Chelsea’s Blog

Chelsea Simpson

English

February 2009

Irony of Dark Creation in Frankenstein

Intertextuality can be described as various relationships that a given text may have within other works of literature. There are several styles of intertexuality that can be placed within writings which include “anagram, allusion, adaptation, translation, parody, pastiche, [and] imitation.” Authors include these separate writings into their own usually to convey a significant message or emphasize a point. Intertexuality aids the reader in understanding the meaning of the work.

Mary Shelly, the author of the 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein, uses intertexualitywhen she references a quote from Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost was and still is an especially famous series of writings that were published in the mid 1600’s. The author of the twelve books was a man named John Milton. Milton’s series was based around the biblical reference to Adam and Eve, as well as God the father and Satan. Shelley quotes early on in the novel, “Not only does the meaning of this quote relate to the general idea of Frankenstein; but if one goes back and reads the lines of Paradise Lost (book ten; lines 720-786) where this particular quote was found, the reader would see many common traits to Paradise Lost as well as the novel Frankenstein. Although many view Paradise as a blissful place, in this particular part of Paradise Lost, Milton changes the mood of happiness to the unexpected theme of darkness which is carried out in book ten. This biblical version of Adam and Eve shows the creation process does in fact have flaws. Shelley borrows the irony of dark creation in Paradise Lost and uses it in Frankenstein. Thus, one could conclude that Shelley takes creation which many think of as a joyful time, and changes it to something dismal while also adding death to reinstate the predominate theme of darkness throughout the novel. The first reference to Paradise Lost in Frankenstein is revealed in the beginning of the novel, thus introducing the reader to the dual-concepts of creation. On the title page, Shelley quotes an excerpt from Paradise Lost: “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me?”(-Paradise Lost [X.74-75]). This quote generates sympathy for not only Adam; Gods creation, but also for the Monster that was the creation of Viktor Frankenstein. Though one may not pay a great deal of attention to this quote at first, creation is a chief theme in the novel. The theme dark creation is demonstrated throughout Frankenstein. In this version of creation, Victor plays the role of God because he too creates life. In chapter five, after Victor spends nearly two years perfecting his creature it finally comes to life and quotes;Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me?”

“It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half extinguishes light, I was the dull yellow eye of the creature open’ it was breathed hard, and convulsive motion agitated limbs.”

At this point the reader begins to feel a darkness created within the monster but also begins to question Victor. Unlike in the story of the creation of Man, Victor abandons the life he created as soon as the Monster is able to draw his first breath. Victor feels very disgusted with what he has created and rushes out of the room and leaves. The irony in this is that because Victor did leave the monster, he only knows to kill (page 60).

Another version of this irony is when Shelley takes the theme of dark creation and blames dark creation for death. One quote in particular from Paradise Lost (book ten) which may catch the readers eye is, “Why am I mocked with death, and lengthened out to deathless pain?” Although Shelley did not include this quote in her novel, it sounds very much like something either Frankenstein or the Monster would say. Death is tragically common theme in Frankenstein, whether it was natural or caused by the hands of the Monster. Victor could play the role of God as well as Adam from Paradise Lost, because in Paradise Lost, Adam is the one who is mocked with death because there shouldn’t be death in Paradise. Victor Frankenstein is especially tormented and mocked with death, as it was by his hands the creature was created and it was the creature that was killing members of Victor’s family. Right after Victor creates the monster he quotes;

The porter opened the gates of the court, which had that night been my asylum, and I issued into the streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I sought to avoid the wrench whom I feared every turning of the street would present to my view.”At this point in the novel, Victor begins to realize that he created a monster which he now fears. Victor is mocked with death in a sense that because he did not educate him or provide him with knowledge, the monster murders two member of Victors family to get back at Victor. In chapter seven, William (Victors youngest brother) is murdered. Victor returns home and he believes that the monster killed William; however, Justine (a young girl that was adopted into the Frankenstein family) is accused of the murder. Justine is convicted and dies. These two incidents do mock death towards Victor because he created the monster which lacked knowledge therefore leaving the monster to kill to his beloved members of Victors family. Thus, Victor is to blame for the murders because he created the monster. Victor could play the role of God as well as Adam from Paradise lost, because in Paradise Lost Adam is the one who is mocked with death. Adam is mocked with death because in the particular quote he is saying As you can see in Frankenstein, the themes of death as well as dangerous knowledge parallel each other in a very dark way.

