The effects of starting to read at a young age

Reading Memories 

I was an avid reader as a child both on the fictional and non-fictional material. Among the most vividly remembered experiences at a younger age is reading books that had more pictures than words. Eventually, the words would increase as the pictures contemporaneously reduced until the pictures petered away and the books were comprised mainly of words. The vocabulary was a major problem in my early reading with the need to inquire about the meaning of names being common. The nagging led to early training on how to use a dictionary. Finally, I also remember how most stories would have the well-defined good which was rewarded and evil which was always punished . 

Role in Language Development 

Motivation to learn how to read, understand and expand my vocabulary mainly came from reading children's literature. I was a curious and ambitious child who always wanted to learn more. Further, I was a bit of a stickler for details and would not want to move to the next part of the story unless I could understand the current part. This curiosity and desire for details caused me to struggle with vocabulary and complex sentence structures. In so doing, my linguistic capabilities kept on expanding. 

Positive and Negative Influences 

Among the leading positive influences towards reading at a tender age was the pictorial storyline within the books. Seeking to understand what the pictures meant would get me started in reading (Genishi & Dyson, 2015). Indeed, I would sometimes begin at the center of the book more so when I would find a picture that was amusing or intriguing. This would sometimes cause me to go back to the beginning of the story and start reading. Among the negative influences that came after quite a bit of reading was when most storybooks started sounding monotonous in their good versus evil plot. 

Change in Reading Interests and Habits 

In the beginning, it was all about the story itself and the characters within it. Reading literature books was almost a game with finishing the book being tantamount to winning the game. However, as I progressed, I started considering the thematic issues within the book and why whatever was reported to have happened may have happened. As I grew older and realized that all the books had been written by people who invented most of the stories, I began evaluating what the authors may have wanted to communicate and if they had succeeded in doing so. I grew from merely consuming content to critiquing it. 

What I was asked to do with School Books 

School books were to provide the double output of linguistic content and actual substances. I was, therefore, asked to look at the letter of the book which is the language and structure used alongside the content of the book which is what the writer of the book sought to communicate. The behavior of looking at both the message and mode of communication has remained in me for several years later. 

The Books that Elicit Deepest Responses 

Competition between good and evil has always seemed cliché to me thus the books that elicit deepest responses are the ones where the reader can seldom tell the good from the bad guys. The modern world is in shades of grey making literature that has absolute good and bad unrealistic (Berry, 2016). Books such as Frederick Forsyth’s the Devil’s Alternative where good guys are also bad, and the bad guys are also good elicit the deepest responses from me as they resonate with time. 

Adult Reader Characteristics 

Reading a good literature book once or twice cannot effectively reveal the content and substance of the book. I would want to be a repetitive reader who can reread a book over five times and still notice something new about it. I would also want to be a critical reader who carefully peruses books to derive a deeper meaning from them (Wallace & Wray, 2016). 

References 

Barry, P. B. (2016).  The Fiction of Evil . New York: Taylor & Francis 

Genishi, C., & Dyson, A. H. (2015).  Children, language, and literacy: Diverse learners in diverse times . Teachers College Press 

Wallace, M., & Wray, A. (2016).  Critical reading and writing for postgraduates . Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.