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Courtney Withrow ENG 110 Professor Franklin 11 December 2012 Learn to Read, Learn to Write, Learn to Think Learn to Read Ive always really loved to read. I was taught how at school, for the most part. I learned the alphabet in kindergarten and was reading tiny chapter books by first grade. I also got a sense of how important reading was from my father. As far back as I can remember, my dad has always been reading books. I often saw him read in his free time, and I would always see the current book he was reading lying around in various places around the house. His books were usually science fiction novels, but sometimes he would have huge biographies of historical figures, like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. We had a bookcase in the living room where he would store some of his favorites once he finished them. On the bottom shelf was a set of hardbacks all published and bound in the same style. I thought these books were really properlooking, and they fascinated me. I would always flip through them, but I could never figure out what exactly was in them (they were mostly a collection of classic stories, essays, and poems that my dad received as a gift set). Even so, I would pick one up, hold it open, and pretend to recite from it like I was a distinguished college professor. It was my goal to read sophisticated books like these when I got older. Not only did my father always set an example for me by reading books constantly, but he encouraged me to read my own books all the time, too. He would never deny me or my older sister a trip to the bookstore, and would buy us at least one book while we were there. His only rule was that it had to be a novel of substantial length (more than two hundred pages) any comic books or picture books we had to pay for ourselves. My dad wouldnt just buy the books for us either, he would discuss them with us too. He was always interested in what they were

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about and our opinions of them. His encouragement instilled in me a love of reading, as well as a sense that it was important. My dad has had a very significant influence on my reading and literacy education. Learn to Write My fathers encouragement didnt stop at reading. He tried to motivate me to write more, too. He was the one who would proofread all of my essays, stories, and papers, and would always tell me to be creative in my writing. Several times, his method of writing would clash with what my teachers told me. For example, he would always tell me that it was okay to have a paragraph with less than five sentences, as long as the topic was completely explained. My writing instruction up until high school went against this completely (I realize now that this rule was in place for so long and so strictly to help give a sense of structure to younger writing students). Whenever my dad helped me with a paper he got angry when I started counting sentences in a paragraph. I was so worried about making the structure correct that I wasnt focusing on the content, which is always what my dad tried to help with. It occurs to me now that my dad was just doing the best he could, without knowing all of the specific writing techniques that I learned at school. My teachers were instructing me on how to write a correct paper, and my dad was trying to teach me how to write an interesting paper. My writing now is still influenced by both what my teachers and my father taught me. Reading and writing started off being equally important for me. I loved to write just as much as I loved to read. But unlike reading, writing got harder for me as I got older. Reading books was always the same experience for me it was easy and enjoyable, like a hobby. Writing was like this for a little while, until about sixth grade. I had to do my first real research paper, about Thomas Edison for my science class. I remember the elaborate process I had to go through

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of finding and citing sources, learning what MLA style was, etc. It was so long and drawn out, and my teacher made such a big deal about it, that the thought of having to write it always made me anxious and I tried to put off doing it as much as I could. This was the first experience I had with writing that made me dislike it. Up to that point I had only written stories or personal narratives, which I thought were easy. But this kind of writing was hard and took a lot of work, and so I found writing to be bothersome and didnt like it much after that. As I moved through middle school and on into high school, I began to separate reading and writing even more in my mind. Reading could be a hobby, whereas writing was often something required for school. Any other writing I did, like keeping a journal, would not be seen by anyone but me, so I saw no point in doing it. I kept the two separate until senior year of high school. My English teacher, Mr. Bluhm, really loved to read books. But he loved analyzing books even more. We were constantly writing about the books we read in class. The more writing we did, the more I could see how closely linked reading and writing were. I saw that research papers didnt have to be as daunting as I thought, and that I could actually write a research paper about a book that I really liked. Writing didnt seem like such a bother anymore; I didnt feel anxious when I would have to write something for class. I am really grateful to Mr. Bluhm, because he taught me a new way to read books, and how to appreciate writing again. Both of these tools have really helped me in college my first semester, too. Learn to Think I think the way literacy functions in our lives really depends on what we want to use it for. It is important to take the time to analyze literacy education, and how certain books, teachers, or experiences have shaped the way we think. Analyzing my literacy education has been extremely beneficial, because I can see why my education has developed the way it has.

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My primary sponsor of literacy has been my dad, because he has really affected the ways that I approach reading and writing in general. My English teacher, Mr. Bluhm, also really helped to reintroduce me to writing, and made writing more accessible for me. To write this paper I had to really go through the process of how I learned to read, and figure out why I like reading so much. In doing that, I realized how significant my dad was to that process. It was the same thing for writing: by thinking about all the writing I have done and how my attitude toward it has changed over the years, I saw what it took make it enjoyable again. By analyzing how I learned to read and write, I can focus my future literacy development in a certain direction, use it to my advantage, and determine exactly what function it will serve in my life.