The theme of darkness is prominent throughout both Frankenstein and Paradise Lost. After reading parts of Paradise Lost, book ten, one could clearly see that the passage is overwhelmed with darkness. Milton uses words such as misery, death, horrid, dreadful, and gloom to express emotion. Going back to the original quote; “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me,” the word darkness is also stated in the above quote. The word darkness in this quotation is particularly relevant in both Frankenstein and Paradise Lost book ten because of the of dark creation which causes death. My interpretation is that the irony in Frankenstein is not about horror in the novel, its about dark creation itself. Though psychological horror is relevant in Frankenstein, its brought up in the form of dark creation. Though the monster may be the one looked at as being a very dark creature, Victor is actually the one who portrays a very dark image. He is the creator for the monster, therefore he is to blame for not nurturing his creation which leads the monster to kill. Thus, Shelley’s usage of Paradise Lost may classify as intertexual adaptation. In Frankenstein, Shelley incorporates the general ideas and principles from Paradise Lost as well as creates her own vision of Paradise Lost in the novel.

Chelsea Simpson

English

February 2009

Paradise Lost Book Ten vs. Frankenstein

Intertextuality can be described as various relationships that a given text may have within other works of literature. There are several styles of intertexuality that can be placed within writings which include “anagram, allusion, adaptation, translation, parody, pastiche, [and] imitation.” Authors include these separate writings into their own usually to convey a significant message or emphasize a point. Intertexuality aids the reader in understanding the meaning of the work.

Mary Shelly, the author of the 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein, uses intertexuality in her writing when she references a quote from Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost was and still is an especially famous series of writings that were published in the mid 1600’s. The author of the twelve books was a man named John Milton. Milton’s series was based around the biblical reference to Adam and Eve, as well as God the father and Satan. Shelley quotes early on in the novel, “Not only does the meaning of this quote relate to the general idea of Frankenstein; but If one goes back and reads the lines of the Paradise Lost (book ten; lines 720-786) were this particular quote was found, one would see many common traits to Paradise Lost as well as the novel Frankenstein. Thus, Shelley’s usage of Paradise Lost may classify as intertextual adaptation. In Frankenstein, she incorporates the general ideas and principles from Paradise Lost as well as creates her own vision of Paradise Lost in the novel. Shelly uses the biblical reference to Adam and eve to convey and reinstate the themes of creation, dangerous knowledge, and darkness.Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me?”

The first reference to Paradise Lost in Frankenstein is revealed in the beginning of the novel, thus introducing the reader to the dual-concepts of creation. On the title page, Shelley quotes an excerpt from Paradise Lost: “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me?”(-Paradise Lost [X.74-75]). This quote generates sympathy for not only Adam; Gods creation, but also for the Monster that was the creation of Viktor Frankenstein. Though one may not pay a great deal of attention to this quote at first, creation is a chief theme in novel. The theme of creation is demonstrated throughout Frankenstein. In chapter five, after Victor spends, Victor’s creation finally came to life. In this version of creation, Victor plays the role of God because he too creates life. But unlike in the story of the creation of Man, Victor abandons the life he created as soon as the Monster is able to draw his first breath.

After further analyzing additional lines in Paradise Lost, book ten, one could see many common traits which could relate to the novel Frankenstein. One quote in particular from Paradise Lost (book ten) which may catch the readers eye is, “Why am I mocked with death, and lengthened out to deathless pain?” Although Shelley did not include this quote in her novel, it sounds very much like something either Frankenstein or the Monster would say. Death is tragically common theme in Frankenstein, whether it was natural or caused by the hands of the Monster. Victor Frankenstein is especially tormented by death, as it was by his hands the creature was created and it was the creature that was killing members of Victor’s family. The morning after Victor creates the monster he quotes;

“The porter opened the gates of the court, which had that night been my asylum, and I issued into the streets, pacing them with quick steps, as if I sought to avoid the wrench whom I feared every turning of the street would present to my view.”

