Tuesday, January 31, 2017

History through Literature

Students have heard me say how literature has taught me more about history than any textbook, so I decided to reflect on this statement a bit more.

When I was growing up, I viewed history as boring and something in the past which did not affect me. Part of this might have been because of the history teachers, but a more valid explanation might be my age, a lack of life experiences, and a limited amount of reading. (Yes, even I did not do much reading unless it was assigned, something my friends were reading, or an extremely popular book.)

As I got older, my views about history started to shift, partly because I matured, but also because I encountered literature which made me think about the past. Works like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath are only two of many works which have given me glimpses of the past and piqued my curiosity to learn more. I will admit I am still far from a history buff, but if a writer can weave a little history with a good fictional story, then I am "all in."

In fact, my love for historical fiction has expanded to include cultural or global pieces to help me grow and learn about the people and places which make up the world. Reading works like Cry, the Beloved Country or Copper Sun can show readers places they will probably never visit. Seeing these places on television or in a movie might offer some idea of what these places are like, but we all know it doesn't compare to the ability to walk in the person's shoes that reading can offer.

Readers can also learn an awful lot about Nebraska from reading pieces written by authors from here. It could be a fictional piece like My Antonia or a biographical piece like Old Jules. However, the point is if we don't read such things, then how else can we learn about these things? Much of Nebraska history is covered in elementary and middle school while the high school focuses on national or global events. 

For your blog response, I ask you to reflect on your own experiences with learning about the past and other cultures. What role has literature played in helping you grow as a reader, a person, and a learner? How do you think literature will play a role in shaping your views in the coming years and throughout your life?

51 comments:

  1. Not knowing your historical past and big events that have shaped our country is a critical thing to engross yourself in. Having a background before reading books, especially historical fiction, can help you understand the book better because you know how or what the author is trying to convey. For instance, if you read a book set in the revolutionary period but had no knowledge of the setting, then you would be utterly lost and the book would make no sense. Historical events that we briefly know about can be elaborated and our knowledge of those events can grow as we read personal encounters from those who survived the holocaust or WWI veterans. Knowing the historical facts is much different from reading the real life experiences of someone living back then. Literature has made me much more aware as a person, but also a reader. My knowledge continues to flourish as I learn new things everyday. This knowledge will keep growing and also help me understand authors point of views or historical fiction better. Knowledge is power.

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  2. From a young age I've loved to read. I would always have my head in a book and it was to get me to do anything else. I think this has given me great insight to different types of culture and past and present. One of my all time favorite series is the tiger's curse series, not only does it have a strong main female character but, throughout every book there is an abundance on the culture of India. From these books I learned so much about the people of India, what they wore in the past and what they wear now but, I also learned a lot about the history of India.
    I would say that because I read so much, it has allowed me to be a great learner in the fact that, all my reading has given me an understanding of multiple concepts. It also has allowed me to grow as a reader in the way that I've become a fast reader and because of that I'd like to think I can think faster about different things.
    I will continue to read as I grow up and as I do I think I will have an even better grasp on different cultures and their history. I also think, that as a reader, when I get older I'll still be able to learn something new everyday.

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  3. I love reading. It can take you anywhere. With books, I've been on hundreds of adventures with the characters. We learn the best when we actually experience something. Some may say that reading is not the same, but I think it is all the fun and emotions with no real risk. Through my reading, I've learned things I would otherwise never know, and not only in terms of history. I've learned a lot about people. Reading books helped me to see how others think and why they do certain things. I've been exposed to new ideas and thinking about them, whether I agree with them or not, has helped to make me more informed on a broader range of topics. I've read about several different cultures and their traditions. Through it all, the similarities of people throughout the world and throughout time strikes me as very interesting. I will always keep reading to keep my mind sharp and to learn new things.

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  4. Everyone has a longing to understand their background and purpose in life. One way that I have gained knowledge about human nature, my country and this world, is though meeting people and though reading literature. I had the unique experience of going to elementary school in Manhattan KS where the public university attracts a wide variety of cultures. Part of the reason I was willing to believe there were countries and little world outside the Midwest was because I had friends from places like China, Japan, and Nepal who I talked to and played with every day. Just short of actually being in that country was to see living proof from it. However, the majority of my learning has been obtained from reading. It is the next best thing from living proof because instead of an oral telling about someones culture, you read the words put on paper. I can't meet someone from history, so by reading books readers can discover and learn more about what people in the past believed and/or said. This is good because new (or old ideas that are new to you) help the brain grow and develop so that people have tolerance for one another believes. Literature will continue to share new ideas with its readers and grow our minds, though emotions, themes, and lessons learned.

