Michael Holland

UWRT 1103
September 8, 2015
Literacy Narrative Invention Draft

I dont recall anything from my reading before elementary school. I just know
that our preschool teacher read books aloud to the class, one of which was
green eggs and ham. I remember being fascinated with the idea of green
eggs and wanting to try some.
Elementary school
The first experience that I can recall in which I actually read a book on my
own was in the first grade. I had borrowed a marine biology book about
sharks and rays from the school library. At the time, I was too inexperienced
and lacking in vocabulary skills to comprehend most of the text, as the book
was above my reading level. However, the pictures of the many bizarre,
otherworldly creatures and descriptions of their ecology niches fascinated
me. From early childhood, I had always had been enamored of animals of all
kinds. After being exposed to a whole new world that I had not previously
known, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the creatures of the deep
and the habitat in which they existed. This book may have influenced me
more than I previously realized. To this day, I still read anything I can get my
hands on concerning fish and marine ecology, and am still considering
pursuing a degree in marine biology or fisheries biology. I also am an avid
fisherman (of sorts).
I also began to read fiction in the first grade. The first fictional book series
that I ever read seriously was that of Frog and Toad. I do not remember
who the author was, nor the plot of any specific book in the series, but I do
recall that it was about two friends, one of which was a frog, and the other
was a toad, as you could undoubtedly guess. There was no major conflict in
any of the books, but rather a series of humorous misfortunes. The one detail
that I remember more clearly than any other about this series, though I do
not know why, is that the two would always sit down and have a cup of tea
every afternoon.
Harry Potter and fantasy literature/science fiction
Perhaps the most significant event in my literacy history occurred when I was
in the third grade. By this time, I had not begun to lose interest in reading
books altogether. That was, until I discovered J. K. Rowlands Harry Potter
series. Though the first of the series had recently been adopted into a major
film, I had not yet been introduced to the world of wizards and magic.
However, my knowledge about the film was what prompted me to pick up
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, despite having never read anything

Michael Holland
UWRT 1103
September 8, 2015
Literacy Narrative Invention Draft

of more than one hundred pages or so. I would not come to regret this
decision, as I was so captivated by the story that I nearly refused to put it
down. I read the entire time I was at school, often neglecting to pay attention
in class, and even during lunch, for over two weeks. When I was at home and
encountered a word that I did not know, I would look it up in the dictionary
that I kept for just such occasions, which happened more than occasionally,
because I was so immersed in the story that I didnt want to miss even one
detail. After I finished the book, I took the AR test and was pleasantly
surprised when I scored a one hundred percent. My teacher praised me for
taking the initiative to read more complex literature, and I even received
applause from the entire class. For the first time, I was proud of my literacy
skills, and was encouraged to continue exceeding my limitations. By the time
I had graduated from elementary school, I had read all of the series that had
been published at the time, and have since read it in its entirety. The Harry
Potter series introduced me to what would become my favorite genre of
literature, and inspired me to read many other fantasy books, including The
Chronicles of Narnia and the Anamorphs series. These books forced me to
expand my imagination and brought me to the realization that a book could
be something other than a compendium of information. It could also be an
escape into a different world, one that is not subject to the limitations of this
world. They even inspired me to write fantasy stories of my own, so that I
might create a new world to which I could escape as I pleased.
Middle School
In middle school, though I continued to read fantasy literature, I discovered
the genre of mystery. The first mystery books I read were those of the A
Series of Unfortunate Events and Hardy Boys series, which exposed me to
a new degree of suspense. When reading these books, I felt as though I was
collaborating with the young detectives to solve the crimes. I had never felt
such excitement from reading a book as I did when one of these mysteries
was nearing its conclusion.