At this point in the novel, Victor begins to realize that he created a monster and is mocked because Victor fears the monster even though he created him. Victor is also mocked with death in a sense that he did not educate him or provide him with knowledge therefore giving the monster no other option except to kill. In Frankenstein, Victor is especially mocked with death when William (Victors youngest brother) is murdered. Victor returns home and he believes that the monster killed William; however, Justine (a young girl that was adopted into the Frankenstein family) is accused of the murder. Justine is convicted and dies. Thus, Victor is mocked with death by having two people which he loved killed. These two incidents do mock death to Victor because he created the monster which lacked knowledge therefore leaving the monster to kill and, Victor is to blame. As you can see in Frankenstein, the themes of death as well as dangerous knowledge parallel each other in the novel.

The theme of darkness is prominent throughout both Frankenstein and Paradise Lost. After reading line 720-866 from Paradise Lost, book ten, one could clearly see that the passage is overwhelmed with darkness. Milton uses words such as misery, death, horrid, dreadful, and gloom to express emotion. “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me.” The word darkness in this quotation is particularly relevant in both Frankenstein and Paradise Lost book ten….

In conlcusion,

.

Chelsea Simpson

English

February 2009

Paradise Lost Book Ten vs. Frankenstein

Intertextuality can be described as various relationships that a given text may have within other works of literature. There are several styles of intersexuality that can be placed within writings which include “anagram, allusion, adaptation, translation, parody, pastiche, [and] imitation.” Authors include these separate writings into their own usually to convey a significant message or emphasize a point. Intertexuality aids the reader in understanding the meaning of the work.

Mary Shelly, the author of the 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein, uses intertexuality in her writing when she references a quote from Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost was and still is an especially famous series of writings that were published in the mid 1600’s. The author of the twelve books was a man named John Milton. Milton’s series was based around the biblical reference to Adam and Eve, as well as God the father and Satan. In Frankenstein, she incorporates the general ideas and principles from Paradise Lost as well as creates her own vision of Paradise Lost in the novel. Thus, Shelley’s usage of Paradise Lost may classify as intertextual adaptation. In Frankenstein, she incorporates the general ideas and principles from Paradise Lost as well as creates her own vision of Paradise Lost in the novel. Shelly uses the biblical reference to Adam and eve to convey and reinstate the themes of creation, gate keeping of knowledge, and darkness.

The first reference to Paradise Lost in Frankenstein is revealed in the beginning of the novel, thus introducing the reader to the dual-concepts of creation. On the title page, Shelley quotes an excerpt from Paradise Lost: “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me?”(-Paradise Lost [X.74-75]). This quote generates sympathy for not only Adam; Gods creation, but also for the Monster that was the creation of Viktor Frankenstein. Though one may not pay a great deal of attention to this quote at first, creation is a chief theme in novel. The theme of creation is demonstrated throughout Frankenstein. In chapter five when Victor’s creation came to life, Paradise Lost is once more referenced. In this version of creation, Victor plays the role of God because he too creates life. But unlike in the story of the creation of Man, Victor abandons the life he created as soon as the Monster is able to draw his first breath.

In the biblical reference to Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost, God creates The Human and later Woman as his companion and only one thing of them: they were not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. However, the serpent entices Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. At once they are instantly endowed with all knowledge which is what God did not want them to process. Here is where the theme of gate keeping knowledge comes in to play. Seconds after Victor creates the monster he runs from the building, leaving the monster with no learn from. In the biblical version of creation, God was the gatekeeper of knowledge. He did not bestow knowledge upon his creation. In Frankenstein, Victor simply deprived his creature of knowledge by fleeing upon his creation. Both the biblical human and Frankenstein’s monster where born into the wholly ignorant; oblivious and therefore innocent. But where Adam and Eve where placed in a paradise, the world the monster was born in to was a dystopia.

