Traciana Taylor

Dada
November 29, y

Personal literacy narrative

My roller coaster with reading and writing
Throughout elementary school I loved reading. Reading was my favorite part of the
day. Even though we had recess it was a way for me to escape to another world,
somewhere I have always wanted to go. I read all the Magic Tree House books, the
Junie B. Jones collection, and Goosebumps. However, Doctor Seuss books were my
absolute favorite. They told a funny story every time but he made sure at the end that
you learned a lesson, not just a lesson for the time being, but life lessons that you could
take forever. My mom use to read me my favorite book, Oh The Places You Will Go by
Dr. Suess. I knew I was going far places and I was going to do big things one day. But it
taught me to be patient and that it was going to be difficult at times. I may feel alone
sometimes but I will always find my way back to my dreams.
In middle school we started to read longer books. Sometimes I didn't understand
the purpose of reading these books. It was just because I had too or because the
teacher said so. Some books that really didnt interest me at all were Julius Caesar, the
Metamorphosis, and Animal farm. When I was reading the books they didnt grasp my
attention. Going through each page all I could think about is, when can I stop reading
this instead of wanting to read more. I began to long for something that taught me a
lesson or something with mystery so that I could have the opportunity to figure that
mystery out. I wanted to escape the world of forced reading and writing assignments. If I

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wasn't interested enough in it how could I write about it. I soon began to read the
Skullduggery Pleasant series. It was full of mystery and I used it to getaway from the
boring reading assignments that I had. It also taught me lessons about friendship and
unity. When I got into the eighth grade my escape world began to crumple. I had essay
after essay. I had very low interest in writing about most of the topics. To me, I think its
just because I couldnt choose for myself so I took little interest in it. Many of the topics
didnt relate to my life struggles and what I thought was important in my life, such as
family and trying to live up to expectations. I began to realize that I had started to hate
reading and writing. I didn't understand why I couldn't pick something I wanted to read,
and then write about that topic. This was also the time when grammar became a big
deal in my school career. It was hard for me to figure out where commas were
supposed to go or the difference between a semi-colon and period. I was getting so
frustrated because I had to write my essays with perfect grammar or I would fail.
Grammar was not the only thing that challenged me. It took me forever to figure
out how to start an essay off because introduction paragraphs where so complicated. I
could figure out my thesis statement after I had written my body paragraphs but what
was I going to say before that? Many times the teachers would ask for us to tie up
something that wasn't even related to the topic and find a way to relate it so that it gives
deeper understanding for the intro and the essay as a whole. How was I supposed to do
that if I comprehend some of it correctly and on top of that I need outside sources when
all I know is what I learned in class. I stopped reading because I had no interest. I didn't
want to write about anything because It didn't pertain to my life or maybe just because
the book had less pictures. All I know is I hated writing. I didn't do bad in it I mad some
errors because of course I'm not perfect but I was always good in English.
During high school it just kept getting worse. Not only because it was getting more
detailed and the level of writing was getting harder but me taking all AP English's didn't
help me with writing. But, Some readings did connect with me. To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee was a fantastic book that I loved. The connection was so realistic to society.
It had topics that some people dont talk about or feel uncomfortable reading about. It
showed struggles in peoples lives and thats what I liked to read. It made me look at my
life a little different because it could always be worse. Another novel that I connected

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with was Night by Elie Wiesel. Again, this book captured my attention because you see
struggle. You see hope that can be taken away. It was so interesting because I can see
reality for my life and myself. But, still writing was a downfall. AP English was just
enforcing me to write about even more topics that didn't interest me or teach me
anything that was useful in life. I remember in 10th grade I failed this essay assignment,
which was the first time ever. It wasn't because it was horrible writing or I wasn't on
topic. It was because of grammar. I didn't understand what was so important about a
semicolon or a comma in a certain space. I didn't understand how I could fail when I did
great with the writing. This is when I never wanted to write again. On top of that most of
the readings I didn't even want to read, they didn't explain or go over certain parts in the
chapters, and you could never ask a question about it without feeling stupid. How was I
supposed to understand the reading or even try to take interest in it if no one would
explain certain parts to me? It just made it worse.
Since I took AP classes I expected college to be the same way. I had to get
grammar down and I have to expect little to no help on essays and understanding
readings. I just knew I was going to hate what I was reading about and I was going to
hate what my essay topics were. But when I got to college my perspective changed. All
of my classes besides Math1101 has reading and writing. I'm taking UCOL, UWRT 1101
Psych, and I am in an English learning community. This was the last thing I was
expecting considering my previous experience with reading and writing. College is
nothing like my AP classes. I have started to enjoy reading and writing again. I love that
I have freedom on some topics about what I want to write. The books that I read have
captured my attention and teach me several lessons throughout. I think its great that
you can get an essay assignment and have so many ways to write it. There are also so
much help on campus when it comes to editing your writing. My love for reading and
writing has returned to the point where I want to read more on my free time, and I love
getting a new writing assignments.

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