How to Read Lit. Like a Professor. ish

Within in our AP Literature class with Mrs. Clinch, the class had to do multiple summer reading assignments, which, unfortunately, I could not enjoy. The books stripped me of multiple precious weeks of my summer vacation. I was wondering, “Why do we need to read so many books?” Now I understand. Mrs. Clinch wanted to reveal multiple types of literature to our class so that we may do well on our AP exam in the distant month of May. Although none of the stories interested me, there was one book out of the four that I did enjoy: “How to Read Literature like a Professor.”
When I first began reading this book, I seriously believed that this was a waste of my time. The title alone is paradoxical. How can we learn to read the book like a professor if we are reading the book like a student? In addition, we will never be able to read a book like a professor unless we pursue the career of being a professor. Also, what is the definition of reading like a professor? This definition is so vague that i do not understand how one can teach another to read like a professor. Thus, I ask myself, “How will this book be of any use to me at all?” Then I began reading…
The book taught me things I never thought about. For instance, within the first chapter, it discusses a belief that everything is “one story.” Our lives, history, and even novels are all one story. Can you believe that!? When the book stated that, it just occurred to me that it is true! Think about your personality. Where did it come from? How did it come to be? Your personality comes from your friends, family members, and how other people treat you. From that, you create a personality that suits you and that you become accustomed to. All of this came to me in one second when I read the words, “one story.” Another strange thing that happened to me after I read this book was that I could not stop thinking about sex (not in a perverted sense). In All the King’s Men and Candide, I saw sex references EVERYWHERE!! I saw it with objects, places, people, thoughts, dreams, and even scenes. I am not sure if correctly referenced them, but I read what I read. Strange right?
Although I despised my summer reading and all the effort that came with it- which ended up in failure (literally), I am glad I read this book because it made me into a better reader and writer. I can see an infinite number of allusions because everything is connected into (I say again) “one story.” Although I got some strange side-effects from reading this book, I am glad that I did. This book allows me to have greater insight in other books and even the essays I write. Without this assignment, I don’t know how I would be able to do any annotations in the future.

our mistakes

According to the Bible, man was created with free will. We were given the decision to make our own choices and live with their consequences: good and bad. Despite the stressful lives we are consumed in, wishing our lives our lives were so much easier, our mistakes make us who we are today. It is undeniable that we wish that things were easier and we knew all the answers. Unfortunately, we do not. Therefore, we have to learn from our occasional lapses to mature ourselves by growing stronger and wiser.

I will bet my life that many of us do not realize how important our mistakes are to us. Yes, we yearn to live without them, but think about this. Remember that one time that you stole from your mother’s wallet and got caught? Remember when you and your friend tried to lie your way out of trouble, and no one believed you? From these experiences, we learn to not steal and lie. We understand from our punishments, the consequences of our mistakes, that we should not commit these crimes. Although these types of mistakes will be seen throughout our lives, we will continue to learn from them and ultimately, mature.

There are many instances in stories and even history that illuminates the importance of our mistakes. The story of the prodigal son explains to us how procrastination and being absent minded can create one man into a revolutionized person. The story goes as is. There was a humble and kind man who had two sons: one younger and one older. Both of these sons had a right to half their father’s inheritance, but one son, the younger, had asked for his inheritance early. As the kind man he is, the father acquiesced to his son’s request. The younger son decided to go travel and invest his inheritance so that he may become wealthier. Unfortunately, he procrastinates and before he can realize, he spends all of his money, unable to invest any of it. As a result, he goes and begs his father for his forgiveness and asks to become a servant. His father, almost ignoring the son’s mistake, embraces him with love and care. One can just imagine the son’s reaction. Although the father did not give any physical punishment, the prodigal son’s punishment was the guilt and torture that he felt as he was starving without any money. From experiences such as this, I know that if we were his shoes, we would never be wasteful for the remainder of our lives. From examples such as this, we are shown that our mistakes teach us how to be more responsible so that we may have the easier lives that we all wish for.

Even though we can live without some of our mistakes, I would not take any of my mistakes back from the past. They made who I am and still help me grow into a new mature man. In other words, mistakes in our lives are a necessity, because they are a way for us to start over. We are reborn with every lapse, boo-boo, blunder, and fault we ever make; I am content with that.

life

Life... We cannot even begin to realize what IT is. When we are conceived into this sinful world, we are but innocent souls lost in our own confusion and bewilderment. Pure, clean, dare I say it, even holy. Unfortunately, we are snatched away by this devilish world and are corrupted by the conformist society we live in. WE are no longer pure. We become drenched with blood, hate, gossip, and yet, we go on in our daily lives as if it were a small blemish. We don't care what happens to the world or what we do to other people. We don't care as long as our needs are sufficed. Why do you think there is pollution? Just because Man became too lazy to walk a few miles, we created automobiles. Then came the burning, the wasting, the littering. Why do you think there is a class system within every community around the world? Even Atlanta is split between the suburbs and downtown. North Fulton County has been trying to separate from South Fulton for years, and for what? Because the county uses majority of its funds in the southern part of the county. Why do you think there is so much pain in this world? It is because of the fact that we are told to survive. We are told to live. It's survival of the fittest. Thus, we cheat, spit on our friends, and stab the hearts of the ones we love most. I'm not saying I don't enjoy the luxuries of my life. I don't mind driving to school and eating the great food that I do eat. Of course some examples can be proven wrong. (ex. long distance travel w/ planes as not being lazy). But the point is, have you really thought about what goes on in your life that is different from others? I bet some of us have great cars such as a mercedes or BMW as a teen. I bet that some of us have a great lifestyle and don't have to worry about anything.

Try to realize this... some of us don't have a great life. Some people out there are being shot, raped, killed, and tortured. Others cry at night hoping that they can scavenge a meal the next day. And some, just give up. WHY? It's the survival of the fittest. We are instinctively greedy and desire to have all we can whenever we can. We are taught the "American Dream." YOU CAN BE WHOEVER YOU WANT TO BE. But with a prize comes its obstacles. To try to obtain this fantasy, we run down any obstacle, any wall, any "person" in the way. The ones who finish to the end, "Congradulations." The ones who don't, "I'm sorry that someone took that dream away from you." As I said, we are greedy savages living in a conformist society whose only goal is to hear the words, "Congradulations." Woopeee... Now think about when or "if" we succeed, how did we get there? Did we cheat, lie, and claw our way up? Or did we bleed and sweat with our hard work and determination. No offense to anyone, there aren't that many of "those" out there any more. That's my definition of life: It's a huge black hole, only waiting to suck you up until you're part of it.