The theme of darkness is prominent throughout both Frankenstein and Paradise Lost. After reading line 720-866 from Paradise Lost, book ten, one could clearly see that the passage is overwhelmed with darkness. Milton uses words such as misery, death, horrid, dreadful, and gloom to express emotion. Several lines after the quote “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mold me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to Promote Me.” The word darkness in this quotation is particularly relevant in both Frankenstein and Paradise Lost book ten. There is another quote that Shelly did not include in her novel but sounds very much like something either Frankenstein or the Monster would say. The quote is “Why am I mocked with death, and lengthened out to deathless pain? How gladly would I meet Mortality my sentence, and be Insensible!” Death is tragically common theme in Frankenstein, whether it was natural or caused by the hands of the Monster. Victor Frankenstein is especially tormented by death, as it was by his hands the creature was created and it was the creature that was killing members of Victor’s family.

BLOG 3

Throughout the coarse of chapters five through fifteen, various events have transpired. In chapter five, Victors creation of has come to life. Victor begins to realize that he has created a monster. At the end of the chapter Victor becomes ill, and Henry helps nurse him back to health. Henry Clerval suggests that Victor should write to his family. In chapter six, Victor receives a letter from Elizabeth about his family and a new character Justine is introduced. Elisabeth asks Victor to come back home. Victor eventually writes back to his family and says that his health was restored and he was thinking about coming home. The main event that occurred in chapter seven was that William, Victors brother, died. Victor decides to go home. He begins to think that the monster which he himself created killed William. Victor then speaks with Ernest and soon after Justine is accused of murdering William. Victor thinks that he can prove that Justine is not guilty of the murder. In the next chapter, Justine’s trial starts. There was a lot of evidence that pointed Justine to the murder. When Justine dies at the end of the chapter, Victor feels extremely guilty for what has happened to not only Justine but William as well. In chapter nine, Victor feels that the monster he created will do much more evil. Elizabeth becomes very depressed and feels like there is nothing left to live for. Towards the end of the chapter Victor talks about his trip to Chamounix and the feeling he had then is the same as he feels now. Chapter ten begins with Victors being much happier. His spirits are uplifted when he spent the day roaming through the valley (in Arverion) and sees the beautiful setting. The monster then reappears and asks for Victors friendship. The monster begins to tell his story and Victors agrees to listen. After reading chapter eleven the monster starts to tell his story from his perspective. The monster begins talking about a day when he got very hungry and felt alone in the forest. He decided to leave the forest and the monster went to a nearby community to find food. When he goes into the community the townies are frightened and scared. He looks for shelter and finds a place to rest by a cottage. He can see a family, that consists of an older and younger man as well as a young girl, when peaking out of his shelter. He realizes that words and letters are used as a form of communication. In chapter twelve, he becomes aware that the family is unhappy and he doesn’t understand why. The monster quotes “If such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being should be wretched…What did the tears imply, Did they really express pain?” The monster suggests that the family is sad because they are impoverished. The monster begins to learn and apply words such as Agatha, Felix, brother and son. After that, the old man that lives in the cottage tries to lift the spirits of the children. The monster is determined to learn how to communicate and his goal is to try and help the family; and the Spring time soon arrives. In the beginning of chapter thirteen, a lady on horseback dressed in a dark suit, and covered with a thick black veil arrives to the cottage. The lady’s name is later reveled as Safie. The monster notices that she doesn’t speak, however learns the language very quickly. He begins to notice that he is not the same as the cottagers and starts to wonder about himself. In chapter fourteen, the reader learns about De Lacey and the trail. Safie’s father got in trouble with the government and Felix created a plan for him to escape. They plan that they had devised did not work and the cottagers were sent to jail. They lost all there fortunes and they were sent to Germany. Safie found out were her lover lives and she went out to try and find him. The last chapter I read was chapter fifteen, In this chapter the monster finds books that he is very intrigued by them and compares his life to the books. The monster then finds all of Victors journals. At one point the quoted that, “ the more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim there protection and kindness ; my hearts yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creature…” In this quote the monster was talking about the cottagers and he desperately wants to be loved and accepted by them. He finally gets up the courage to go speak with De Lacey. The monster enter the house an tells De Lacey that he is has no friends.