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  5. I have never really been into historical fiction, but I have still been able to learn many things about history from reading. By reading realistic fiction and even fantasy, I gained more knowledge about important figures in history and Greek and Roman culture. My favorite books to read are novels with Greek mythology, like the Percy Jackson series. Reading a book makes learning more enjoyable than sitting in class and listening to a lecture. With the addition of the internet and Google, not many students read books to find information anymore. Literature will help me with finding advice in college and the rest of high school. I might also read for entertainment if I can find a book that intrigues me.

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  6. As I was growing up my mother was the one that always encouraged me to read. I would read books like there was no tomorrow, and often get teased about it from friends and family. Reading so much has helped me through my life by showing different pieces of different eras and cultures. We are taught a lot about our country but not a lot about other countries and their history. I used to (and still do once and awhile) read books about old queens and princess, and girls that were made up but set in the past. History fascinated me. My grandmother was the one that always told me that I was born in the wrong century. She told me I should have been like Laura Ingalls Wilder. That woman was a hero of mine growing up. I think that literature will always be a big part of my life, and I hope to learn as much as I can from the books that I read. There is always room to grow as a person through books.

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  7. Reading has always been something that a person can do to make their brain stronger and healthier. Since I was young I have had a love for books, although they were mostly fiction books. Even though they were fiction books books, most of the stories were set in places around the world with culture weaved into the theme. No matter what kind of book you are reading you learn from the story that is being told and you learn about the culture that the story is being told from. Reading has always been a little escape from the real world especially when it is an attention-grabbing story. Reading has taught me about friendships, family, and social skills in different ways. I think even reading one special book and the ideas that that book holds can help shape a person's outlook on life and help them make later decisions in the future.

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  8. History has always been one of my favorite subjects in school. I like learning about my families past and the past of this world. How we got to where we are now. I like reading a lot of different kinds of books. I have read a lot of journals from people in the past and they are interesting because we get to see what daily life was back then. Reading books like those have helped me gain insight into our history and we have life so much easier now than even 15 years ago. Reading doesn't seem as important now to find the answers in school because we can just looks things up on our phones really fast. I hope that I keep reading even when it feels like I have no time. I think that by reading books you can personalize the characters and learn from their lives to help your own.

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  9. I've enjoyed reading since I can remember. I think I really found more of a love for it in middle school. Although it's not one of my favorite genres, I have read a few historical fiction books that really sparked my interest. History is one of my favorite subjects in school, so learning about it has always interested me. I tend to enjoy more of the fantasy genre though, which can still teach you a lot about history and different cultures. I learned a lot about different cultures and their history in the last series I read, which was called "Tiger's Curse". My knowledge of the past will continue to grow as I mature, and reading throughout my life will help me to shape my own views of the world.

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  10. I've learned most of all my knowledge about history from history classes. In middle school I was huge on reading but I mostly just read science fiction books. I think the only history books I've read were books required to read in my classes. I stopped reading in the first few years of high school simply because I was busy most of the time and I didn't prioritize reading. Since the reading challenge I've read four books already. At first, I just picked a random book from the library and over the weekend I needed a distraction so I started reading and ended up loving the book. Reading in middle school helped me focus my mind which put me in a great place for high school. I'm glad I continued reading this year because it gives me something useful to do in my free time. Reading opened my mind up to learning new information; it made me curious to learn more about things I read. If I continue to read, I think it will benefit me in college. I'll be inspired to learn more about new things that are put in front of me.

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  11. Even though I do not love sitting down and reading a nice book, I love history. The only books I read are the ones that I am required to in school. Through the books I've read through school, most of the time we read something from a long time ago. But, I would much rather study it directly compared to learning it through a fictional story that didn't happen. The facts pull me into the topic of history. This is why I don't love historical fiction. I enjoy the parts that are true, but when it starts to get fake and not real, I stop enjoying it. This makes it tough to read historical fiction when I know this made up story is what drives the entire plot of the story. Even though I don't love it, reading can help readers grow and learn more about the pastime of the world.

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  12. In my life I have probably read a total of 5 historical fiction books, so I haven't really learned a lot from that, but I have learned a lot from teachers. Teachers get a lot of their information from books and they teach what they learn from them. In my opinion, reading has not shaped me at all. It has not inspired me to do good or be good or help me learn better. I mean don't get me wrong I loved reading in middle school, but that was mainly because of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I'm sure as I get older I will find myself enjoying reading and eventually it will help me and help shape my views on certain things, but at this point in my life I can not enjoy books, but in the future I imagine I will get most my information from reading, not just from books, but from the internet. I think I will just be overall more informed.

