AP Lit and Comp
Sarah's parents started reading to her at a very young age. She has a brother that is three years older than her, so as well as the age appropriate books her parents would read to her, she was introduced to the books that were read to her brother, such as Harry Potter. Growing up, Sarah was not a huge fan of reading. She was always pushed by her family and teachers to read as much as possible, but it was not her cup of tea. Her parents are both part of the education system, and avid readers themselves, so they see the value in reading as much as possible. Sarah has never been the fastest reader, and that discouraged her a lot when she was young. It embarrassed her that she took so long to get through a book, especially when she had to read out loud, so that started her path down "fake reading" in school. By fake reading, she could look like she was reading and get through a book in a short amount of time. Sarah occasionally still fake reads in school, not because she is embarrassed, but usually because she just doesn't want to read the material. She doesn't do it that often because her interests have expanded and can often at least start a book. Sarah does however often find herself drifting off while trying to read, especially if the certain piece isn't of interest. When this happens, she continues to read the book, but not really comprehend any of what she has read, and then forgets where she is in the story, or whatever it is that she's reading. This can happen to her in a slow part of a good book as well. When Sarah does find a book that she is interested in, which, to be honest doesn't happen that often, she'll read it in about two days. She'll go a month without reading and then find a really good book and not be able to put it down.
At the moment, Sarah hasn't found a really good book in a while, but she is looking for one. This past summer though, she read a couple. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak being her favorite and Obasan by Joy Kogawa being her least because she found it hard to follow. In the last year she probably has read around six or seven books, which is surprising and very low for someone whose family has about three hundred books in their home that she could chose from. A few of those books are written by Sarah's favorite authors, Kristin Hannah and David Sedaris. Because of the things she reads and the way she finds books, Sarah would describe herself as a very picky reader.
At the moment, Sarah hasn't found a really good book in a while, but she is looking for one. This past summer though, she read a couple. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak being her favorite and Obasan by Joy Kogawa being her least because she found it hard to follow. In the last year she probably has read around six or seven books, which is surprising and very low for someone whose family has about three hundred books in their home that she could chose from. A few of those books are written by Sarah's favorite authors, Kristin Hannah and David Sedaris. Because of the things she reads and the way she finds books, Sarah would describe herself as a very picky reader.
Much like many other kids her age, Sarah learned to write in school. Though writing wasn't as emphasized in school as much as reading was, she still feels as though it is used as an important way for kids, and later when they become adults, to get their feelings out. For Sarah, talking face to face with another human about an issue, whatever it might be, was always hard. Writing feelings down was a way to get the feelings out, without the added pressure from someone judging first hand. Other people could write for many different reasons though, whether it be wanting to make a change, or just to entertain and tell a story. These people who write for different reasons have a lot of different styles, techniques, and abilities. A person having a larger background in language arts doesn't necessarily mean they are a better poet than a person who is naturally gifted with the ability to write really relatable poems that the masses love. Sarah has had many honors English classes, and still, she cannot write a good poem to save her life. She instead prefers to write research papers and things along those lines. She likes to write research papers mainly because they usually don’t take that much creativity, and the teacher will give guidelines for topics. Because of her lack of creativity, Sarah rarely writes at home for fun. Because of her lack of focus though, she usually prefers to write her school work in the non distracting comforts of her own home. When she feels good about a piece she usually asks for peer edits, hoping for constructive criticism, so she can make corrections which are probably needed, and turn the paper in. She is actually quite proud of herself when she finishes. She likes the feeling of relief and the feeling of accomplishing something she doesn’t do that often.