Language Investigation #2

Reading and writing have always been subject areas that have come naturally for me; however, neither are activities I particularly enjoy. I learned to read and write between Kindergarten and 1st grade. One of my earliest writing memories is of trying to grasp the concept of using periods and capital letters at the beginning of a new sentence. I can also remember learning to sound out words, and that really helped me in learning to read and is still a strategy I use today when I come across an unfamiliar word. While I cannot remember the very first book I ever successfully read, I do remember being enthralled by the American Girl series and I read them all the time. Back then, reading was something I did in my free time for fun...since then, it has taken on a whole new, almost evil meaning. The manner in which reading and writing were presented and taught to me evolved over the years.

Originally, reading in school was for fun. We read exciting books like Earthquake Lake and did fun projects on the books. Therefore, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and did not see it as a burden. The turning point came in 5th grade. We had to read Where the Red Fern Grows. We had to read close to 20 pages per night of tiny print and what I found to be a boring story line. Instead of reading to do fun projects, I was reading to pass a quiz the next day. Suddenly, reading became stressful, boring, and burdensome. I still carry that experience and that attitude with me, which is a shame. But, only twice since then have I ever read a book cover to cover and truly been interested-- Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

With regard to writing, in elementary school, writing was more personal. In order to teach us how to write, our teachers provided motivation through asking us to write about ourselves. I wrote narratives on my family, my dog, and other various interests. I felt as if there was no right answer to my writing as long as the spelling and punctuation were correct. Once I reached high school however, writing took on a new meaning. Instead of writing about myself and my personal interests and experiences, I was asked to write about a piece of literature—there was a right answer to this kind of writing. So, my stress levels around writing began to rise. My 9th grade teacher was extremely picky and only accepted one “right” view on the literature, which instilled a fear in me that I still carry with me today. In high school, I was always writing to the prompt, which left little room for creativity or free writing.

In primary school, I was asked to do “fun” reading, but as I moved into secondary school, teachers began to not only ask, but also require “boring” reading. In primary school, I got to wrote about topics that interested me, in secondary school, I wrote on what would interested my teachers. My reading a writing career has undergone a massive evolution and so have my attitudes toward both subjects.