Guyton 1

Austin Guyton

English 2135

Whitney Gilchrist

4-26-17

The Origin of My Perception of Literature and its Various Forms

Oof! Looking around out of pure instinct of hope that no one saw me, I slowly start to

pick myself back up and wheel away. Although pushing off can be difficult and wobbly, its a

smooth ride once you get some speed going. Despite the fact I had done this three times a week,

it felt as if I had learned something new every time. Roller skating was a punishing yet rewarding

process that I got to know very well over a couple of years. This gym class was certainly unique

with its collection of day to day activities we would partake in. Swimming was also part of the

schedule as well as dodgeball which was well more extracurricular. Since I didnt really see

much of a point to school at the time, this time of the day was surely my favorite. Almost like a

second recess, these activities were fun and helped appease the inevitable burst of energy that I

had at this age. As I start to finally get the hang of it, sadly the teachers then tell us that its time

for regular class and we go back to our respective classrooms.

Even though school in general is usually seen by young society as a burden, this was

surely not the case in the place I had attended. During my first couple of years of education, I

went a private school that had many unique activities and locations such as its very own roller

skating rink, popcorn room, and swimming pool. I loved this school with a burning passion

because of how fun the environment was and made me almost never want to leave. In the class I

had after roller skating, I greatly appreciated the way that I learned the art of reading and writing

through the help of my first English teacher. Mrs. Buchanan was always eager to teach us new

things and the attitude seemed to reflect on all the students. In addition to her teaching ethics, the
 Guyton 2

mix of delicious snacks and interactive activities along with the class eased me into the process

of developing a love and intrigue for English. Now class, repeat after me. F,R,O,M! Mrs.

Buchanan said as she pointed at each written letter on the chalkboard. Usually in my English

class, we would always either go over previously learned words or entirely different new ones.

While most times we played certain games to practice spelling, other times we would just simply

spell them out to effectively memorize them even more. However, the most unique thing about

my English class was the fact that we had two different teachers that would switch around half

way through the class. While one focused on spelling and writing, the other focused on reading. I

always thought that the stories we read from the textbook were much easier to learn from than

the words we attempted to spell during the first half of the class. Eventually, language itself

especially caught my attention due to the fact that so many different words can generally mean

the same thing but can entirely change the mood of the writing depending on which is used. This

self-found philosophy also deals with how saying a word to someone can be entirely different

from hearing the same thing. Before I knew it, class soon ended which signaled the end of the

school day. Like always, my mom picked me up and I went home to do my usual hobbies and

activities as a child in elementary school.

***

Make sure you always keep your fingers well postured while not slouching Mrs. Smith

repeatedly said. It was another day of my first experience with piano lessons and I seemed to be

literally learning something new each day. Since it was the weekend, I had time to do other

things without school in the way so my parents insisted for me to learn an instrument to play.

Although sometimes it stressed me out, it was all in all very fun to learn this newfound type of

language in music that appealed to the sense of hearing instead of sight. I said aloud to myself
 Guyton 3

letters during the lesson as Mrs. Smith asked for me to do so. C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C! These letters

indicate the separate notes on a piano which each play a slightly altered sound. Through each

different sounding note, it feels as though I get a sudden sense of emotion. I could go even as far

to say that this related to nearly exactly how words themselves can make you feel various types

of emotions. As the lesson started to end, I always clarified with Mrs. Smith what I should be

practicing so I could always expand on my learning instead of using time to try to recall

something I shouldve retained. Unknowingly at the time, this experience would stay with me for

years to come. I could notice how closely related it was to the other things that I had learned in

elementary school outside of the piano lessons at Mrs. Smiths house.

Bye mom!, I say before I close the car door and walk towards the door. After another

Sunday of piano lessons, I was burned out and ready to start another week of school. Before I

had my English class, I was guided by one of the staff to my seat in the Spanish class. Uno, dos,

tres, cuatro!, my Spanish teacher repeated to the class. By being so interested in language, I was

almost just as excited for this class as for my English class. When I had first realized what a

different language was, my mind was truly astounded. In regular English, I already thought that

the boundary for literacy went extremely far. I had been unable to imagine all the seemingly

never ending vocabulary of English. After finding out that literally hundreds of different

languages are constantly spoken, a new world had been opened for me consisting of several,

youthful thoughts on how much literacy would affect me as a person.

After watching some videos and doing some lesson exercises, class ends and I head on to

music class. If anyone wouldnt mind, please grab your recorders so that we can start class, my

music teacher said. We then proceeded to practice playing while watching the teacher show us

more songs to play. However, one day, I had learned a melody that was extremely alike to one
 Guyton 4

that Mrs. Smith had taught me. Soon, I realized that although on two different instruments, the

song being played was indeed the same one. In this class, I had gradually discovered an even

more diverse form of literature. Nearly an exact replica of the relation between my other two

classes, the great range of instruments played had shown a very similar relationship. In other

words, English was to Spanish as the recorder was to the piano. Although they were very

different in appearance and sound, the recorder and piano created a literature that wasnt seen

through things like spoken language. Instead, the melody and tune of whatever song I played,

whether on recorder or piano, guided my ability to interpret this rhythmed form of literacy.

Thanks to my developing appreciation of music, every now and then I would go to the music

room during recess and practice on the piano. Although I already had lessons with Mrs. Smith

weekly, I thought that I could learn even more if I would take it upon myself to increase my

practice.

Gradually starting to fully understand how each variating form of literacy affects the

world, I realized that I wanted to someday benefit from this. I soon started setting goals that were

set reflecting the amount of practice I put in for each of my classes. For example, in my Spanish

class, I knew that from that point on I would someday aim to master multiple languages. The

Ukulele soon joined into my list of hobbies along with occasionally singing. Likewise, I thought

the more instruments I learned how to play, the more experienced Id become in music or

literacy as a whole. I wanted to open my mind to these diverse perceptions of life capable of

expanding the way you think! Literacy can truly transcend the opposing senses of sight and

sound by creating connections through things like language, music, etc. I had thought of it as

vast as the universe itself. Through just the most simple form of reading and writing, my life

guided me this much to make me the person I am today. As I keep assuming there is nothing left
 Guyton 5

to discover present day, the world and its infinite forms of literacy continue to prove me wrong

and keep me on the path of learning. As long as there are minds in this world to create new

perceptions of the worlds literacy, I believe there will always be knowledge remaining that can

be learned.