After reading up to chapter fifteen in Frankenstein, I begin to see a pattern that Shelly uses different narratives as a key component in her story. She uses different perspectives so the reader can find key facts and begin to understand the different personalities from the different characters. Also, each narration helps the reader to find out important facts that only the narrator knows. In the beginning of the book, letters are introduced by an explorer by the name of R. Walton. The letters were of great significance because they are setting up the narration of this novel from this stranger’s perspective. The narration switches to Victor in the beginning chapter. With Victors narration the reader begins to see Victor personality come out. It seems to me that he was obsessed with his work (creating this monster), studies as well as having a very crazy mind. He also talks very down upon the monster which he created. At the very end of chapter ten the narration switches from Victor to the monster; the monster wants to tell Victor his tale and Victor agrees. After reading the first couple chapters of the monsters narration, I begin to understand why Shelly put the monsters narration in as a key component of this story within a story. The purpose of him narrating is so the reader can be informed about the true personality of the monster and to see that maybe he’s not such a monster after all. I picked out two quotes from the chapters which the monster was narrating. These quotes made me feel like he was actually not such a bad monster. Although some of the monsters actions may not have been appropriate, as a reader, I could start to understand why he did the things he did. The first quote that I picked out was “if such lovely creatures were miserable, it was less strange that I, an imperfect and solitary being should be wretched…” I picked out this quote because at this point in the reading I feel like this monster does have emotion. Before this quote the monster was talking about how the cottagers were not entirely happy. The monsters personality begins to come through and the reader starts to see that the image that Victor established about the monster is not so accurate. The second quotes was “ the more I saw of them, the greater became my desire to claim there protection and kindness ; my hearts yearned to be known and loved by these amiable creature…” This quote stood out to me because, again the monster shows he does have emotion. The monster is very lonely and he wants to be loved so desperately. I almost cried when I was reading because the word choice Shelly used made me feel so sad and really feel bad for the monster and sympathize for him. Shelly used very descriptive words to catch the readers attention

Although I am starting to have a better understanding of Shelly’s writing style, I do have one question regarding the chapters I read. The only question I would ask would be is why Victors dream, which is assumed to be foreshadowing, let the reader know to much of what is to come ahead. I feel that I know exactly what is going to happen and not a general thought. I wish that the dream didn’t reveal as much as it did. I would ask Shelly is there a specific reason on why she did that? I think in this case the foreshowing was not as effective as it could have been.

Reflection:

When I was first asked the question what is the significance of reading and how has it shaped me as a reader, I had no clue what to say. However, after thinking about reading experiences as a child and into my teenage years I came across a common trait; I felt that reading was a competition. Believe it or not, I never had thought of that before, but as I looked deeper and deeper into personal experiences the competition aspect of reading just kept popping up.

Although I did not quote anything from either of the readings that we have completed thus far, I did find that I had a connection with Sven Birkerts while reading the Gutenberg Elegies. However, it wasn’t that I connected to him, it was that a connected to people he talked about. For example, in my paper I talked about an experience that I had had with one of my eleventh grade teachers. When I raised my hand to talk about The Scarlet Letter, my teacher made me feel like I didn’t know what I was talking about. My teacher commented about symbolism this and symbolism that and how powerful this book is; she didn’t even let me finish what I was saying. I actually thought of that experience when I was reading the Gutenberg Elegies, page 17. Here, Birkerts was talking about a class he had taught called the “American Short Story.” Birkerts commented that he couldn’t understand why his students did not enjoy the reading he had picked up for them. I felt like I was one of those students that voiced my opinion and was “shut down.” I feel as if Birkerts could have butter coated his reaction a little. I could totally see him standing in front of the class and being really pissed that his students didn’t like the books he had picked out. Many of his students could have experienced what I went through with my eleventh grade teacher, which really hurts.

