CJ Reed

Mrs. Anderson

English 111

September 8, 2017

Diagnostic Essay

As a reader, regardless of what you are reading, an emotion is felt. Whether that emotion

is a joyful feeling, a feeling of sorrow, or a puzzlement as to why the world is the way it is, there

is always an emotional connection made with reading. This connection is especially apparent

when reading stories. George RR Martin summarized it best when he said, “ A reader lives a

thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once.” Martin is mainly

referring to the emotional connection made when reading stories, regardless of being fiction or

nonfiction. It's impossible to not feel animosity with Joe as he and his brother are in precarious

situations while solving mysteries or the heartache felt while reading about the pain the Elie goes

through in his tragic experience at Auschwitz. All books make and establish feelings inside of

you. Martin is correct in his perspective of reading because as we read we all connect with the

characters and feel pain as they feel pain or feel relief as they feel relief. We live a short and

condensed life each and every time we get sucked into the twists and turns of the world of

literature. Without it, we no longer have a means of learning about how the people before us

lived and the events that lead to the formation of the world as it is now. With millions of

different people’s stories at your fingertips it’s unlike anything else as you have the power to

relive the life of millions. Nothing else in the world offers you the chance to walk in the shoes of

Harriet Tubman or to live feel the ecstasy as Michael Jordan wins his first finals. Without

reading these lives, lessons, and experiences waste away in history. The ability to relive the lives
of those who came before us is truly a blessing that is often undervalued and taken for granted.

This is why George RR Martin is absolutely correct that reading allows you to live thousands of

lives and that non readers never get to live anything other than their own life.

1. 5,3,5,4,3 Averages out to a 4. I really struggled with fluidity in my essay and this

hampered the understanding of my message. However I used good examples that

connected my writing very well.

2. 3,3,4,4,4 Averages to a 4 but is a 3. I think my use of my examples were not done in a

fluid way and that caused them to not convey the message desired. Overall organization

of the paper was very flawed and greatly hampered my paper.