I am
taking a break from nano to write a quick blog post. I recently assigned a
process essay in my comp classes with the theme, How to Love a Book (or an
author, genre) etc. Essentially I wanted them to focus on their process as
developing readers. The initial drafts ranged from tepid to pretty good, but
mostly, the rewrites are outstanding. The following are quotes I extracted from
my students on the reading/writing connection:
Taylor
writes, "I noticed my intelligence growing more and more after I began to
read,." And Caitlin says, I'm not entirely sure what it was about the book
I loved. It's like I had a hunger in me, and I craved the words on every page.”
According to Victoria, Alice (in wonderland) made me realize everyone you meet
has their own normal."
After
his uncle’s murder, Sloan was jarred into not “ wanting those stupid fairy
tales; I wanted something with acumen that made you think…He writes about the Dexter
series, and “I often wish Dexter would find the man who took my uncle’s life
and show him the images of the disaster he inflicted.”
Jake
says,”in experiencing new reading you see all the ways writing is explored. And Regan feels “The title made the decision
of reading the book itself “
“If
the authors writing style is boring and dull,” Jerry says, “then reading the
book can make me somnolent and put me to sleep."
When
Tosha started reading the Maximum Ride series on a vacation, she rued about
having to leave her book in the car. “I had to put the book away for the hour
long lunch break, and I was literally aching from not reading.” We bibliophiles
know that feeling well.
Shala
realizes that characters often have flaws, and, ”Unfortunately, things in books
don't always happen the way people want it to.”
Several
students were drawn into reading early. Katie says, ”Frog and Toad are
friends made me love reading, made me feel like I was pa of the nexus of
book readers. It started the spark that made me burgeon as a reader, while Victor
writes, “Horton Hears a Who taught me not to judge a person because a
person is a person no matter how small. I was bullied as a child, so this
lesson, so this lesson holds deep well within me.”
Ian’s
essay is a thoughtful treatise on the components of needed to become a reader:
free-time, creativity and curiosity. All of which, ”allows us to be open to
other people and their imaginations, and aslo allows us to develop a love for
the stories that come out of the creative eye of the world's authors.”
Mallory
summarizes this by stating, “your wildest dreams become reality in impossible
ways.” Emily points out the ineffable book love by stating, “There was
something special about the books I couldn't put my finger on.”
While
most of my students write about fiction, two chose nonfiction. Of the memoir The
Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, Shi writes how she “dove into 288 pages
of someone else’s life.. Walls seemed to have the strongest bond with her
father and as she got older…his alcoholism didn't affect her the way it would
have affected me. She didn’t break down or let it deter from her goals. If anything,
it motivated her.”
Kaitlin,
a good writer who claims to despise reading, writes: I have neither time nor
patience for lounging around to read a book with having to balance high school,
college and work. In place of reading I enjoy watching educational or scientific
television programs.” As much as she abhors reading fiction, her essay extols
the virtues of reading her college Biology text, as my enthusiasm for science
materials burgeoned, I have acquired a subscription to National Geographic
magazine, which I read in my free time.”
Perhaps
Kelsie sums up what all bibliophiles feel: “When I find the right book it is
hard to put it down.”
Happy
writing and reading. Now back to my nano novel, 23, 587 words strong so far.
