Hunter Shirey

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1101
September 18, 2014
I found my writing to be at an all-time best for me. In my second draft I was able to take what
was said in our small group conference and add it to my paper. For my final draft I figured I
needed to find a way to be more descriptive, because my paper was lacking in length. I needed to
find a way to do it without sounding repetitive. Finding more detail was the main focus in
between my second draft and my final paper.
Hunter Shirey for Dummies
I am sure everyone knows of the For Dummies book series that covers various topics in
a very non-intimidating way. This has books like Making Millions for Dummies, Parenting for
Dummies, even the infamous Buying Property in Spain for Dummies. However, Reading for
Dummies would have been a tough read for me early in my literacy career. I had to find books
that I thoroughly enjoyed and fit into my personality to shoot off my literacy career.
My career started when I was about four years old when the only book I read was Frog
and Toad. Living in Charlotte, my mother always brought my brothers and me over to the library
over on Rea Road. In the librarys kid section were Frog and Toad decorations everywhere. If
you arent familiar with the books, it was about a frog and a toad that went on wacky adventures
but they also just chilled out by the swamp eating cookies. There are still memories of my mom
reading the books to me occasionally and I would laugh, laugh, and laugh some more. I think I

laughed more at the pictures than the actual words. People that know me would say humor is
what my personality is centered around. I like being around funny people and I enjoy trying to be
funny. I could look back and say that Frog and Toad are one of the reasons I center my
personality on humor. Frog and Toad also gave me something to relate my relationship to my
brothers. Although Frog and Toad had their disagreements, that doesnt mean they couldnt chill
and eat some cookies together. This book was like my Family and Friends for Dummies.
As I got a little older I never wanted to read, so I watched quite a bit of TV. It seemed
like Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon was always on the TV screen. My favorite show growing
up was SpongeBob. Putting off my first grade homework seemed like the only thing to do
whenever a SpongeBob marathon was on. Somewhere between Patricks stupidity to Squiwards
awful attitude, I found myself laughing at joke after joke. This show got me excited for
adventure in quick thirty minute episodes. At this time in my life I found a lot more excitement
from watching a thirty minute episode than reading a novel. My attention span has never been
good, still isnt. However, SpongeBob fed my addiction for laughter and stupid jokes. When I
watched it I felt as if nothing else mattered and I just focused on the TV screen. There could have
been a fire in the room I wouldnt have noticed. I remember one of my brothers, who are twins
that are two years older than me, and I would gang up on the other one like SpongeBob and
Patrick would do to Squidward. SpongeBob left a lasting effect on me. If you put a clip of
SpongeBob on for me I will still laugh my ass off. At an early age SpongBob showed me how
you shouldnt take life so serious all the time. Take a look around and laugh your troubles away.
This show was my Laughter for Dummies.
In 2nd grade I discovered the greatest comic book to ever be made. Im not talking about
Superman, Spiderman, Batman, or any big time super hero for that matter. I am talking about the

one, the only, Captain Underpants. There were many books in this comic book series such as
Captain Underpants and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Women also Captain Underpants and
the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants. These books set my maturity level backwards and
delayed me from being a mature young man until around the beginning of high school. That is
how bad this book had affected me. If you dont know about the Adventures of Captain
Underpants, it is nothing but a superhero in his underwear defeating pevertedly named
supervillains. The book is filled with nothing but poop jokes and other disgusting topics.
Although at the age I was when I was reading it I thought it was the funniest thing I have ever
read. I recall crying with my face on my desk out of laughter trying to read the book in class
during our quiet reading time. I would imagine my classmates were just looking at me thinking I
was weird, but the kids who had already read the books understood exactly what I was going
through. Just adding to the personality that I already had from before this time. Actually it
increased my personality way too far. It was like I read Immature Humor for Dummies.
In the fifth grade at Mt. Mourne Elementary School we had to do this thing called
Accelerated Reading. The way it worked was you would read a book that was worth a total
amount of points, you would then take a quiz on it to see if you get all the points, then you need a
certain amount of points to pass the course. So me just being me decides not to read a book until
there was a month left in the school year. My teacher then finally decides to write my parents an
email saying I need a shit ton of points just to pass. AR was about 25% of the grade and I had a
zero. I was in some deep shit. My parents grounded me, locked me in a room and forced me to
read The Series of Unfortunate Events. These were the first books that I read without pictures
where I didnt zone out every five seconds. It was a pretty good series. I wish I could say that
this series completely changed the way I thought about books and I loved to read and all that

shit, but truth is I hated sitting up in my room reading word after word after word. I was just
thinking and plotting of ways I didnt have to do it anymore, too bad I couldnt think of any. I
did have a TV in my room though. I would tell my parents I was going to go read then I would
just play video games or something. I thought I was sneaky until I got caught. My momma yelled
at me like I havent heard before. She unplugged my PlayStation 2 and took it away to the
basement. This is when I realized that it was very important for me to get this work done. I read
every single book of the thirteen book series by the time the month was up. Nothing was more
relieving than getting an A on AR. I learned from this series of books and its not the books
themselves that taught me the lesson. The lesson is not to not procrastinate because, odds are that
I procrastinated on this paper. The lesson was that I need be a man and get my shit done. This
was my Hard work and Dedication for Dummies.
The next literary piece was not a book, it was a movie that is actually fairly recent. The
Wolf of Wall Street. I saw this motion picture in the theaters several months ago. It was the most
inspiring movie I have ever seen. I inspired me to completely change the way I thought about
life. Before this movie I just wanted a normal job, and a normal life. After this movie I want to
be more successful than anyone in the entire world. I dont care how it happens all I know is its
not going to happen with me just sitting on my ass eating Doritos. I remember in the movie when
Jordan Belfort (the main character) got a job selling penny stocks and he sold a guy 3,000 shares.
He had the ability to sell anyone anything at any time. I was in awe of his work ethic to get to the
top, however, when I reach the top I dont expect to be a drug addict like Jordan ended up being.
This movie proved to me that if you put in effort you can be more successful than all your peers.
It taught me to make the most out of my life, to live life to the fullest. I want to have as much fun

when Im forty as I do now. I will not settle. I will not be beaten. I will be successful. This movie
is my Ambition for Dummies.
My personality is a big one I must say, but if it werent for these pieces I just wouldnt be
the same person. I know saying these literacy items changed my would sound over exaggerated,
but it really isnt. To put in the pieces to the puzzle, if you take Family and Friends for
Dummies, Laughter for Dummies, Immature Humor for Dummies, Hard Work and
Dedication for Dummies, and Ambition for Dummies, they would just be chapters of Hunter
Shirey for Dummies.