My Literary Autobiography

I cannot remember a time in my life as a child that did not have books in it. I was the typical girl that loved princess stories and Barbie books. I always wanted to read a book before bed with one of my parents, which usually ended up being my dad. This was because he was much more willing to climb into my child-sized loft bed with two inches of headroom and read me my fairytales than my mother was willing. I remember what my favorite book was almost 12 years later; my Pocahontas pop-up book. I would snuggle up to him and play with the picture tabs as he read me the story. My mother would make me read the story and would animate the pictures for me. Clearly, they had very different parenting and literary teaching styles for their 6-year-old daughter.

PAGE ONE OF POCAHONTAS POP-UP BOOK

As I got older though, I started to fall into the trap of “I hate reading” because I never got to read what I wanted and had to read these much more realistic books and novels for school. I didn’t like reading or doing any of my English homework so much, that my mother would get a copy of whatever book we were reading in school from the local library and read it before me. She did this so when she asked if I had done my reading and homework, she would be able to ask me questions about the book to prove I actually read. If I couldn’t answer her questions, I sat on the bottom step of the stairs and read my book before I was allowed to go do anything fun. This method taught me to take my time when reading and actually understand what was on the page. This became very useful in high school a few years later.

A SEMI-ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF YOUNGER ME 

I always struggled with English and comprehension. So much so that before my brother –who was very bad at math– passed away, he would sit with me and help me with my English homework while I helped him with his math homework, or tried to at least. When I got to high school, and especially during online learning during my Junior year, I used the method my mother taught me as a child. I would write myself a list of basic questions before I read the next section of any novel I was assigned. I would ask my future-self questions like, “Who was the most prominent character in the readings and why” or “Was there any conflict, and was it resolved”. So after I read, if I couldn’t answer those questions, I went back and read again, forcing myself to really read and understand the words, not just skim for the vital information I need to know for the next assignment or test.

THE WAY I VISUALIZE LITERATURE 

This personal method I have developed made me feel much better about my literary skills and also helped me fall in love with other forms of literature like poetry and musical lyrics. I love delving into the deeper meaning of a poem or what an artist is really trying to say when they use certain lyrics in a song. I look at literature not only as novels and textbooks, but as any kind of text, spoken words, or scribbled-down thoughts that a reader can read and find their own meaning in. I really have to thank my parents when it comes to my love for literature and how I approach reading today because I would not be here if they hadn’t read me my fairytales every night or forced me to sit on the stairs and read my school books before I could play with my friends.

-EM