obligation, nothing more. Few of the books we were made to read over the years interested me, so I tend not to read them out of my own volition. There were exceptions, of course – I enjoyed reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, for example.

1. Why did you choose to read about this subject? I chose to read about this book because of the name and because i was suggested the book. 2. Describe an interesting fact or situation you learned about while reading that you did not previously know.