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.