The first memory I have of reading is in first grade. Every once and a while, parents were allowed to come to class and hear their kids read to them, so the kids can show off their progress they have made. Naturally I was excited for this, because I love to show off (humbly) my competency in nearly everything I can and this was a perfect opportunity for me to shine. I went over to the bookshelf and picked out a book that was challenging, yet not too hard, and sat down with my Mom so I could read to her. Everything was going smoothly until the word “island” came up, and I pronounced it “is-land”- I was so embarrassed. Well as embarrassed as a first grader reading to his Mom could be. Although this story is such an insignificant part of my life, for some reason it has always stuck with me as my earliest reading memory-and perhaps ignited the negativity I have towards reading and writing. I have never particularly enjoyed reading or writing, not because I’m not good at it, but mostly because it is a tedious and almost excruciating task, especially after long days of school and sports-something I know far too well. Much like Malcolm X, I have never enjoyed reading as a kid. “…every book I picked up had few sentences which didn’t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that …show more content…
In the introduction to the book their are two stories told; story number one is all about rules, structure, and order (WAW 2-3). It doesn’t focus on the creativity of writing or reading, but rather the rules. In my view, learning to read in a way that is similar to story number one killed all the enjoyment I could have found in reading. It forced me to be devious rather than to indulge in the creativity a book provides. If my experience had been more like Sherman Alexie 's who grew up to appreciate and adore books because of their creative aspect, I know I would have grown to love books (WAW