Although I didn’t touch a lot on my opinion of how technology is affecting people reading I do agree with Birkerts in some ways. After just reading the fist couple of pages of The Gutenberg Elegies, Birkerts thesis that today’s society is living in too much of an electronic culture, became evident. I really wanted to go back and reflect on this because I think that in many ways this is very true. I have a little cousin Alma, who is four years old and probably the most intelligent child I have ever met in my life. Her parents never let her watched television until she was about three years old. Alma love to read play with maps and draw. She has hundreds of books that she has collected over the years and that is all the family gives her for presents when holidays come around. She can read very good for her age and the most incredible thing is she that she can comprehend what she is reading. For example, one of her favorite books is one that talks about plants and vegetables (a know this may sound strange for someone that age). The day after she got the book I came over and she took my hand and went outside with me and showed me her parents vegetable garden. She talked about what the plants and vegetables were and what she learned from reading the book. I found this so amazing. So, yes I do believe that because her parents were so keen or her reading and not watching television she is such a smart girl. However, I do believe that even if parents do all these things like Almas parents as well as my parents, it not a guarantee that the child is going be a genius or love to read. I feel that in some ways Birkerts stresses that if it wasn’t for technology everyone would be a reader but that is not so much the case.

Writing Assignment One

The skill of reading is not something one is born with or something one could live without. Reading is a concept that is developed overtime; and whether you enjoy it or dislike it, reading is imperative for success. I am sure that there are only few who would try to argue that reading is not important. I believe that reading is the foundation of anything and everything.

Right now you could be thinking one of two things. First you could be thinking I am obsessed with reading; or here is a girl who is defending the right to be able to read. Although really I am doing neither. In actuality, I do not enjoy reading, and most certainly would fall in the “non reader” category of society. You may ask yourself how does someone become a reader or a non reader? I myself was asked that very same question. If you asked me this question a month or two ago I would say, “because I just don’t like to read, never have…” But, I found that me not liking to read goes way deeper than that.

Looking back on my past experiences with reading, I do have a negative outlook on it; though, I feel that these experiences have helped shape me into the completive person I am today.

Ever since I was little girl, my sister, Tulsa, was not only my best friend, but also who I looked up to the most. I believe our closeness in age contributed to our strong relationship. Tulsa and I are only a year and a half apart in age. Although we do have our differences, one thing we both enjoyed was when our mom read to us every night. My mother made sure reading was a huge part of our lives as children and young adults. Though we were not the kids that watched television or played video games, we never once thought that we were missing out on the fun. We loved to do other things like play tag outside, make mud castles and our favorite part of the day was when mom would read to us before we went to bed. I can still hear in my head my mom saying “ Girls, go put on pajamas and pick out a bed time story; its getting late.” We would both run to the book shelf and argue about what book we wanted my mother to read to us. The final decision was always made by Tulsa, and normally she chose Dr. Seuss or The Bernstein Bears. My mom would read to us until we both fell asleep.

When my sister started elementary school, I begged my mom to let me go with her. She quickly began to read and to write at a very young age, where as I struggled. Bed time stories were not the same when my sister started reading to me instead of my mom. I wanted to be able to read just as well as her, and it affected me greatly not being able to do so. Reading was something that made me happy and something that I looked forward to daily. I quickly felt I had to learn how to read just as well as Tulsa, or my mom would look at me as a failure. It was in my eyes a never ending competition. I pushed myself to learn how to read not because I wanted too, but because I felt like I had to. Even today I still feel like I compete with my sister with reading. She is absolutely infatuated with reading and always has a book in her hand; I senvy her for that. Even at my graduation, I looked up in the seats and saw her biting her nails and diligently reading. Even though I do still feel like I compete with my sister, I can say I am very appreciative that I have a sister who’s passion is reading. I appreciate it greatly because I know that I will never have what she has with books.

