Essay about Growing as a Reader - 1145 Words

Throughout this year, I have read many different works of early English literature. From reading these works and following the rules of Vladimir Nabokov, I have grown tremendously as a reader since the beginning of this year. From reading Alice in Wonderland to now, I have grown to appreciate literature much more. I have developed a better sense of the English language through the use of a dictionary and the difficult sentence structure of works such as the Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, Le Morte D’Arthur, and the Fairie Queene. Because of the difficult sentence structures, the different word usages, and the deeper meanings wrapped in each of these works, I have learned to reread to better my understanding of the text and to see if I†¦show more content†¦With Alice in Wonderland, I had no intentions of using a dictionary for words that I did not understand, and as a consequence, I had no idea what a portmanteau was. This hindered my understanding of the entire chapte r with Humpty Dumpty and also the portmanteaus throughout the book. Learning from my mistakes as I started Beowulf, I began to use a dictionary as I read, but I only looked up words that I had never seen before. Because I did not look up words that looked out of place to me due their meaning now, I misinterpreted many parts of Beowulf. As I began the Canterbury Tales, I started to write words that I did not understand or that looked out of place in my journal with a question mark by them. After I was finished reading, I would go back and look up the words I wrote down. Then, I would reread the passage to get a better comprehension of it. I continued to do this throughout the year on most of the other works I read. I used the difficult sentence structure of the literary works I read this semester to give me a greater understanding of the English language. Before this year, I had read little to nothing with any form of Old English sentence structure, and when I came to Beowulf, I found it difficult to read. I had to read a passage three or four times before I finally understood what was happening. In my journal, I would write why could we not have a better translation. Now I know why. As I becameShow MoreRelatedBuilding a Foundation and Growing As Readers Essay746 Words   |  3 Pagesprior background knowledge about phonics, and word usage. The whole idea is to build both top-down model strategies, and bottom-up skills and word identification at the same time. The foundation has to be set before students can build and grow as readers. They must be immersed in reading and surrounded by it as well. As a teacher I plan on using phonemic awareness, and word identification skills while also practicing reading, and writing comprehension. 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