Annisa McElhenny

Thinking back, what I remember of literature as a child would mostly be my dad reading bedtime stories to my siblings and I when we were little. We had a book that was full different five minute bedtime stories that were just the right length for us kids. One of my favorites was called "Bridget's New Look." It was about this little girl going to the beauty salon to get a new "look" for an occasion. I guess that I have always been fascinated with hair and hairstyles, so the story always captivated me. I always wanted my dad to read it to us, but we has to pick different stories every once in a while. Growing up I have always enjoyed reading, mostly mysteries, such as the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series. I could not put those books down! Mostly fictional pieces of literature have been more abundant in my life. Some of my favorites include books from Frank Perreti. Although I do enjoy a good mystery or classic novel, I would have to say that the Bible is the most significant text that I have read. I have been reading it for many many years, and it never gets old. Even the stories that I have read multiple times still have new meanings and new perspectives when I meditate on them and put myself in the character's shoes. I think that digging deeper and "becoming aware, attentive, active and transformed" is one of the purposes behind what authors write. They want others to really take time to meditate, and maybe slip into their shoes and think about about maybe the author was thinking as they wrote their piece. Literature is definitely a part of life. Whether we realize it or not, literature is all around us, waiting to be analyzed, appreciated and thought about. I personally struggle a lot with "doing" something with literature. I never really thought about literature as something active, but there is much more than meets the eye. It takes time to think and relate to the piece, and have a better understanding of why things were done a certain way. I definitely need to work on "how to read to get the most out of [my] reading" so that I can be more aware in personally involved in all the literature that surrounds me everyday.

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