Summary Of How Reading Changed My Life By Anna Quindlen

Reading today is a lot different then it was in the year 868 AD; when the first book was published in China. You know a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers. Society today is so advanced that everything we do is constantly changing whether we realize it or not. For example, the book, before people would go to a bookstore or library to get the books they were interested in. Today society is making fewer trips to the bookstore and library, and making purchases of novels on their e-readers in the comfort of their own home. With these e-readers you can simply purchase any book you would like, some books being under a buck or even free, saving you a trip to the bookstore. E-readers

But I don’t know any of them who have readers who will read their novel over and over again.” Anna Quindlen, although agrees with Katherine Paterson, disagrees with the author of Bridge to Terabithia on how she doesn’t see any of the other author’s novels being read over and over again. Quindlen believes that Katherine Paterson is somewhat

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one. ”(George R.R. Martin) This quote shows that when you read a book, you will relate it to your life and the book may have a solution that makes you live a longer and a better life. All authors will have a lesson or a value we can use or follow but the reader needs to decide if the values are valuable for them.

Literacy memories and events began at a young age for me, and while teachers and family members all impacted my opinions and preferences for reading, every book I read and writing assignment given to me helped me form my literacy story and come to enjoy reading. Many literacy moments came from when I was young, like my mom or dad reading to me before bed or teachers reading to me at school their favorite books. All of these memories were accompanied by everyone saying how great reading was, and for a while I didn’t believe them. I had so many forced experiences with reading that it was almost painful for me to pick up a book. But as time went on and the reading I was still forced to do intensified, a better relationship with reading and writing

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

1. There are numerous reasons about why Miss Narwin’s opinion of reading books differs from Philip’s opinion. The first reason is that Miss Narwin is a mature adult, who can understand literature better than children. Miss Narwin also has a love for classic literature, which not everyone shares. The second reason is that Philip would enjoy books that were written when he was growing up; it would be easier to understand and relate to for him. I concur with Miss Narwin’s point of view, as I love to read and some older books have a deeper meaning to them. I also agree with Miss Narwin, for I believe that more classic literature should be spread, so that classics won’t be forgotten. Philip’s attitude might be considered a self-fulfilling prophecy since most children would not have such a deep love towards classic literature. Children also appreciate books that they can understand and relate to.

Richard Rodriguez, in the passage “Remedial Reading” from his autobiography “Hunger of Memory”(1982), promotes active reading as a developer of one’s mind. He justifies his position by describing his initial experiences with reading, specifically his attachment to the reading. Rodriguez’s anecdote functions as an encourager of stubborn minds trying to read and displaying its potential to change their life for the better. Rodriguez uses a very descriptive style that may be too verbose for children but compliments the verbosity with enough explanation of his purpose for his message to be known or ascertained.

The thin rustic pages scrape past my loose fingers as I sit engaged. My heart pounds harder and faster with every word my eyes pass over. My ears hear nothing, even within booming noise. My complete focus is on the book that lays in my hand with a laminated cover, and I have no choice but to submit to the content. My breath tastes of spearmint and the aroma of fresh paper floats past my nose. I couldn’t resist but delve into the worlds and mysteries that books hold. Once opened, everything around me becomes a distant blur. I am hooked. Books have always created an escape for creativity and fancies to run free. Books are used as a medium for reason. Books are formative to the development of human beings. In my instance, books changed my life.

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

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. Literature

Before I began elementary school, I enjoyed reading picture books, the touch and feel books and pop-up books. I loved the author Dr. Suess, because he was funny and because I loved the rhyming he did in his writing. I can remember before bed, my mom or dad would read to me until I got old enough to read myself. My mom has always enjoyed reading, if she is not reading a book, then she is reading a recipe or a magazine. My dad on the other hand, I have only seen him read one book, besides reading manuals for his tools. Reading was not a big deal in my house, all of us kids were told that we needed to read, but they did not force us to read. This brings me to Richard Rodriguez’s essay, in his household reading was not as important, but once he got to school, he realized that reading is one of the main activities. I can relate to Rodriguez because in either one of our households we weren’t told that we had to read before we did something else. Once I got to elementary school is when I realized that reading was not for me. Before school, I enjoyed reading, then once I began elementary school, I was forced to read, take tests over books, and read out loud in front of the class which made reading a chore.

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

Although reading literature when being forced and for educational purposes has withered my once love of reading, I can still vividly remember where my love of reading began. My comfy living room couch holds my

Reading has at all times and in all ages been a source of knowledge, of happiness, of pleasure and even moral courage. In today's world with so much more to know and to learn and also the need for a conscious effort to conquer the divisive forces, the importance of reading has increased. In the olden days if reading was not cultivated or encouraged, there was a substitute for it in the religious sermon and in the oral tradition. The practice of telling stories at bed time compensated to some extent for the lack of reading. In the nineteenth century Victorian households used to get together for an hour or so in the evenings and listen to books being read aloud. But today we not only read, we also want to read more and more and catch up

From an early age I loved to read. At just two years old I would beg my mother to enroll me into school. I watched as my older sister meticulously picked out her outfit each night in preparation for the next school day. At such a young age I somehow knew that this thing called “school” was the answer to something spectacular. My home was chaotic and reading became an escape and helped distract me from the unpleasant family dynamic.