Brendan Reeser

Prof. Campbell
10/9/2014
Unlocking the Secrets of Books
I never enjoyed reading. When I was in elementary school I dreaded when we
were given assigned a book to read for class. I didnt want to take time to actually sit down for
even just thirty minutes to read when I could be doing so many other things. I spent most of my

Comment [r1]: Add more description to this.

Describe what other things

childhood outdoors enjoying the fresh open air, the smell of sweet blooming flowers, and the
warmth of the suns rays. Why on earth would I want to leave all that and come inside to sit
inside of my stuffy house in an unforgiving wooden chair by some artificial light produced by a
desk lamp? The truth is that I never gave reading a fair chance until the fifth grade.

Comment [BR2]: Good description

My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Wilson, is still my favorite teacher to this day. She was an
older woman that had the kind of persona of a grandmother who is always warm and welcoming.
In elementary school you have one teacher who is responsible for teaching you the basics of all
the subject areas. Fifth grade, more than any grade, is to prepare you with the knowledge and
skills that you will need to succeed in middle school. Mrs. Wilson did a great job with teaching
us about math, science, and history but I could tell that her true passion whas in English. I dont
remember writing very much in her class, Im sure that we did but that is not what left a lasting
memory on my brain. What changed my literary life forever were the books that we read. During
the first week of class it was announced that we would be reading the book Hatchet by Gary
Paulsen. Although I didnt care anything about the book I was excited that we would take time to
read because that would mean less time for other instruction. The teacher hadnt read to us in

Comment [BR3]: Sounds a little better if

you left out the on my brain part

fourth grade and itI seemed a bit weird seeming that we would be moving into middle school
where we would certainly have to read on our own. We started the book about two weeks into
the school year on a Monday. We read during the middle of the day to give us a break from
school work which was very nice. The first thing that appealed to me in Hatchet was that the
protagonist was a teenage boy not much older than me. Relating to the characters in a book is the
most important part of a book to me. If the characters seem completely fictional then you cannot
place yourself into the novel and that is the whole purpose of an interesting book.
I remember not really reading the book but just sitting at my desk trying to slump down
and try impossibly to get comfortable in the cold hard chairs we were given. I was shocked when
I heard that the pilot of the plane was having a heart attack and the plane was crashing. I flipped
through my book looking around at the people next to me for the page number so that I could
follow along. He was lost in the Canadian Wilderness and he was just a boy like me! For the first
time in my life I was placed inside of the book and I could feel the despair that the character was
feeling. I could physically feel the descriptions of pain and huger that he was feeling as he
survived on his own for months with nothing. I took the book home, ran up into my room,
jumped on my bed and started reading because I had to know what was going to happen next. I
honestly must have read the next fifty pages before I even realized how long I had been reading.
I was completely lost in a book for the first time and I loved it. I didnt want to read the whole
thing because I wouldnt have anything to do in class, so I decided to take a break. The next day
in class we read part of what I had read before but still didnt come close to catching up. After
school that day I couldnt help but read more, I was so intrigued. I read every night before I went
to bed and in only a week I had finished the book.

Comment [r4]: Already said this in sentence

before

I found myself wanting to read more. I asked my dad to take me to the library after
school one day so that I could find more books to entertain my imagination. I went to the slow
outdated computer with the libraries catalog on in it and searched for more books by Gary
Paulsen since I enjoyed Hatchet so much. I was ecstatic when I found that there was a sequel to
Hatchet called Brians Winter. I searched and searched for it but my hearted dropped when I saw
two words next to the only copy the library had, checked out in bold red letters. It was telling me
that I couldnt do my new found passion of reading. I searched on the computer and found that a
copy was available at another library fifteen minutes away. I begged my dad to take me there and

Comment [r5]: Add more description to this

paragraph

convinced him by saying that reading is good for me and he should encourage it. My persistence
worked and he took me to the library where I searched under the section for authors with last
names P. I found Paulsen and was elated to see more than twenty books that I would surely have
to read. I found Brians Winter and I grabbed its tattered paperback spine to take to check out. I
was so excited that I started reading it on the way home even though reading in the car makes me
sick. I must have sat in my room for hours reading and getting lost in a whole new world. I
finished that book in less than a week just because I loved it so much.
I continued reading more of Paulsens books. I believe that the reason I enjoy his writing
so much is that he focuses on nature. I have researched his and found that he is a big outdoor
enthusiast who even races dog sleds. He has several books about dogs that he has had and how
they have affected his life. Since Mrs. Wilson introduced me to the books by Gary Paulsen, I
have a completely new view and respects for reading novels. I would have never known that my
imagination tested and I could get lost in the words on a page. Anybody that says they do not like
reading was just not been given the opportunity to read something that really interests them.
There are books written that cater to everyones interest, the hardest part is finding that one book

Comment [r6]: Thats awesome!

which you cant put down. Im so lucky to have been introduced to that book and I found what
truly interested me. I have read just about every Gary Paulsen book now and I continue to read
books that have a similar theme about fictional scenarios that could occur in real life. I am not
limited to just one genre because I have also found that I enjoy science fictions books by just
giving them a chance and read a book that may have been recommended to me.
In the fifth grade I read a book that completely changed how I felt about reading and it
changed my literacy life forever. Though reading I have become much more knowledgeable
about topics that I previously may have never known about. I can now sit outside and read a
book while enjoying the fresh open air, the smell of sweet blooming flowers, and the warmth of
the suns rays.

Comment [BR7]: I like how this ties the first

and last paragraph together!

Brendan: I like how you connected the first and last paragraph; it tied it altogether at the

Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"

end. You did a good job explaining how you were never interested in writing, but your
teacher had a huge impact on changing your view of it. The main thing I would change
about your paper is that (I have no idea why this font just switched) you didnt have any
dialogue in it; I think this improve the quality of it a little. Otherwise good story, I liked
your description!