As I got older, wanting to become a better reader was very important to me. I watched my friends enjoy reading through middle school and into high school. I asked myself why can I not just like to read? As I look back, I notice that once again I wanted to read not because I wanted to do it for myself, but because my friends were doing it. It was not just a competition between sister and sister anymore it was also with my fellow classmates. In eleventh grade I started reading slightly more than before. However, reading was still felt very forced upon to me. I read my first book in the eleventh grade that actually made me cry and I could not put it down. The book was My Sisters Keeper, by Jodi Piocult. I thought that maybe I found the one book that could change my feelings on reading. However, that was not so much the case. My English teacher in eleventh grade was very opinionated; it was “her way or the high way.” I remember the day we were having a class discussion on the book, The Scarlet Letter. This was not one of my favorite books. I decided to state my opinion on the book (which was that I felt it was boring and I just could not connect to it), and when I did, I felt attacked. My teacher did not let me even finish what I was saying before she commented on what I said two seconds before.

After that incident, I felt almost afraid to discuss openly on the books we read. I started slacking and not even reading what was assigned for the night. Why read, when I was truly afraid to discuss the book if I did not have such a positive outlook on it? My senior year of high school I do not recall picking up one book that wasn’t assigned for me to read. My excuse was that I did not have time to read, but yet I found myself talking on the computer, checking out profiles on facebook, or watching television. Thus, not having time was not a legitimate excuse. I feel that my teacher did put a negative image in my mind with regards to reading and also disusing openly on books.

As I look back today, I feel that these two events in my life shaped me who I am today as a reader. Sometimes I think to myself, “will I ever be a reader?” I feel that I could still change my reading habits although it would be extremely difficult. I think that anyone who is no a reader could in fact learn to be a reader. Reading is something that you need to enjoy as well as practice to develop the skill. Since I never liked to read, it was very challenging for me to get “hooked on books.” I find myself today at college having to work extra hard to because I do struggle with reading. When asked by my professors to read pages for homework, I dread it. I always will put off my reading assignments until the last minute. There is not one day that goes by that I don’t encounter reading and wish that I was a better at it.

I have developed a very competitive nature for sports, especially horseback riding. I ponder if maybe I decided to be involved in sports and other activities because I wanted to be better at something then my sister or my friends. This may sound irrelevant, but I think that I needed that something that made me smile and made me happy. I constantly saw my sister as well as my friends happy when they read but I never felt that way. My sister Tulsa never once played a sport so for me that was something I could beat her in. Though reading and horseback riding are very different activities, for my sister and I they are a lot alike. If I’m having a bad day I go to the farm to ride and I feel something that cannot be felt unless I’m on the back of my horse. For my sister, she gets the same kind of feeling when she opens up a new book and doesn’t put it down until she’s finished. Though experiences in my life may have attributed to me not liking to read, they also could have brought me close to the one thing I love most, competing my horse.

Writing Assignment One

The skill of reading is not something one is born with or something one can live without. Reading is a concept that one develops overtime; and whether you enjoy it or hate it, reading is imperative for success. I am sure that there are some who would try to argue reading is not important. I think that reading is the foundation of anything and everything. Right now you could be thinking one of two things. First you could be thinking I am obsessed with reading; or here is a girl who is defending the right to be a able to read. Although really I am doing neither. In actuality I do not enjoy reading, and I most certainly would fall in the “non reader” category of society. You may ask yourself how does one become a reader or a non reader? I myself was asked that very same question. If you asked me this question a month or two ago I would say, “because I just don’t like to read, never have and never will.” But, I found that me not liking to read could have resulted in certain events. For example, one event that happened early on in my life as well as another in my teenage years. Looking back on these events now I think they helped shape me into the person I am today.

