Learning the Language of the Web

My Journey into Reading and Writing

My mother has a huge selection of books in different genres, which fuelled my interest in reading. Because of our close friendship, it was easy to accompany her to different libraries anytime she decided to read a freshly published file. She searched for my book anytime she sat down to read or went to the counter to borrow one. As a result, I became fluent in English at a young age, and when I started studying, I never had many difficulties with grammar or spelling errors. I could read short and entertaining stories to my friends and brag about how well I could read. In school, I would always fight to learn comprehensions when the English teacher asked for a volunteer to read. Although I can recall a few of the stories I read, most of them lost in mind since they made no importance to me. My only aim at those times was to read a story fluently to the end. The trend ensued until I was through with primary level.

A Changing Perception

However, when I joined high school, things changed. One novel, which was our class reader in form one changed my perception in reading. The book_x0092_s fiction story told of the plight of slaves as it focused on a slave character highlighting on how she survived different dangers as she escaped. It was a reflection of how our society looked like in the past. I recalled a statement that literature is a reflection of our societal happenings. It reminded me of who I am. My grandparents were slaves and survived the ordeal after a long struggle. As Malcolm X notes, when we realize who we are, we attain power and purpose (Malcom, 2015). It was then when I realized that writers have a purpose, they have a subject to communicate to the audience. They made a difference through their extra step to inform the public on societal issues. They tell them where they come from, provide a rich history and manage to say where the society is heading.

The Desire to Write

The novel gave me the desire to read others of the same genre but with a different focus. I thought of one day being a writer, of not only fiction stories but also nonfiction stories. I thought of writing stories based on the reality such as detective stories. I realized that writers have influence. Their organized thoughts present a whole story based on the thematic exposition they choose. As Sherman Alexie noted in the article, The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and I, they organize sentences into a paragraph, which carries one complete idea. One idea from one paragraph coherently corresponds to another in the next section sequentially to the last to make a full story (Alexie, 1998). Every time I read a novel, the first thing I focus on is how the author organized the main ideas, chapters or scenes tell a complete story. Through such critical reading, I could learn different aspects of writing.

The Process of Writing

However, to start writing was not that easy and called for many activities that have to come from the writer_x0092_s mind and put in black and white into organized manner. As noted in the book, Writing, Process Theory, there is much more than just penning down a story. There has to be the thematic connection of ideas, context and a flow of the issues the writer intends to communicate to the audience (Rijlaarsdam, Gert & Huub, 2006). One does not just wake up and start writing. It is a process which, when not followed keenly, one cannot achieve his/her objectives. However, as Malcolm notes, people cannot deprive you your personality. Though he communicated through his speech and Memo to leaders and unions, I intended to reveal what is happening in the community through writing.

My Valid Dream

My dream is still valid with the effort I have had after changing my focus on literature appreciation. I have managed to publish a novel, though I expected to have done much before campus. It motivates me to keep on as I have several to revise depending on the editor’s remarks.

Works cited

Alexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading-Superman and Me.” Los Angeles Times 19 (1998).

Malcolm, X. The autobiography of Malcolm X. Ballantine Books, 2015.

Rijlaarsdam, Gert, and Huub Van den Bergh. “Writing process theory.” Handbook of Writing Research (2006): 41-53.

Sword, Helen. “Processing the writing process.” (2017).