Muhammad Abdullah

English 1121-D432

Professor Leigh Gold

Literacy Assignment

Essay #1

When you read a book, it’s like travelling to a distant world. You learn many new things while expanding your imagination. Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way. When I was in middle school, I didn’t think much of books. I thought books were boring and just for nerds. My shelves were filled with books but I never bothered to pick one up and spend the time to read it. I was too busy playing games on a computer or phone to notice how amazing reading books was. I also did not appreciate the fact that I was gifted with the skill of literacy while many others around the globe were illiterate and not so blessed. This all changed on the day my report card was delivered to my mother. I was failing in most of my akademik courses due to being preoccupied with technology. As my punishment, my mother grounded me and took all my electronics and only promised them back only if I improved my grades. My mother was aware of my distaste of reading so she had me read for an hour each day if I wanted to go play outside.

Thinking back to this, I appreciate my mother for doing this for me because it made me realize how amazing reading books can be. I started off my grounded days by reading J.K Rowling’s, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. I found the book so interesting that instead of reading for one hour a day I read for hours and hours. I was so taken in by the magical world of Harry Potter and enjoyed every single page of the book. It made me feel like I was actually there due to the imagery in the book. Some time passed and I started doing better in all my classes especially in english class. My vocabulary increased greatly and I actually felt intelligent for the first time, as funny as that may sound. My next report card was sent to my mother and it turned out that I was passing all my classes with high grades. As promised, my electronics were returned to me. As excited as I was to play games again, I did not spend much time on them anymore. I started going to the library more often and getting new books every two days. My mother helped me learn that books will increase your knowledge as well as make you more intelligent. They can also provide entertainment as much as an electronic device can.

Like I once was, I know that there are many people out there who do not enjoy reading, especially the youth. My advice is to give reading a chance. As much as you enjoy playing games on a screen you can enjoy reading a book as well. If things aren’t going so well in your life, reading books can be a way of escaping reality. I experienced this first hand. I wasn’t doing well in school and had all my electronics taken away from me but reading helped me solve both of these problems. You can start off by reading a page a day. It can even be a couple of lines from a book but you have to start somewhere. Gradually, start increasing the amount every day with the goal of completing the book in mind. Soon enough you will find yourself feeling more confident to tackle difficult texts as well as understanding complex ideas. Of course, you will not be able to do this if you do not appreciate reading. Just remember that there are many people in the world who are not able to read and that you are blessed and should take advantage of that.

With that being said, my motto is, “Literacy is a blessing so take advantage of it because many people are not as blessed as you”. If you do come across someone who is illiterate one day, try to teach them how to read and write or even teach them a couple of words. Reading has been in this world far longer than technology so it must be given more importance. You can even read on your phone or any electronic device but there is nothing that compares to the feeling of reading an actual book. Seventeen percent of the world can not read or write so we must appreciate our blessings and start reading books more often.

Muhammad Abdullah

English 1121- D432

Professor Leigh Gold

Writing Reflection Questions

Before class, I had an idea of where I stood in terms of writing capabilities. I feel like I have gotten better as a writer and learned to structure my paragraphs and transition between them smoothly. The most challenging writing experience I faced was choosing a genre topic for my genre project. First I wanted to do something relating to science fiction but then I changed it to phone reviews. I just couldn’t make up my mind. My strengths as a writer as I mentioned are structuring and transitioning between paragraphs as well as using different tones whether it be formal or informal. To improve my writing, I believe I need to work on brainstorming my ideas before actually writing an essay. Also I need to start adding more reliable quotes to back up my claims. I noticed my writing has improved in terms of vocabulary. The professor defining different words on the board has really helped with that. I found the genre project to be most useful in understanding writing because it allowed you to gather various sources and learn from all of them in different perspectives. I don’t necessarily have a specific type of genre I enjoy. I like reading anything that contains valuable knowledge and information.

Repurposing my genre helped me with my writing by giving me a different way to shape my writing to give it more appeal. My genre was phone reviews so for my step 5, I created my own phone review but had it turned into a parody. Reading can also impact your writing. The kind of reading you do impacts your writing greatly because you tend to implement what you read into what you write. For example, if you read something informative, you can display what you learned from that reading in your own writing. I believe that writing is a process. You can not become a good writer without practice just as you can not get a good job without a degree. You should approach writing with an intent to learn because there is always room for improvement. I believe writing is a way to express oneself. When you write, you are not bound by limitations and you can share your language and ideas freely. Writing can also be a way to preserve your legacy. None of us will live forever and when we do die, our writing will live on and people will remember us through it. 

Writing is important in my life because it is a way to express myself. Whether it be a speech, a class essay, or even a text message. I am expressing myself right now through this paper. In the future, I want my writing to improve and I want to use it to get good grades in all my future courses. Back in highschool, I wasn’t the best writer. I used to struggle to complete essays and my vocabulary wasn’t that great. I used to use very basic words repeatedly making me sound illegitimate. Now I have improved very much as a writer. Sometimes I look back at my high school essays and laugh thinking that it couldn’t be me who wrote them. All in all, this class has been a great learning experience for me and has helped me develop my motto regarding reading and writing: “Literacy is a blessing so take advantage of it because many people are not as blessed as you”.

Multimodal Project- Multimodal Project