The Importance Of Reading And Writing

This English class was the best English class I have ever had. There were no tests, vocabulary quizzes, or in class essays, which made the class less stressful. Before this English class, I was afraid that I would not enjoy writing many essays or writing so many words in one paper. Afterwards, essays have become something that is not so much my favorite task in the world, but it has become more enjoyable to an extent. Professor Sullivan’s class has taught me to formally write a research paper, to analyze a book through responding to different quotes from the story or novel, to understand magical realism, and to understand my own passion for school and how much effort I will be willing to put out in years to come.

Reading and writing has never come very easy to me. There have been a lot of factors that hinder me from being able to read and write well. English has always been my least favorite class during elementary school throughout high school and it still is now in college. I can count the number of books that I’ve actually been able to completely finish reading on one hands. In school, whenever we were assigned to read however many chapters of a book at night, I would just look up the spark notes for that chapter because I have such a hard time reading. By the way, reading the spark notes does not work as a substitute for reading the book instead.

There are many important skills that students must learn in school. One important skill would be how to read and write and the other would be how to think critically. These two skills are very important in different ways. However, they are both important skills that will help individuals throughout different times in their lives. The skill of reading and writing can open a door into a new world, a world filled with words. Critical thinking can help with having to make life changing decisions or it can help find a solution to a difficult issue. The skills reading and writing and critical thinking are all important skills in their own way, and they are both important during many aspects of life.

There is nothing that has had a bigger impact on my life than learning to read and write. I remember being in elementary school and the teacher emphasizing that reading and writing is fundamental. I didn’t know what that meant or why she kept repeating that over again. As I started to grow older I slowly understood a part of it. It began by observing my father every morning, he would buy the Spanish newspaper and would read it. One day I asked him if I could read the newspaper, I knew I couldn’t read Spanish but I was curious. I recall breaking up the words and putting them together like I learned in school. To only realize that Spanish is phonetically written. From there I learned that there is an important connection in Spanish and English that is important just as reading and writing in my life. There are many types of outcomes that I gained from learning to read and write. Such as being able to expand my knowledge, observing how communication is interacted in reading and writing, and appreciating the creativity of it.

My literacy skills have only improved, my last year of middle school helping them the most. As a star in eighth grade, I had Mr. Harris, which was a huge blessing. Many of my fellow classmates didn’t like him because he made you work, but I can only thank him for challenging me as a student. In his class, we would study a section of a book and then take a test over what we read. Oftentimes, there would be multiple short answer questions, where you had to use deeper literacy skills. Mr. Harris’s class left a huge impact on my reading and writing readiness for high school.

Learning how to read and write was a challenging task for me as a kid. I believe I couldn’t read until the second grade and that was embarrassing. Being a slow learner made me insecure, which hindered me from building the confidence I needed to succeed and get pass identifying with having a disability. Instead, I was enrolled into a special ed class that I had to leave my regular class to attend. During my special ed class all I could think about was how I couldn’t wait to get back to my regular class so I didn’t have to tell any of my classmate where I was. Therefore, my focus unfortunately wasn’t on learning, like it should have been!

Throughout my years in writing and taking English courses I have always been a faulty writer and never have been strong in this aspect. Truthfully my writing was the same until I came to college and took English 104 with Professor Horjus. Horjus had taught me things about myself and my writing that I never gave my full attention too and explaining my thoughts. Professor Horjus had started off class on making us say things we could work on after turning in an essay and feel we lacked or felt very strongly about. Being able to talk about the lack of my writing skill or even the strong aspects in my writing let me see that everything teachers have taught me in the past has honestly not really helped. College English has defiantly shined a new light on writing for me.

My writing experience has always been a bad one no matter how beautiful the essay that I wrote sounds to me, because of some concepts in English writing that I either forget or fail to learn.

Attending my first day of class I was a little unsure about how valuable it would be. I questioned whether it would be a wasted course. Upon meeting my professor Mr. Wilbert I knew I had interest in this class. I have taken many English classes but never with someone as passionate or as talented as Wilbert. I decided I was going to put my best foot forward and in turn become a better writer.

Reading and writing is a significant component of life; in fact, an enormous amount of people benefit from the ability to read and write. Books may either express a story or may enlighten a person on a certain subject; just as, writing gives people the ability to express their feelings or write a story for entertainment. Likewise, there are numberless ways reading and writing can either express feeling or generate hours of entertainment. Writing is a way I keep myself busy when I have something on my mind. In addition, reading and writing has impacted my life by helping to improve my speech, expanding my knowledge, allowing me read the letters I received from my grandparents and write them back and providing countless hours of entertainment.

Changes in technology and society have changed and will continue to transform the ways in which we think and communicate. Students must be ready for the new demands (Dixon, Cassady, Cross & Williams, 2005). In society, English forms the foundation for effective communication. Academic success requires writing skills (Castek et al, 2007). Writing is hard work; individuals think it is better to talk than write. Social and psychological factors such as social status, background, and age affect writing skills (Reeves & Stanford, 2009). Edwards-Groves (2011) rants that students must be taught the writing process. This will help students write in any situation. Writing should not be confined to just English classes but across all disciplines. Anecdotal evidence suggest students and faculty believe that learners improve their writing skills and subject area knowledge in writing across the disciplines (Hartley, Howe & McKeachie, 2001). All disciplines have their own form and conventions. If students are going to become better writers, they must write on a regular basis.

I didn't think I was even a decent writer when I first began this class. I even had a talk with Mr. Scott on the first day telling him that I will like to have additional time with I'm during his office hours. Everything was explained very well and the technique that Mr. Scott taught the class was very thought through because I didn't need the additional time with him that I thought I was going to need.

In the second semester of Freshman English, I have progressed as a reader, and as a writer. Over the four units that we did over the semester, there were multiple sessions in each that helped me grow as a reader and writer. These sessions have taught me to do things that I did not know how to do before.

Reading and writing are two of the most important tools in my life, because without them I would not have an education. They form the basis of a class; for example, completing a lab in chemistry would not be possible without following a written lab procedure. These two skills are taught at such a young age, and as education advances students must continue to strive to reach a higher level. I can remember in elementary school, we were always pushed to reach the next reading level once we had successfully mastered the one we were on. It was always a competition for my sister and I to be at a higher level, I usually won. Even though I was excelling in reading it was the complete opposite for writing. It is something that has never come easy

Reading and writing are both important; you can’t have one without the other. They are skills that are increased constantly due to little things that most times are not noticed. Whether it is from a book to a poem, there will always be a way that it helps out your school performance. Reading and writing in general only helps absorb information, and enhance leisure or school related writing tasks. It has also made life itself so much easier because reading and writing are so beneficial for school and for life. How much you read and write today, will somehow affect your future job, family, position, or even your salary.