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  13. I have learned a lot about history through textbooks in American History last year. I enjoyed learning about the world's history because of diverse it is. I remember reading in-class books throughout middle school like The Diary of Anne Frank, along with a few others. I liked reading about others lives especially, trying to see if I could relate theirs to my own. Literature has helped me grow by strengthening my reading and comprehending skills. I learn something new from every book I read, which affects me as a person. I love to read books because I can experience the life of someone else while being able to learn about different styles of life. I think the more books I read, it will continue to change the way I view life. Many autobiographies that I have read and will continue to read have altered my perspective on life. Literature will help me through college and the rest of my life by continuing to challenge my beliefs.

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  14. I have learned a lot about history from textbooks, and my history classes. Also, I have learned about other cultures from the excerpts we've read in class. When I was younger, I used to read all the time. Once I started high school, however, I began reading less and less. I was so busy with homework work and extra curricular activities that I basically stopped reading altogether. After reading some literature in this class, I have realized how much I like reading. Even though some of the literature we read in class is not my favorite genre, I still enjoy learning new things from the books. Not only has literature sparked my interest in reading, it has also broadened my horizons on the types of writing I read. Before, I did not realize how much I could learn from one work of literature. I hope that reading literature in class, and just reading more in general, will set me in the right direction for my future. I think reading literature now will encourage me to continue to read it, and continue to learn from it.

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  15. I've always loved reading. It has taught me more about people and history than anything else in my life. I've learned about different cultures and time periods from reading and I don't even know that I'm learning. I think the most important thing that reading has done for me is made me a more accepting person. Seeing in stories how people who are different still get treated poorly but in the end always find someone who will accept them for who they are, has made me want to do the same for real people. This also applies to stories about entire cultures who are looked down upon. One of my favorite historical fiction books is Everything I Never Told You because I learned a lot about history and I also enjoyed the story. The story is based around a Chinese family in America. I feel like the Chinese subculture in America is always overlooked, so I knew almost nothing about it. From the story I learned about the racism and discrimination that Chinese families felt in the 1970's. If I hadn't read the book, I probably would never have learned anything about Chinese families in America. I've never been big on reading historical fiction novels but I know now that they are worth reading because I always learn something new. In the future I will continue to read and become more culturally aware. Reading will always be something that I love to do and will continue to shape who I am as a person.

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  16. I strongly believe that through reading one grows knowledge. I also feel it helps one grow as a person and understand a different perspective of the world. As a young reader, I often found myself drawn to American Girl books. I believe these books helped me to grow in my knowledge of history. Freshman year, we read books such as The Odyssey and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. In The Odyssey I learned of Greek mythology and how people in this time period thought. Likewise, in The Boy who Harnessed the Wind, I grew a deeper understanding of how hard life is just on the other side of the world. Through reading this book, I was able to change my perspective of life. Things I take for granted are things others live without. In both cases, reading has helped me enrich my knowledge of history and shape my thoughts of the world today. With that stated I feel reading holds a lot of power today and hopefully continues in the future. I hope that my children will also read The Boy who Harnessed the Wind and The Odyssey and be able to reflect upon their life and history. Literature is a constant source of helping one grow as a reader, person and a learner.

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  17. I have never looked at reading as a hobby or something I particularly enjoy. I often think there are so many other ways I could spend my time than reading. However, I do agree that there are so many things you can learn from a book. The book does not have to be nonfiction in order to have factual or historical parts in it. By reading we learn about different cultures and see things in many different points of views. As I have gotten older I can come to enjoy historical fiction more and more. I also believe it or not enjoy some of the books we are assigned to read in class. I personally enjoy reading books about other peoples lives and I think this is a good way to gain knowledge. Literature will help me learn more and more about this place I call home and continue to prepare me for the rest of my life. There are many other ways to gain knowledge such as the internet or even movies, but reading is the only way you can really experience what the characters are feeling.

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  18. There are several ways to learn about our nation's history. It can be reading a history textbook or watching history videos.To me, the best way to learn about history is through listening or reading about people´s real life experiences that they have had in their past through books. Some of my favorite books are historical fiction. For example, ¨Between Shades of Gray¨ by Ruta Sepetys. I was able to learn more about what happened to a person that was pulled from her own home in Lithuania. Stories like this one are the ones I learn the most from and that sticks with me. When I read more stories based off history I will be able to connect more with characters and really see what they went through.

