Like Life

Literature is a lot like life. The stories we read in class are not only for learning how to pass the exam or for learning a language. The experiences characters have are experiences that are similar to the ones you have in life.

Although The Giver is fictional, there are many things that are similar to what we experience. There is so much more than language and vocabulary that we can learn from reading. I read sometimes so that I can learn about experiences I know I will never have. It teaches me how to react if something like the story happens in my life.

It is not that I am all of a sudden going to be in Jonas' world but that experiences he has are parallel to ones in the real world and that I can also learn from what he does, not only what I do or what my friends do.

Do you find this to be true?

Things You Hate

What do you hate about reading?

A Good Reader

As you read you should always have a pen or pencil in hand and always be taking notes, underlining things and really having a written dialogue with the book as you read.

Start underlining all the words you are not sure of as you read. Then -- when you decide you can't read anymore, go to a dictionary and look those words up. Doing this type of exercise will really help with your vocabulary.

I did something similar to this the other day except I was reading a package instead of a book. I learned that "hassas" means damaged.