My Personal Literacy Journey

I grew up in a family of readers. Trips to the library were weekly and tripping over books laying

around the house was a daily occurrence. When I was in grade one I worked my way through the Boxcar

Children series as well as the Babysitter Club books. By grade two I had worked through the Hardy Boys

and Nancy Drew series. Grade three was dedicated to Anne of Green Gables and the Laura Ingalls series,

and by grade four I had read every fiction book in our school library. I devoured any fiction book I could

get my hands on. I read novels, short stories, and poems with a particular fascination for short stories. I

loved how much could be conveyed in just one page. I eventually expanded my genre of choice to

include non-fiction. I read memoirs, autobiographies, and biographies of heroes in history. When I ran

out of those kinds of books to read, I moved on to the dictionary. I was one of those children that got in

trouble for reading too late into the night. I would hide under my covers reading a book by the faint

glow of a penlight long after I was supposed to be sleeping. One of my favourite things to do in the

summer was to climb a particular tree we had in our backyard and sit there reading a book.

While I grew up in family of readers, my sister was the writer in the family. When she was in

grade twelve she entered a writing contest put on by the Dominion Institute of Canada. The contest

required its participants to write a letter set in the battle at Passchendaele. My sister wrote a letter to

the Mother of the Unknown Soldier and it was signed, Soldier X. This letter was written so vividly that

you could picture yourself on the battlefield beside Soldier X. The letter placed in the Top 10 of

thousands of entries. I was, of course, very proud of my sister, but I also came to realize the powerful

effect of imagery. Imagery has since become my favourite literary device to use. I love how it can pick

you up and place you in a whole new environment as you read. It can make a setting so real to you that

you live the story. Its simple use of adjectives sets the tone of a story. Almost all of my favourite pieces

of writing are incredibly rich in imagery. For example, a short story called Sonnys Blues written by

James Baldwin is probably my favourite piece of literature. Its a story so vivid in its language that you
feel yourself in the protagonists shoes. Another book I really enjoyed was Wuthering Heights by Emily

Bronte. One of the main characters, Heathcliff, was so rich in his vocabulary and use of hyperbole that I

thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel.

To me, imagery is the power of language. Its a literary device that can transport you. It can

place in you in a vibrant world where the birds sing and cheerily announce the arrival of a new day. A

place where their song is accompanied by streaks of colour that spread across the skys canvas in various

shades of pink and orange with dashes of purple intertwined, brightly announcing the suns arrival.

Where the fragile petals of the opening Morning Glories glisten with vibrancy of the dew, a gentle mist

that clouds have strewn upon the earth in the form of glittering confetti. A place where wildflowers

colour the land, splashes of yellow and pink spotting the green countryside, and grass sways in the

presence of a gentle breeze. It can also place you in a desolate place where the wind whispers along the

withered floorboards of a decrepit attic, swirling dust across the room. A place where windows

shrouded in curtains hide the obvious and dark shadows drape themselves around your shoulders,

constricting your breath and slowing your step. Imagery can make you feel like youre in a place where

the dark swirls ahead of you and the tangible weight of the danger around you raises the hairs on your

neck. Or it can make you feel incredibly peaceful as if you are gliding through the marbled blue of a

humming ocean or flying upon the gentle melody of a birds joy. The love of this kind of imagery has

fine-tuned my preference for reading materials.

When I was younger I read everything placed in front of me, but as I continued to read I

developed a preference for different types of literature. Imagery is now what I look for in books. Stories

that I can place myself in are the ones that leave a lasting impression on me. I want to be able to read a

story and have it stick with me. It is this love of imagery that I will incorporate into my teaching. I think it

will be particularly useful for those students who are visual learners. Imagery make words real for

students, so for students who have a hard time reading because they prefer visuals, imagery is a
technique that can transition students from picture books or movies to books. It doesnt have to be a

specific genre because imagery can be in any genre. It can be poetry. It can be short stories. It can be

memoirs or autobiographies. It can be a novel, but in any genre, it is powerful.