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  19. Learning about historical events and new cultures has always fascinated me. I love going to museums and learning about it in history classes; I honestly loved language arts in elementary school when we learned about people from different countries. When I find a book with a different culture or based in the past, I'm drawn to it. When we read The Odyssey freshman year, I was excited to learn about Greek mythology, and with other books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, I was just as thrilled to read those and learn and grow from them. I get to learn all this new information and picture how hard it was to live when Scout and Jem did; it changes my view on how we are living now and how lucky we are, even when it seems like we aren't. Literature has impacted how I live my life, and as long as I keep reading new books, I don't think it will change.

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  20. I personally enjoy learning about history through the books I read. I also appreciate museums, learning from my elders about their lives before my own, and watching historical videos. Reading always seems to be one of the more fascinating ways of learning, though. Especially with reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" when I was in middle school. That specific piece of literature stuck with me to this day, not just because of her unbelievable story, but the fact she was around the same age I was when I read the book. I was able to place myself in her shoes. My appreciation for history and stories like Anne's stem from books I've read and related to.

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  21. Along with a majority of the comments I have read, I am not a historical fiction reader. Like most of my classmates, I have done most of my learning about history through my history classes and teachers. Although recently I have tried to expand my horizons. At a small bookshop I often visit, they have a small stack of books covered with brown paper, and clues about the plot are written on the outside. The book I most recently purchased is called Sarah's Key. It deals with Jewish families being arrested in France during the 1940's. I am excited to see how finally reading a historical fiction novel will change my perspective of reading about history. Beside historical fiction, literature in general has made me the calm, tolerant person I am now. I have always been an avid reader. I have developed my mind and assets through reading all other types of literature. I will continue to read far into adulthood, and hope to learn to apply ideas used in literature to the experiences I gain as I grow older.

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  22. For the most part I have learned about our history from text books and my fifth, eighth, and ninth grade history classes. Although with that said I have also learned a little bit from the books that I have read. Most of the time I read science fiction books which deal with the future, but over the years I have also read some historical fiction. A couple of the books I remember reading that have taught me are "Slave Dancer" and "Fever 1793". From the "Slave Dancer" I learned about what is was like for a slave traveling to America. This book was very descriptive about their travels and showed how much they would do for just a tiny portion of food. Then in the book "Fever 1793". I learned about a real life epidemic that happened but the author wrote about a little girl that went through it so it evoked more emotions because you don't want the little girl to get sick and die like everyone else around her does. Reading these historical fiction books have shown me a lot about events that I otherwise wouldn't know about. They can also go into more detail than a textbook and show what it was really like to live through some of the hard times in history.I think as I get older I might try to read more historical fiction books to help me expand my knowledge of the world and learn while doing what I love. Reading.

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  23. I have a love hate relationship with Historical Fiction. I did not like any of my history classes, mostly because I do not like reading strait out of a textbook about history facts. However, I love listening to stories. This would explain why I like to read Historical Fiction. I always learn better if I am being told a story. For example, whenever my grandparents tell me stories about when they were younger I always find myself listening and asking about what it was like. I think as I become older and learn about new things I'll try reading some books that will help me learn about the past. Hopefully as I become older I will be able to tell stories of my own.

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  24. When it comes to historical fiction, I'm the type of person who will only read it if the topic interests me or if I'm required to read it. I am fascinated by some of the things that has happened in our history, like the wars and civil rights movements. Since I was not born during a time like that, I depend on books to reach out and tell me how life was like back then.There are many different perspectives that people have on these topics and I like knowing everyone's point of view. Knowing how our country was back then has helped teach me how to keep America a beautiful and safe place for everyone. I might not be so proud of the early America and its racial ways, but now that we have grown and developed into a greater community, I am proud of all that we have accomplished. When I become older, I will be able to tell stories to others of things that I learned and I will have knowledge of how life was thanks to historical fiction books.

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  25. Before this freshman year, I avoided Historical books like the plague. I found it boring and obsolete, going for the bright and peppy Fantasy books instead. Yet when I found a pair of books about the Holocaust, I fell in love with the general genre. It brings something that was previously out of reach into light, and something I would be able to read without being bored. Reading these books helped me consider the past into whats happening in the present, now showing how history can repeat itself if we choose to ignore the past. Literature is going to be a big part in choosing my viewpoints in the coming year, since it won't be before long when the Syrian Refugee crisis becomes a plot for books or even something to do with Donald Trump into their stories. These books can and are willing to change such viewpoints about events that happened in the past and present.

