Richard Rodriguez And Eudora Welty: A Personal Analysis

Reading is an experience that every individual grows from differently. Whether it be a smooth transition or even a positive one depends entirely on the individual. Gerald Graff, Richard Rodriguez, and Eudora Welty all show their growth through literacy narratives. Each one of their experiences although different all relate to my own journey into literacy. My own transition from Dr. Seuss books, to being thoroughly interested in novels such as Kiss the Girls by James Patterson is a novel all on its own.
At the very young age of eleven months old I had meningitis. As a result of this I had to wear leg braces, and a hearing aid. I stuck out like a black sheep in a heard of white. Not being athletically inclined I turned to the classroom. I enjoyed almost all subjects except one in particular, reading. When I would read
words it was like they were in a different language. I could not read and intake words at the same time. In the first grade there was a significant turning point in my interest with reading. My teacher every Friday would read Dr. Seuss books out loud. The clever word play and lack of a story line became really appealing to me. Once a story was read to me my comprehension towards it grew enormously. In listening Eudora Welty said “Ever since I was first read to, then started reading to myself, there has never been a line read that I didn’t hear” (Welty, pg. 368). This line to me means that once she was read to reading became more enjoyable for her. For me this started to not to be the case as time surpassed. As time went on and books became more advanced my comprehension slowly plummeted again. I remember being in fifth grade and all my friends would excel at books I found to be over the top difficult. After years of struggling, and realizing my difficulties with reading I went to see a doctor. After brain scans and many doctor appointments they came to the conclusion I had brain damage. This all being from meningitis and as a result I have attention deficit disorder. Once I was put on medicine I was finally able to comprehend reading.
As I transitioned into my adolescence years I found myself not being very fond of reading. You would think the one thing I craved to be able to do I would enjoy, sadly that was not the case. In my high school English class we would read books such as of Mice and Men. I would notice many of my classmates sparking an interest in group conversations. Discussing themes, plots, characters emotions, and there I was trying to make sense of it all. I would think to myself “Why is everyone so worked up over something that didn’t actually happen?” I found this to continuously be a theme in my opinion on reading. I thought as time progressed there would just be no hope for me to become an active reader.
Surprisingly most of my family are active readers. My mother being someone who has more books then what she knows to with them. The summer of my sophomore year I was home alone and decided to take a look at my mother’s book shelf. One name kept popping up repetitively, James Patterson. I went through numerous books reading the descriptions and found one that sparked my interest. This book was Kiss the Girls. As soon as I picked up this book it was like reality did not exist. I spent every moment of free time I had indulging in the words. In Graff’s literary narrative he stated “as I had not been able to do earlier; but to put myself in the text-to read with a sense of personal engagement that I had not felt before” (Graff, pg. 25). He and I both shared this experience. Going from being completely uninterested, to having this turning point in our literary journey. The fact that a book could make me think, debate, and really actively engage was such a new experience for me. After this experience I slowly started becoming a more active reader. Anything relating to crime and mystery automatically appealed to me. I finally thought I found my passion to become an active reader.
Not being able to engage in books other than those I found appealing to me became one of my biggest struggles. My grade in my high school English class was barely passing and I thought I would never overcome this problem. As I transitioned into my senior year my we read The Great Gatsby. I thought to myself as my teacher announced this “great, another book of things that did not happen.” Being pessimistic about the whole experience I was not looking forward to reading the book. As we read the book I found myself to be lost as usual. Not understanding anything other than the characters names and even than had trouble remembering their roles in the story. After the dreadful book was done we watched the movie in class. All of a sudden everything clicked in my brain. Visually seeing everything I had read made me understand everything. Continuing my literary journey my senior year I came to the realization not every book had a movie. If I could make a movie in my head though I could understand the novels I was reading. This became the case after eighteen years of life I finally was able to be an active reader. From understanding, to engaging in classroom discussions I was growing as a person. Rodriquez stated “It mattered that education was changing me. It never ceased to matter “(Rodriquez, pg. 21). For me this was also the case. Something as simple as being able to put a face to a character meant the world to me.
The next big step in my life was college.
Trying to figure out what to do with my life was complicated and stressful. Finding something that made me happy and engaged me enough to want to spend my life doing was quite the task. Then I thought about the rush and passion I felt reading that book Kiss the Girls. I knew I also wanted to understand the human mind since I could never understand my own. Seeing Cazenovia and knowing about the duel major of Criminal Justice/Psychology I knew this is where the next step of my journey would take me. Attending school at Cazenovia has engaged me even further in reading. To be able to read about things that I enjoy just makes me that much more active as a reader.

Everyone has their own literary narrative and their own path into literacy. The growth from picture books to those with over a thousand pages is a huge transition in one’s life. Reading has impacted my life and others such as Gerald Graff, Richard Rodriguez, and Eudora Welty. I know my literary journey is still only beginning and the rest of my novel known as life is still a blank book. From here on I am just going to continue writing the
pages.

Greene, Stuart, and April Lidinsky. From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. Print
Kelly, Joseph. The Seagull Reader. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. Print.