A Little Information About Me

Dear Mr. Coon,

This was a fun way for me to think about my personality as a reader and writer. So because I am probably going to exceed the word count, I’m going to make the introduction very short.

I will start off with what I like to read. I’m an avid reader of magazines. Reading quick, witty, and informative articles is one of my favorite ways of relaxing while simultaneously learning. I enjoy reading Smithsonian, Popular Science, Discover, and Time. I browse the internet, reading articles on whatever I happen to fancy at that moment. For example, this week I have been researching the praying mantis. I also love poetry. Like the praying mantis, poetry may appear plain and simple to the unobservant eye; but to those who look closer, there is so much beauty to uncover. I enjoy strange, modern works like William Carlos William’s “This is Just to Say.” But my favorite poet is Stephen Crane, whose subject matter is often more philosophical. Of course, I love the classics of Tennyson and Robert Frost as well. Lastly, novels are my favorite form of literature. I think that they offer more material for a hungry mind. I read mystery and thriller novels for fun. But my favorite novels are The Picture of Dorian Grey and Frankenstein.

The qualities I look for in anything that I am reading are a clever wit, interesting situations, knowledge, vivid descriptions, something thought provoking, and hopefully a pun or two. I love literature that paints a scene with words. Being an artist and musician, I am always on the look out for the aesthetics in literature. Lines of poetry from the Bard like, “Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/ Within his bending sickle's compass come,” resonate nicely in my ears and remain in my memory. Something quirky that I love is etymology, the history of words. Something I discovered was that character Hester Prynne’s name comes directly from hysteria, originally meaning “of the womb”, and phryne, meaning prostitute. I like symbols and clues hidden within a text that blend in, yet upon deeper introspection are blaringly conspicuous. I dislike emotional rants and I have a hard time reading a book if I do not like the narrator or main character. (I really hated Holden Caulfield, but he grew on me towards the end of The Catcher in the Rye)

A huge change in my reading habits occurred last year in Mr. Thommen’s class. We spent weeks learning about different types of criticism. It taught me that a single work can be read and interpreted through many varying view points. I now try to look at literature from as many angles as I can.

Since this is already past 400 words, I am going to make the rest of this quick. I read as often as I can. I don’t usually have a lot of time for long novels during the school year. But over summer break I plow through the stack of books that I have accumulated through the year. I read articles and poetry whenever I have the free time and even do so with my friends. I honestly read to learn and to just explore things that I have not experienced in my life so far. I read because I love new perspectives on things and because I love a good story.

I don’t write on a regular basis, but when I do it is usually in the form of poetry. I love attempting to capture a single image, emotion, or concept in a few short, nicely written lines. I always have poetry concepts running through my mind; but when it comes to composing a piece, it takes time. My greatest writing achievements have been works of poetry and research papers that I have done at PCDS. My favorite paper is on the history of peanuts (a.k.a. the goober pea) in America, which I wrote for Mr. Martin last year.

I think that writing is one of humanities greatest creations. The ability to symbolize thought into a universal code and stretch the boundaries of reality and imagination is fascinating. Writing to me is a form of communication and recording of thoughts of events. I also love persuasive essays.

Lastly, here are my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I am a horrible speller and I tend to phrase things in complicated ways. A strength of mine is that I write well under pressure and can think of ideas in a stressful situation. But after years of writing research papers, I now have a hard time just writing for fun. Writing dialogue is also very difficult for me. I enjoy writing, but it is not one of my past times. However, I always carry around a notebook so I can write down any ideas that pop into my mind.

So although this letter was long, I hope it gave you a good idea of who I am as a reader and writer right now. I hope to improve my reading and analyzing skills this year as well as read some interesting literature.

Sincerely,
Deepa Rao

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