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  26. Since I was a little kid I have always loved reading. My room is filled with books and I could spend a whole day reading if I wanted to. Getting me to read an informational text book is not as easy though. I like learning about our history and other countries as well but I find reading straight from a text book boring. Historical fiction books are a great way to learn something new in a more entertaining way. "The Book Thief" is a historical fiction book that I enjoyed reading and I was able to see into the life of a young Jewish girl during World War 2. Literature is one of the best ways to shape your views on the world and gain new experiences without ever leaving your bed.

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  27. Before high school I tried to avoid anything to do with history. I found almost all of it boring and unimportant because it had already happened and I felt it didn't really effect me. When we got to the age when we actually had to start reading about history is when I hated it even more because those were two things I already didn't like, reading and history. But over the past few year after reading To Kill A Mockingbird an other books like that I have began to appreciate how important it actually is to learn about history and the importance of it. Literature is one of the largest reasons my view has changed.

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  28. Literature has had a huge impact on my life. It has taught me many lessons, historical and unhistorical. I truly believe I am who I am today because of literature. My mom is an English teacher, and reading books has always been a way to bond for both of us. We both enjoy fantasy novels and romance in a way that other family members of mine don't. I think this love that she gave me for imagining what happens in these fantasy stories and being creative in my ideas contributes greatly to my ability to learn. I personally love learning, and working hard in school. My mom is a huge reason, I spend a lot of free time reading, and I always want to read something new. I love to read. Reading has also taught me a lot of lessons that contribute to my personality. For example, when I was young I read a book called "Dream Like a Champion". That is still one of my favorite books, and because of that book I began playing sports and hope to one day play them in college. I also loved fairy tale novels, that taught me to be kind and strong in your beliefs. Reading has contributed greatly to my actions and belief system today. I do attribute a lot of this to historical fiction novels that I've read. In middle school I read many autobiographies from people who lived through the Holocaust, that taught me many lessons about being grateful. Also, many works done by slaves I find very inspiring, even though I cannot relate to their experience. Historical novels about my religion have also had a great impact on my life. Through these novels I was able to experience the story while also learning many lessons about life and history. My love to read will never go away. There's nothing quite like completely engrossing yourself in a book, and those are experiences I hope I never have to give up. Especially in these disagreeable times, I have a feeling upcoming novels will continue to teach me many lessons and give more history as more and more becomes uncovered. The knowledge I've gained from reading has helped me greatly and I hope it continues every day for the rest of my life.

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  29. As a kid I loved to read, but it was usually the realistic fiction books and not anything with historical meaning. As I got older I would sometimes pick up a book about Abraham Lincoln or someone else and attempt to read it, but nothing like that ever interested me. When we read "The Kite Runner" last year in English 10 Diff, it opened my eyes and taught me a lot about other cultures while I was still enjoying the book. Since then, I have had a lot more respect for books with historical or cultural meaning. Reading has been a big part of shaping how I am as a person. I love it because it takes my mind off of what is happening in my life at the moment and takes me into the character's world. As a reader and learner, literature has helped me to be able to understand simple things further and in a deeper way than I had before. In the future I think that literature will help me to become a better writer and make me appreciate good books more than I do now.

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  30. Knowing your history is important. It's not really all that necessary, but it is important. You don't need to have an understanding of how we all got here, but you should. If you don't take the time to learn history you're doomed, for better or worse, to repeat it. One way to prevent this endless cycle is to simply learn history. People who've studied history will be more aware of how their current actions could loop back and end up just like a scene from a history book. One way to learn about history is to simply read about it. You don't need to read about it from a textbook, you can learn just as well from reading historical fiction. I know that personally reading literature has shaped my thoughts about many different time periods and cultures much more than any history class. I’d much rather read a novel about some eastern European country throwing off communism than learn about it from a text book. It would be much more interesting and much more exciting from a novel so who really cares if it’s a tad bit less informative than a textbook? Bottom line is, it’s important to know your history and therefore you should take the time to learn about it one way or another.

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  31. Growing up I really liked to read for fun. I liked fiction the most, nothing with any real history in it. Today I still don't really like reading historical fiction, however, last year in English we read the Kite Runner and The Things We Carried and I kind of enjoyed them. It was cool to actually be interested and learning at the same time. While now looking back, it was a good choice to read, while I was actually reading I really, really didn't enjoy myself. I'm sure that reading historical fiction has upsides, but I don't reading this genre. Hopefully in the future I can start to enjoy these types of books while learning and also being entertained.

