For this post, I have decided to post my visual essay on the topic of my literary journey from since the time I was little. The first picture is a representation of my eternal love for literature. I have been an avid reader since I was young and hope to never loose my love for books and stories.
The second picture is of the cover of the book Old Yeller. This book brings back many good memories of elementary school for me. It was during this time that my teachers really were able to get me to foster my need to read. They continually put new books in my hands, and Old Yeller was the book that I checked out most frequently from the library. This was my go-to book when I couldn't think of anything else to check-out. Also during this time, I had teachers who stressed the importance of writing down a list of everything my classmates and I read, and to keep track of the books over the year. I can remember the pride that I felt every time I was able to add a new book to the list, and see how it compared to my friends' lists (mine were always much longer).
The third is of my favorite book series while growing up. The Babysitters Club books could be seen overflowing from my shelves. My grandmother has volunteered at the library ever since she retired, and was always able to bring me new books from the series every time there was a used-book fair. I would read these books over and over again, and helped me with adolescent issues that the characters in the books deal with. As I became a more proficient reader, I set the goal that I would try to read a whole novel from the series in only one or two sittings. This caused me to get into trouble a lot during third and fourth grade when my parents would get upset with me for staying up half the night reading, but this became a habit that followed me into junior high and high school.
The fourth photo is of one of the local libraries that I was taken to while growing up. Here, I spent a lot of my time finding new books, studying for tests, and working on school projects. Having three younger sisters in my house made it difficult for me to get homework done at home, so the library became my hideout. Even today, I feel a sense of calm and feel completely at home every time I enter a library. There is something comforting about all of the books on the shelves that can keep me there for hours!
The fifth photograph is one that could definitely represent my adolescent bookshelf while in junior high and early high school. Harry Potter and His Dark Materials series were at the top of my reading lists, and reminded me while getting bogged down with homework that literature can still be fun. Even today, I have a shelf dedicated to Young Adult literature as a reminder to take time to read what I want every now and then, and to keep up with what my future students will be reading.
The sixth photo represents what people expect for me to rattle off as my favorite pieces of literature as an English major. While I will always love to read the classics, sometimes it is more work than I actually want to put into reading. I believe that these books should most definitely be taught in schools, and I want my students to be enthused to read these, and excited to discuss them.
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Reflection:
It took me quite awhile to actually figure out where to start on this visual essay. I felt a little overwhelmed by all of the options that I had, but once I finally figured out to take a quick trip down memory lane, and post what in the world of literature was important in molding who I am now. I found flickr to be very useful for this project, because when I would type in a keyword, other related photos would come up and it gave me even more to think about. It was a good exercise for me to sit and think about what texts were really the most influential during my adolescence. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about my obsession with checking out Old Yeller until I was picturing myself in my elementary school library. At that point, all of these random memories related to novels and Scholastic Book Fairs came flooding back into my mind and I had a lot of fun sifting through them all, and figuring out which ones were the most pertinent to my literary journey. It is amazing how much photos can enhance this type of essay, because if I were to just have listed the reasons for why I like to read, it could be pretty dull. Since I started out the post with the photos, it gets my audience to wonder why these particular pictures had a big effect on my life, and they will be intrigued enough to read on.
