Teachers never really discover a student’s true worth until that student writes a paper, in this case, a reading response journal. Suddenly, Quek Hsu Imm is a head taller than most of her classmates.
When I told her that her paper was one of the outstanding ones, she was surprised and delighted. It boosted her confidence, but she still remained relatively quiet in class. Nevertheless, it made her realize that my door is wide open for her, and she and I spent little moments every so often talking about elements of literature, ingredients of fantasy, and her dream of becoming a writer. Intriguingly, she’s an accountancy major.
In fact, I have been writing my own stories, though more often than not, they lie unfinished somewhere in my bedroom.
All these while, my description of stories that I liked reading had been limited to a few adjectives that hardly did justice to those books. However, after taking up this module, I grew in the aspect of understanding children’s literature and I also learned various ways of analyzing stories and constructing their many meanings.
Hence, this reading response journal will illustrate that I was better able to appreciate the finer details of stories, as seen from my increased ability to express my thoughts and feelings which resulted from a deeper appreciation of the elements of literature.
I journeyed with a children’s novel in a span of eight weeks and I chose to do so with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (1950). I wrote down my personal response in a journal after each week’s reading, and so there were eight entries in total. Looking at my weekly entries, I found that the way I described and analyzed the story changed over time.
First Entry
I knew that I would really like this book as I simply love books of the fantasy genre, especially when it involves talking animals. The book made use of an omniscient narrator’s point of view and it is really interesting. I like the idea about Lucy exploring the wardrobe and finding a way into Narnia. When I was young, I used to think that wardrobes are mysterious, especially those with an exceptionally intimidating exterior. I remember spending hours exploring my parents’ wardrobe, though I did not find my way into any magical worlds.
Based on my first entry, I can see that I was really a greenhorn in spotting details worth noting and appreciating the story on the whole. I could only write about how much I liked the book, but I could not really say why. It was all gut feel.
I can see that my comments were rather general and lacked depth. In addition, I also realized that I particularly liked books that had in them familiar scenes from my own childhood with an added touch of imagination, such as exploring a wardrobe and finding the way into a magical world.
Second Entry
Once again, Narnia was described in great detail which helped readers to visualize the land transforming from winter to spring. With the setting moving into spring, it also sets the mood and hints to the readers that better times are coming for Narnia and reinforces the idea that good triumphs over evil.
I like the way Peter had to fight his first battle and save Susan before he was knighted by Aslan. It showed that Peter proved himself and earned his way into knighthood which was much better than if he was just bestowed the title without any effort on his part. It also further builds Peter’s personality and character as knights are often associated with qualities such as valor.
I have come a long way from my first entry, and I can see the difference between the two. I was starting to read deeper into the meanings of the events happening in the book and to go in-depth when discussing certain elements of literature, such as the setting and themes used in modern fantasy stories to help suspend disbelief.
I was also able to support my views with evidence from the book and link my thoughts together coherently to form logical conclusions regarding them; hence, better expressing my opinion. I could better appreciate the parts that I liked best in the story too, as seen from my views on how Peter was knighted.
Third Entry
I feel that the transition from reality into the fantasy world of Narnia and back was nicely done. In addition, Edmund matured from being a mean little boy at the start of the story and proved himself otherwise at the end, making him a dynamic character.
The part about mice biting away the ropes that held Aslan captive reminded me of the story, “Lion and the Mouse” from Aesop’s Fables. Perhaps the author drew inspiration from it. I loved the conversational style adopted in the book as well, for it made the reading interesting and gave me the feeling that I was hearing the story from the narrator himself.
In this final entry, I can see myself combining all the knowledge I have learnt in class and using it while writing my response. I have more profound thoughts while reading than before and I am no longer frustrated over the lack of terms to describe the parts of the story that I liked as I now understand many elements of literature.
Knowing how to read deeper into a text has become familiar to me and a whole new level of experience in reading has opened up for me. I was able to note little details that help enhance the entire story and to seek out implicit themes woven into the plot. Equipped with an increasing level of knowledge I learnt from class as each week passed, I was able to better appreciate this book, especially towards the end.
In conclusion, as seen from the above, I have learned how to better appreciate the finer details of a story, and the magical way a story weaves itself together. I am really glad because I will be able to enjoy reading even more and at the same time, write better stories too!
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