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  32. Stepping into freshman year I hated history class. I dreaded having to learn about events that happened so long ago and didn't apply to everyday life. I also never liked reading books that were assigned to me until I read To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men. The books add certain bits and pieces of history so that the reader can comprehend what happened in the time period. After reading a couple historical books, I started to look at history in a different way. I enjoy learning about history and what type of situations people had to fight through back then. Learning about history has pushed me into thinking about what type of field I want to major/minor in when deciding what I want to do in college.

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  33. Reading has always been important to me. I've loved to read since I was a little kid. Over the years, literature has taught me a lot. It has taught me to be more open-minded. Whether that be about race, sexuality, religion, etc. It has helped me to grow to be less judgmental of other people, especially since I rarely know what other people are going through. Basically, it has shown me what it is like to live as a different person. When reading a book, I metaphorically become that person. I think what they think. By doing this, I've learned a lot about different types of cultures. I think literature will continue to teach me to accept others in the future as well. Not only that, but I'll learn more about history from it.

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  34. I can tell that I was a much different child than you. In elementary school and going into middle school I was very interested in history. It wasn't all about the weapons or technology that interested me the most but the people. I liked to try and relate to people in stories and it wasn't until 8th grade that I started to see the importance in reading fiction as well as nonfiction literature. Especially in the past couple years reading has familiarize me with the perspectives of others. I started to realize while reading books like The Things They Carried and The Kite Runner that not everyone's experiences and beliefs are the same. In the future I believe reading can only improve the way I see the world. There is still much for me to learn, and I understand that it's up to me to read and gain information about the views of the world I have yet to be introduced to.

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  35. Throughout my life, literature has played an enormous role. I could never have grown as a reader without literature. There would be nothing to read! As a person, literature has helped me to be kinder. I always say that you never know what life is like for someone else unless you step into their shoes. I believe that reading is one of the closest ways to step into another person's shoes. Literature is also why I learn. If I hadn't started with little paper books in kindergarten, I wouldn't be able to read novels, instructions, math textbooks, Spanish, road signs, etc. Without literature, I would not be able to learn!
    Recently, I have been debating a career in politics. This has prompted me to pay closer attention to the news. Admittedly, this has been quite depressing in recent months. However, I use my knowledge of literature I have read in the past to reflect on current events. For example, I once read a book written by a Nazi soldier. He discussed Hitler's heavy use of propaganda to brainwash German citizens by creating distrust between the media and citizens. Now, we have a president that is doing something very similar. He is telling Americans to believe what he is saying, while telling us that the national media and negative polls are 'fake news'. All in all, literature has, and will, open the world to me. This one example I discussed is just one of countless lessons that literature can teach us from the past. Literature of all genres forces us to reflect on the past. It is an education tool that empowers me today. Throughout my life, literature will be a constant companion that educates me and helps me to become a better person.

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  36. Personally, anytime I have to memorize something in history or read a nonfiction book for English, I dread it. However, their are many parts of history that can be super interesting and intriguing, it just depends on how I have to learn it. I love to learn about different parts of our history by reading journals written by a person who experienced that portion of history or even when it's weaved into a realistic fiction book. Literature has helped me grow as reader by showing me a different perspective to other parts of our history I have always overlooked because they may have seemed "boring." Also, literature affected me personally by aiding me to become a better person after reading about other people's situations and conditions they had to go through everyday. Overall, literature helped to develop how I take in information today, and acted as the building blocks to my career in writing or just in English in general. In the end, I think literature will continue to push me to dive deeper into different parts of the past I would have never gone before, and also continue to educate me even without me realizing it.

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  37. To be completely honest, I don't feel as if literature has greatly expanded my knowledge about history, geography and cultures. I get most of my knowledge about culture and history from sources like articles, documentaries, and other non-fiction sources rather than fictional literature. However, there are a few examples including my summer reading book, Golden Boy. Here, the author took us to another part of the world that we rarely hear or see much about, Tanzania. Here there is a terrible prosecution against albino people. Without this book I would have never known anything about this horrific problem in Tanzania. Through this class I am developing better reading habits and skills. With this progression moving forward, I anticipate that I will continue to learn more and see things from other points of view; this will lead me to become a more rounded student and person.

