Rough Draft:

Emma Lohri

​English 111

Professor Williams

Due: 9/27/20

My Literacy Journey

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” (J.K. Rowling) (​Finding the

Right Book​) This quote resonates with me because in my whole reading and writing career, I

have never really enjoyed either of these things. I feel like in elementary school we were forced

to do both of these tasks, so it never seemed pleasurable. Though reading and writing are

essential to life, I used to find that neither reading and or writing was that fun and I would always

choose to be doing other things. In high school, it has become more interesting because I have

the ability to pick what I want to read and write about. My mindset has definitely changed as I

am getting older because I can now see the benefits of reading and writing in life.

My first engagement was reading was the Book Mobile. In kindergarten through first

grade, a tiny bus come to the school and allow everyone to pick a book. Every two week, I would

look forward to picking out a new book and returning my old one. I thought that, magical bus

was the best thing ever because we were allowed to select our own book. I think that reading is

such a personal thing so the fact that everyone got to handpick their own topic. Finally, the Book

Mobile was one of the first stepping stones in my reading journey and I wish that the elementary

school could still experience picking out their own book.

The Book Mobile, one of my favorite weeks during school was the book fair. I loved

getting to pick out my own book and getting to look at the set-up each year. It was more
entertaining to be able to choose a book that fit my personality than my teachers assigning it to

me. Usually, I was more excited about the small toys, pencils, bookmarks, or highlighters they

had instead of getting an actual book. The book fair exposed me to different genres that I might

not have known about at an early age because every book was separated into its designated

categories. I started to evolve a love for realistic and non-fiction stories, which is now what I like

to read in the present day. Buying new books that fit my interests was more entertaining, helped

me discover that reading books could be fun, and was another creative outlet for my brain. (​Book

Fair​)

I think that every elementary school has done reading logs from second to around sixth

grade. This was one of my least favorite assignments during elementary school because I never

understood why teachers would force students to read after school. The reading logs purpose was

so you could track how many minutes you were reading a month. As an elementary student,

four-hundred minutes of reading in order to get a one-hundred was awful. I remember dreading

the task of reading another thirty-minutes after school because I couldn’t find any interesting

books to read. I thought every book was boring and it should be a choice on whether or not you

wanted to read after school. Even though reading was not one of my favorite things during this

time I am glad I tufted it out and was exposed to reading by myself. Though the extra reading

seemed hard, it expanded my vocabulary and knowledge on different subjects.

I feel like my writing really took a turn in sixth and seventh grade when Mrs. Amos and

Mrs. Noftger would assign creative writing prompts. The first eight to twelve minutes of class

was devoted to free writing a whole page on one topic. Similarly, some topics I thoroughly

enjoyed but others I would just write two sentences and doodle on my paper. The daily writing

prompts were a way to get your brain in the writing state of mind and gave me exposure to how
creative writing can be fun. (​Importance of Creative Writing​) My interest in writing increased

because of this activity and my ability to make-up stories off the top of my head. Creative

writing was definitely a smart strategy from our English teachers to make writing more exciting.

Not only, was this a building block for my writing but also, bettering my understanding of the

mechanics of writing.

Reading the book Wonder influenced how I thought about reading. In fact, to this day, it's still

my favorite book and I realized that if you find a good book, that interests you, reading is

delightful. “I think it’s the books that you read when you’re young that live with you forever.” –

(J.K. Rowling) This quote reiterates the fact that if you find a good book to read, you will

remember it forever. My mindset shifted after reading this book and for the first time I truly

understood why people loved reading.

As I look back on what I have learned from my reading and writing journey, my

perspective on both of these has changed and I am thrilled when I find a book that is nonfiction.

Once you find a book that fits your style, you can’t stop reading it or don’t want it to end. Books

aren't an enemy, they are a useful tool for learning and stimulate your brain in many positive

aspects. (​Benefits of Reading ​) As my reading and writing career has developed, both of these

activities ease my mind and there is nothing better than peacefully reading on the beach or

writing in my Eno.