*the links provided will take you to my previous works. Feel free to check them out as you read!*

If there is one thing you should know about me, it’s this. I like big books and I cannot lie. Reading has been a huge part of who I am ever since the beginning. In fact, my senior action project I completed was all about encouraging literature for the future youth to ensure the future is in safe hands. Reading is a priority not only for my education, but my critical and analytical thinking, empathy skills, problem solving abilities, vocabulary expansion, and many more.

Throughout my senior english class, I have been blessed with many opportunities to dig into literature and apply it to modern day discussions and issues. I believe books have all the capabilities to teach us numerous lessons. Imagine how happy I was to discover many authors think the same thing.

Ray Bradbury wrote a ground breaking novel in the early 1950s, Fahrenheit 451. The book showcased a future society filled with war, willful blindness, and no books. Firefighters burned down occupants homes’ if books were discovered. A hose filled with kerosene and fire, rather than water to exstinguish them. The main character, Guy Montag falls into the conformity of society in the beginning of the text. Accepting things at face value, rather than questioning the obvious faults in the world he was living in.  As the pages turn, Montag finds his eyes opening to reality after he encounters the dangers of willful blindness all around him. After Montag gets his hands on a poetry book, he adresses his wife and a group of her friends who are engulfed with ignorance. Montag begins his confrontation with “Go home and think of your first husband divorced and your second killed in a jet and your third husband blowing his brains out, go home and think of a dozen abortions you’ve had, go home and think of that and your damn Caesarean sections, too, and your children who hate your guts! Go home and think how it all happened and what did you ever do to stop it? Go home, go home!” (Bradbury, 98).  Montag learned a valuable lesson that remains applicable for generations to come.

“Limitless paper in a paperless world.” -The Office

In my Senior Action Project, I pointed out how this quote from a hilarious television show is not far from the truth. It also happens to be applicable to this very same novel. I find it incredible how a book written decades ago can speak volumes to the present day. Our world relies on the fast moving increases of technological advancements. While these updates and releases have the potential to benefit society in various ways, they commonly tear us away from paper backs and the importance of literature. Fahrenheit 451 shared how one of the main reasons they banned books, was due to the fact that people found them offensive. Simply having their feelings hurt. Take a look at society today. How easy is it to offend anyone? The answer is pretty easy. Social media has turned into a pit of wallowing and complaining. Not only that, but also a place to say things no one would dare speak directly to someone’s face. When technology is used in that manner, if provides a wall of protection from the outside world and its consequences. Bradbury predicted the future. Sure, he imagined an extreme possibility, yet-how far away are we to becoming exactly what the book portrayed? I beleive the real question is, have we already reached that point? If so, is it too late to fix? Are we doomed? Just as Montag learned the value of literature and the importance of human connections, we can learn the same thing. Montag became a hero. If we follow Newton’s first law of motion, we discover that Montag became the unbalanced force that acted upon the objects at rest. As we engage with characters we read about, the chance to connect and grow along side these fictional people remains a perfect reality. For more on my thoughts about Fahrenheit 451 visit my reaction post! Or, if you would like to read more about how I beleive willful blindness makes us objects at rests, check out my Heroism Critical Essay!

Speaking of Critical Essays…

Analyzing text has been one of my strengths for many years. After realizing math and science was a complete loss, I figured I would expand in my ability to dig deeper into a text. While I was able to engage with this objective through my Heroism Critical Essay, I was also able to do this through my Literary Analysis. By taking a look at a piece of literature, I really dug deeper in the alagories from a Frank Peretti Novel, The Oath. I decided to read this book as part of the Fall Reading challenge. I knew I would find it interesting given the fact an incredible author like Peretti would always do a book justice. As I continued reading, I began to see the deeper meaning hidden beyond the pages, I knew I had reached a pot of gold.

Peretti used symbols to convey the message of how evil destroys all. Whether it be a black mark on the chest that burns and aches like a rash, or a giant dragon to enflict terror, Peretti connects all of this to the bondage of sin. Brining us back to the only way free from that bondage as Jesus Christ himself. Peretti’s style of writing reminded me of the way C.S. Lewis (the king of allegories) portrays symbolism to make the message a little more understandable and relatable. His works such as Out of the Silent Planet and The Chronicles of Narnia series provide a clear message of faith, hope, and darkness.

After further experience with analyzing deeper meanings, I was able to construct multiple pieces of work which dig deeper into the text. Such as a final project for Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Where I used the theme of Guilt to connect various characters from the play to who we are and how we cover up our own guilt and shame. Using the community of Lincoln, I began finding that the deep meanings in Hamlet apply to us everyday. Whether it be hiding our flaws with make up, just as Hamlet’s uncle attempted to hide his own faults in murdering his brother, Hamlet’s father, so he could be the king instead. Just as Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, Hamlet, and Ophelia cracked under the pressure leading them to insanity. Those possibilities lie within all of us the more layers we pull over us. Uncovering the meaning behind a difficult author such as William Shakespear pushed me to the breaking point. From then on I was able to grow in my ability to analyze and uncover the silver linings.

I feel blessed for Lincoln Lutheran’s english curriculum which has pushed me grow and learn. My reading preferences continue to surprise me. I am not for sure if I can solidify a specific type of genre. For the simple fact that many pieces of literature fascinate me. Rather than narrowing down a certain style, I find myself open to new challenges with every turn of a page. Nor can I name a specific author I prefer. Sure, I have favorites. However, I look at reading as a wide open door of possibilities. Why close the door for specifics?