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  38. I have loved reading since I was little, but I usually didn't read about history. However sometimes I read a historical fiction book, and each time I learned more and became more interested. I don't enjoy learning about every part of history, but there are many topics I have found that I actually love reading about. After reading "Unbroken" I gained a lot more respect for nonfiction books as well, because I really enjoyed reading it and learned a lot. Reading books like this has educated me about history much more than I even realize, and I have learned many lessons from them that make what I learn in history class seem more real. Because of literature I'm able to relate better with other cultures and understand the past more clearly.

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  39. Reading is always a learning experience. In literature you learn so much, no matter if it's a new word or about history. In "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte I I learned a lot about women during the character's time period. This book has helped me as a reader with how it is written according to it's time period, making it a more difficult read. How they were learning to be themselves and speak up. This book has helped me as a reader with how it is written according to it's time period, making it a more difficult read. In "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee I learned about how the blacks were treated. It shows you the culture by showing you dialect and how they speak. As for the upcoming years in my life, maybe I will read books about my own time period and how it becomes history.

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  40. In elementary I wasn't a good reader, I struggled and despised it; however, once I actually sat down and tried it became easier and I began to enjoy it. From then on I read whenever I could. As a person I grew so much during this time period both physically and mentally. Each book that we read in school gives me insight and experience in certain types of books that I tend to ignore. The most influence book that changed by life was a book called "Nothing to Envy". It was of the first nonfiction books that I actual enjoyed. The book changed my life by giving me real insight on other peoples lives. If I had never read this book I believe that I wouldn't be able to understand people in the same way as now.

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  41. Books are full of knowledge even if it's not a nonfiction novel. In the novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Charlotte Bronte I learned much about the time back then. Even thought this piece was not a history book, I learned how important marriage was back in that period. How many women were thought of as delicate flowers that were made for men. Having Elizabeth be a strong interdependent women showed the evolution of women and then and today. This book exposed me to the type of writing back in that time period. Not only did Charlotte Bronte help me grow in my knowledge about the time period back then but so did "Jane Eyre". "Jane Eyre" taught me how the classes of people affected others and how hard it was to rise to the top. Overall many pieces of literature that are not meant to be a nonfiction book can affect people in their knowledge with history without them even realizing it.

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  42. I agree with your statement about learning more from fiction than non-fiction. I enjoy historical fiction a lot and I feel as if a lot of my knowledge from history has come from historical fiction. Historical fiction books that I enjoyed were ones the read like dairies of famous people. The one I remember most is one about Marie Antoinette. I learned about her life and marriage and her execution all through a fiction diary. I know that a majority of it was exaggerated and her emotions are not accurate but the general idea is true. These were the types of books that started my enjoyment of reading.

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  43. I've lived in Nebraska my entire life and don't plan on ever leaving. Although this is a wonderful state to live in, it's not the most culturally diverse. One way to understand and learn what other cultures are like and what their history is about is by reading books. Literature is a great way to unlock new ways of thinking about other people and their traditions in ways you have never thought about before. This time next year I'll be heading off to college and I hardly know anything about the great wide world from my little hometown. Reading literature can educate me so I don't throw myself into the world uneducated and unknowing. When we read "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, I was able to get a sense of what life was like in that time period and even the different gender roles. This is something I could only understand through actually reading a book. In the future, I'll read more literature about history to help further educate me about different kinds and periods of life.

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  44. In fourth grade, we went through the differences of 'a' and 'an'. Through the entire class, I was the only person to get the difference right, but I didn't know what the difference was exactly. I had read enough books to learn the natural difference between them without actually realizing what I was doing. Literature is a nearly bombproof way to learn proper grammar techniques (obviously some authors use interesting writing techniques to emphasize certain areas of their work). Literature will probably end up shaping a lot of what I expect from the future. This isn't so much of me expected things of science fiction, rather, me expected improvements in the way we treat certain areas of society. Reading also offers a different point of view on minorities. It's helped me improve my range of acceptance a lot.

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  45. When I was small I always read. I read the menus at restaurants and the road signs and basically everything else. So it's surprising that I'm not as knowledgeable about history, because it's all around us. History is on the ground we walk and the places we go and the books we read, so why am I not well rounded in the cultural sense? Ah, because I don't like reading history. Now I know as a scholar it is important to branch out and read different genres but I just can not force myself to read anything that was before the year 1900, and if I do, I don't enjoy myself while reading a historic book. When I was reading everyday signs and books as a kid, I felt as if I had something better than everyone else. While most of the kids in my class were "soccer stars" on the playground, I was a super star in the books (and I had golden stars to prove it!). As I grew older into middle school, I started reading what everybody else was reading- which wasn't very much, mind you, but hey, peer pressure. And then came that golden time of summer where I realized I could read whatever the heck I wanted to, and I did! I think the library got sick of me coming in almost every other day. Based on the effect that reading had on me when I was small and as a "preteen" and now as a teenager, I don't know what literature has in store for me. I hope that I will be able to read more historical books without my eyeballs rolling out of my head, and that I will learn to enjoy the history and culture and come out more diverse.

