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Paulo Garay
Professor Hamby
UWRT 1101 Section 23
9 September 2014
Literacy Narrative
From the moment I first learned to read with my parents, all the way until English IV in
my senior year, reading and writing have both been influential to me throughout the years.
Although not my strong suits, reading and writing have helped me improve academically and
musically. With the ability to read and write, I am able to make music and be a good student.
Even though reading and writing are not my most favorite activities, there is no doubt in my
mind that both skills have impacted my life views today.
Ever since my parents first read to me as a child, books have always interested me.
Reading simple books like Green Eggs and Ham never failed to entertain my small, developing
mind. The simple rhymes and length of the books would keep my mind stimulated as well as
improve my reading skills as a young child. Being in the classroom with other kids reading was a
great experience as well. I remember my friends from elementary school and being read to by
our kindergarten teacher before naptime. As I got older in middle school and high school reading
books like The Giver and 1984 opened up my mind to take on big ideas like living in a
completely different society. The idea of a perfect society was so new to me that they intrigued
me and really made me wonder what it would be like to live in one. I will always remember my
classes' reaction when we all found out what was actually happening in The Giver. It was the

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first time the idea of a perfect society came into my mind and it left me intrigued. Reading 1984
in high school brought the idea back with a controlled communist-like society where the
government has total control over everything. 1984 turned out to be another book that I was
legitimately interested in. I enjoyed it for stimulating my mind and giving me deep thoughts.I
still wonder what it would be like to live in a perfect society today because of The Giver as well
as 1984. Reading Catcher in the Rye showed me the troubled teen point of view and what it is to
grow up like Holden. Holden's troubled lifestyle made me compare my life to his and make me
ask questions like "What would I do in his situation?" His behavior in the book made him very
interesting and it made me want to keep reading. Catcher in the Rye was one of those books that
I just wanted to read because it was interesting. Even though I never read outside of class, my
mind stayed stimulated because of the constant reading I would have to do in class. The ability to
escape into another world and live in it is what is great about reading to me. Reading has always
been a way for me to learn about different views and ideas and apply them to myself in my
everyday life.
Although not as much as reading, writing has also taken part in forming me into the
person I am today. Ever since writing my first personal narrative in sixth grade my writing skills
have improved. Free writing was always my favorite thing to do in middle school. My best friend
and I would always write crazy stories together and share them with the class. All throughout
high school and middle school I would go on to write many essays and research papers. Each
paper I wrote would teach me different writing skills and with practice I would keep improving.
Persuasive essays would teach me how to be convincing while narrative essays would teach me
how to tell a story. Descriptive essays would force me to put the most detail I could into my

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writing. Research papers taught me how to find information and be able to focus on one idea
while being able to present the data I found. The more papers I wrote, the better I got at them.
Each essay and paper I wrote throughout school got better as the English classes got harder.
Although I still don't enjoy writing papers, I can tell that I've personally improved in my writing
over the years.
Reading and writing have helped me become a musician as well as a good student. They
are the basis of almost everything in our society. Without reading or writing, there would be no
guidelines or rules to follow. In music, it is very hard to be able to improve yourself if you don't
know how to read sheet music. There are many terms used throughout sheet music such as
"Meno mosso" which means "less quickly" and "piano" which means "soft" which tells you
specifically how softly to play the music and at what pace. Missing these key terms while
playing the music can throw everyone in an orchestra off, because you will be playing the notes
in the wrong style. If everyone plays at "piano" while you play at "forte," you'll ruin the song by
playing too loud while everyone is quiet. Reading has helped me catch those in sheet music and
be able to process the words faster so I can play faster and better. Although sheet music involves
a different kind of reading, basic skills are still regained to play the music. In sheet music there
are sometimes so many notes and the songs can get very fast so quick reading skills are needed
when playing an instrument. Writing is essential in music because to write a song, you will need
the skills to make sure that what you're writing makes sense and fits towards the theme of your
song. Creative writing is important in music because there are so many musicians writing about
the same thing over and over again and producing the same old music. With writing, I feel that I
am more creative because of all of the other works I had to do throughout high school which

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taught me different brainstorming skills and allowed me to formulate good thoughts. Reading
and writing have helped me personally become a better musician through being able to come up
with better lyrics and play better.
To become a good student, reading and writing are essential in succeeding. Reading and
writing is used in every subject in school. I can recall my first writing exercises in elementary
school, having to practice cursive and capital letters as well as lowercase letters. I would enjoy
most of the writing exercises in school, but what made me begin to loathe writing was when I
had to write my first essay in middle school. Essays to me seemed tedious and a waste of time to
me at first and always has been but in high school I got over them. I've improved since writing in
middle school because of high school. I was able to write good essays in AP English III when
my teacher got serious about turning the class into stronger readers and writers. In AP English III
my teacher would make sure that our papers were high quality by the end of the year through
writing workshops and practicing in class. Throughout the year we read many books but one that
stood out to me was The Great Gatsby. I ended up reading the whole thing and enjoying it. The
book was great because of it's themes and how it portrayed each one. Love is one of the themes
of the book and is shown through the different characters such as Jay Gatsby and Daisy
Buchanan. It showed that even though Jay Gatsby was very wealthy and successful, he still
couldn't get the girl he wanted. The sad side of the rich and famous lifestyle was shown through
Jay Gatsby's life and it really showed me the other side of that lifestyle. The Great Gatsby is one
of my favorite books and it has kept my interest in reading still alive.
Reading and writing have both positively influenced my life throughout the years and have
taught me many things. With my ability to read and write, I have learned to read and play music

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as well as find inspiration for writing my own songs. I have become more open minded to all
ideas and I have learned to think of different point of views because of my reading ability. I have
also learned how to convince, inform, and detail my writing better because of continuous writing
since sixth grade. Without reading and writing I would not be able to become the student that I
am today. Although there is much room for improvement in my reading and writing, I know I
can get better as long as I keep practicing. I hope to one day be able to use my skills to influence
someone else to improve their literacy skills.