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Gigi Chambers

Mr.Campbell

Literacy Narrative

1/31/2022

Am I Truly a Reader

I remember back around in middle school, specifically 6th grade is when I truly enjoyed

reading books. In language arts class we would have free time stations where we would go to do

anything we wanted. My favorite station was the reading station. That area was in the front

corner of the room where the first group of desks gathered. A few ipads, around 4 or 5 were

placed on top along with a pair of headphones. I couldn’t wait to be able to use them. I would

patiently wait each week just so I could have my turn. I opened the brightly lit ipad to click on

this one particular reading app.

Remember reading logs, well I used to fill them up. That app was my go to. There were

amazing, interesting books, and even picture books. One of my favorite things is how that book

could be read out to you in an impersonating way. As I grew up reading stories with pictures had

a special place in my heart but I began dreading to read long narratives and other things along

those lines. I think it all started back in my freshman year of high school, language arts is usually

my favorite subject and best class however at the end of the year we began learning about

shakespeare. It was also when I was introduced to analyzing poems and their true meanings. I

still seem to somehow enjoy it, we even got to watch the Romeo and Juliet movie.
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The real problem with poetry initiated in 11th grade when I took AP Lit. Almost every

assigned reading was a poem or from a play. We were to take literacy definitions to label and

define every sentence we come across. The teacher gave out worksheets for us to study and learn

the literary terms. Simile, metaphor, imagery, symbolism, foreshadowing, personification,

allusion, diction, point of view, structure, euphemism, motif, symbolism, were the main literary

devices. The year mainly consisted of worksheets which we had to complete and even if we were

allowed to write a story. Students had to make sure that at least one of each literary device was

being used in their writings. Which clearly made things more difficult and gave people stress.

Not to mention how much teachers can have a bias at work. My teacher seemed to favor some

students more than others. Especially those who have siblings that she taught before or the really

smart ones who answer her questions everytime. Another thing I realized that changed my views

on reading is based on the teacher you have and whether they can make language arts a fun topic.

The last experience I had with poems was not too long ago in my senior year. The

language arts class once again was a form of English literature. This time I had a really cool

teacher who I liked but it was the year everything was shut down and virtual. That made it hard

to focus. I think there's one thing that all literature classes have in common is that we must read

about poems. At the end of the semester our final assessment consisted of us reading a book of

poems by one author. Of course we had to analyze and make connections but this time had a

better feeling. The poems were interesting and the teacher helped us take notes and comments on

each poem we read. The best part was that we didn’t have to find every type of literary device

used without the poem but instead try to figure out what story the author is trying to tell. Even
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when I had to switch teachers because of an incident I still managed to have a good time reading

those sets of poems.

Now I don’t read books at all unless required by my classes but I sometimes think about

trying to get into reading. Some of my friends like books and read occasionally even though I

don’t see the hype around it. I believe that covid has made my attention span even worse as I

check my phone like every 5 mins. Reading could help me retain information and focus better as

I would stay off the phone. I do still read but I don't think it's classified as that. What I mean by

that is that I read things called webtoons and manga. Manga is a japanese comic and webtoons

are basically virtual comics too. They have action like chainsaw man which is turning into an

anime soon ! Or you can read a romance webtoon such as true beauty. Personally I don’t classify

myself as a reader since I only read manga or webtoons, a few recommended books are on my

list next. Hopefully I find the energy to pick them up and become a faithful reader again.