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  46. Books have been my personal avenue to learning about different cultures. While people can tell about themselves, it's the literature that people can look back on as long as there's a legible copy. Books like The Old Man and the Sea tell stories of poor fishermen in the Bahamas. For Whom The Bell Tolls told me about a war I never even knew about. I'd heard somebody talking on the radio a few days ago. They were talking about people in history classes who would think about what they would do in times of the Civil Rights movement or during the Vietnam protests. They said with the things that are going on now, this might be history repeating itself. We may be in books someday about Civil Rights in the 21st century. We could be the focal points, but it's all about how we act and react to events that go on.

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  47. Throughout elementary and middle school I only read fiction based novels. In eighth grade I started reading about The Holocaust: The Diary of Anne Frank is still one of my favorite books to read. Reading diaries and journals from different points throughout history has taught me more than any history class. Through firsthand accounts I am able to understand the emotion behind events such as The Civil War and 9/11, which allows me to understand them better.

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  48. When I was younger, I loved to learn about American history. I think my interest in the past relates to my mom because she is a living historian. She isn’t like the history teachers who have students learn about history by reading assignments in textbooks, or watching videos. She becomes a character from the past and mentally goes back in time. My mom wears period clothing, may use an accent, and shows antiques as she demonstrates how people from the past lived. She even adds information about different cultures. She has made various times in history visible for me because she accentuates the five senses. I hear her speak about living in a period of time, I can touch and use items from the past, and I can smell and taste foods that she makes like people from the past. My mom’s stories have helped me learn much about our American past, but our family vacations have made me passionate about history and has made me want to read more this topic. As our family drives across the United States to different regions, we visit museums, monuments, battlefields, cemeteries, and National Parks. In addition to seeing and learning about history, I have experienced different cultures from the past and in modern times. I have talked to people, seen how they live in many areas of our country, and eaten an array of delicious foods. After these opportunities and experiences, it makes reading easier for me because the stories come alive. When I read biography books or historical fiction, I find myself imagining how people used different devices to survive because I see the antiques my mom has showed me. I have also seen antiques and old historic buildings at the places I have visited. Many of these places have interactive activities and living historians giving much information about an event in the past. I can paint a mental picture of what I read because I have been to many historical places, have reenacted with much historical information, and have seen how people lived. All of this helps me appreciate the literature I read.

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  49. I have always been very interested in history, and have loved history class (only US history) and have spent countless hours reading about stuff that has happened in our great nation through Wikipedia articles. I have also discovered the historical events and time periods that I feel the most connection and emotion to are ones that I have read about in a book. The dust bowl is one of the most fascinating periods in US history in my opinion, and upon reading The Grapes of Wrath it instantly became something that interested me. I obsess not only of the historical events cause and effect, but the vernacular and relationships between the characters in a book, and this offers a gritty view of what really happened.

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  50. Literature has helped me go all across the world, I mean we have all read the tree house series. In all realness I haven't really seen reading as a trip to other parts of the world, I have always see it as a look into another world even if it talked about places that are real. When I read about history I do retain the knowledge but its usually trying to push through it without dying. The only kind of reading that I think will influence my life in the future years are autobiographies of the greatest to live and political books that share there ideas with the masses.

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  51. I have learned a great deal about not only our countries past as a new nation and it hardships, but have also learned a multitude of cultural shifts between different countries. One book that I have read although it took me a year to finish is Roots By Alex Haley. This book and many others like it show the cultural differences in lifestyles and beliefs of once free African Americans and those of American Nationality. This book along with 12 years a Slave By Solomon Northup are two very detailed representations of life as a slave and what it took from their once free lives as people ofi their own country and land. These book show the unjust treatment of living on many (but not all) Plantations in the south. Along with daily life struggles these books opened my eyes to the excruciating pain and punishment the had to undergo with every mistake or every catching when the tried to run just to be free once more. I was never much of history fan until I read roots and the story of Kunta Kente that is told within it's pages. This book along with Solomon Northup's 12 years a Slave changed my views on history and gave me the growing interest to know more even to this day.

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