Ever since I was little girl, my sister, Tulsa, was not only my best friend, but also who I looked up to the most. I believe our closeness in age contributed to our strong relationship. Tulsa and I are only a year and a half apart in age. Although we do have our differences, one thing we both enjoyed was when our mom read to us every night. My mother made sure reading was a huge part of our lives as children and young adults. Though we were not the kids that watched television or played video games, we never once thought that we were missing out on the fun. We loved to do other things like play tag outside, make mud castles and our favorite part of the day was when mom would read to us before we went to bed. I can still hear in my head my mom saying “ Girls, go put on pajamas and pick out a bed time story; its getting late.” We would both run to the book shelf and argue about what book we wanted my mother to read to us. The final decision was always made by Tulsa, and normally she chose Dr Seuss or The Bernstein Bears. My mom would read to us until we both fell asleep. When my sister started elementary school, I begged my mom to let me go with her. She quickly began to read and to write at a very young age, where as I struggled. Bed time stories were not the same when my sister started reading to me instead of mom. I wanted to be able to read just as well as her, and it affected me greatly not being able to do so. Reading was something that made me happy and something that I looked forward to daily. I quickly felt I had to learn how to read just as well as Tulsa, or my mom would look at me as a failure. It was now in my eyes a never ending competition. I pushed myself to learn how to read not because I wanted too, but because I felt like I had too. Even today I still feel like I compete with my sister with reading. She is absolutely infatuated with reading and always has a book in her hand; I still envy her for that. Even at my graduation, I looked up in the seats and saw her biting her nails and diligently reading. Even though I do still feel like I compete with my sister, I can say I am very appreciative that I have a sister whose passion is reading. I appreciate it greatly because I know I will never have what she has with books.

As I got older, wanting to become a better reader was very important to me. I watched my friends enjoy reading through middle school and into high school. I asked myself why can I not just like to read? As I look back, I notice that once again I wanted to read not because I wanted to do it for myself, but I wanted to do it because my friends were doing it. It was not just a competition between sister and sister anymore it was also with my fellow classmates. In eleventh grade I started reading slightly more then before. However, reading was still felt very forced upon to me. I read my first book in the eleventh grade that actually made me cry and I could not put it down. The book was My Sisters Keeper, by Jodi Piccut. I thought that maybe I found the one book that could change my feelings on reading. However, that was not so much the case. My English teacher in eleventh grade was very opinionated; it was “her way or the high way.” I remember the day we were having a class discussion on the book, The Scarlet Letter. This was not one of my favorite books. I decided to state my opinion on the book (which was that I felt it was boring and I just could not connect to it), and when I did, I felt attacked. My teacher did not let me even finish what I was saying before she commented on what I said two seconds before. After that incident, I felt almost afraid to discuss openly on the books we read. I started slacking and not even reading what was assigned for the night. Why read, when I was truly afraid to discuss the book if I did not have such a positive outlook on it? My senior year of high school I do not recall picking up one book that I was not assigned to read. My excuse was that I did not have time to read, but yet I found myself talking on the computer, checking out profiles on facebook, or watching television. Thus, not having time was not a legitimate excuse.

As I look back today, I feel that these two events in my life shaped me who I am today as a reader. Sometimes I think to myself, “will I ever be a reader?” I feel that I could still change my reading habits although it would be extremely difficult. I think that anyone that was not a reader before could learn to be a reader in the future. Reading is something that you need to enjoy as well as practice to develop the skill. Since I never liked to read, it was very challenging for me to get “hooked on books.” I find myself today at college having to work extra hard to because I do struggle with reading. When I am asked by my professors to read for homework, a dread it. I always will put off my reading assessments until the last minute. I do believe one thing however, I have developed a very completive nature for sports especially horseback riding. I ponder if maybe I decided to be involved in sports and other activities because I wanted to be better at something then my sister or my friends. This may sound irrelevant, but I think that I needed that something that made me smile and made me happy. I constantly saw my sister as well as my friends happy when they read but I never felt that way. My sister Tulsa never once played a sport so for me that was something I could beat her in.

For my paper I decided to write about two main evernts that happened in my life.  In the first paragraph I will explain my thoughts on reading and how it has shaped me into the person that I am today.  The second paragraph will be about how when I was younger I felt like I had to compete with my sister when reading. I was very young and when she was starting to be able to rea, I still could’t.  I wanted to read not because I like to, it was because I felt like I had to. My third paragraph will be about an ancident that happened to me in high school.  I will explain how it had a negative impact on my life as a reader.  Lastly, in the fourth paragraph I will tie the to together and explain how  I believe that these are the two main readons I do not like to read.  I will tell how not likeing to read has already effected me as a college student.