Lydia has always been a pretty enthusiastic reader. Even before she could read, she would hold up books and pretend; often making up the stories she was 'reading'. As she grew and went through school, she continued to read quite a bit. In the sixth grade, she was reading at about a twelfth-grade level. Lydia would often read many books a year, both at home and in school. When she got to about seventh-grade, however, she stopped reading at home altogether. She suddenly had an abundance of time-occupying tasks to complete each night, and reading stopped being so important. She continued to read during school, though, and still got through many books a year. Despite the sudden lack of home reading, Lydia has never stopped loving it, and always finishes the books she starts, even if she really hates them. The idea of 'fake reading' to get through a class is very foreign to Lydia. She figures that if you want to take a class, especially an honors or AP class, then you have to be prepared to put in the work that it takes. Reading has never been a challenge for Lydia, and while she tends to read books geared towards teenagers or young adults, she would never turn down a book because it was 'challenging.' She may forget where she is in a book, or completely zone out for a page and have to re-read, but she believes that that is just part of the human reading experience. Lydia is not currently reading a book, but is eager to start one soon. Over the summer, Lydia was very occupied with marching band, and only made time for the three books required by this AP Literature and Composition class. She chose to read The Book Thief, Obasan, and of course How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Last year, Lydia read quite a few books. While she's not sure of the exact number, it is probably over ten. Lydia may be blinded by the bias of childhood nostalgia, but when asked for her favorite author, she would answer J.K. Rowling. Lydia has always had a fairly large number of books in her home, and as the years have gone on, she has collected more and more. In her room alone, there are around one-hundred books. Lydia is the type of reader that can get fully immersed in the book she is reading, but often does not. In order for her to really latch on to what she is reading, and get the full experience, she needs quiet, but not silence. She enjoys either reading only a page at a time, or ten chapters at once. If it's anything in between, she may have a hard time recalling the information. Over the last few years, Lydia hasn't actually grown much in the ways of reading. She hasn't regressed either, but she feels that her abilities have plateaued. Lydia hopes that challenging herself with this class will help her to once again improve herself as a reader.
Lydia is somewhat of a writer. She has been told that she is pretty good at getting her ideas out, but she feels personally that she struggles. Lydia learned to write the same way that most kids do; a little bit of letter practice at home, and a lot of work in school. People write for a plethora of reasons; to earn a living, to inspire people, to inspire themselves, because they are forced to, because they enjoy it, because they are good at it, because they are bad at it, because they have nothing better to do, because they have a message to share with the world, because they want to be known, because they want to make a point, because it is a form of communication, really, people can write for any reason. It's hard to list what someone would need to do or know in order to write well, because there are so many different forms of writing. Each form uses different skills and rules, so someone who is an amazing poet could be the worst research paper writer alive. Generally, though, knowing proper grammar and spelling is a good idea, and you will want to know the individual rules and procedures for whichever specific type of writing you are completing. Lydia personally enjoys writing research papers. She finds it difficult to think of interesting and consistent plots, and has a hard time describing characters and settings in an eloquent manner. She finds it much easier to list facts and statistics in a logical and tidy way. It is very hard for Lydia to decide what she'll write about. Generally, she excels when she has only a few teacher-provided options to choose from, and struggles to come up with her own, authentic ideas. On the rare occasion that she attempts creative writing, her ideas usually come from fragmented dreams that she has mostly forgotten, or from the current events she hears about on the news. With her writing, Lydia is always encouraged by praise, obviously, and constructive criticism is always appreciated. When Lydia writes, she usually isn't looking for a particular reaction from her audience, so she really is not concerned with the emotional response from readers. Because she mostly writes research papers, she is used to getting no response in particular. Lydia does write a bit at home, but she should write more. On the rare occasion that she attempts creative writing, it is usually only in bursts of about two hours a day for a week, before she gets stuck and gives it up. Lydia never usually has to write at home, as she usually on-top of her school assignments. When she does, it is always for fun. In general, Lydia feels that she is a pretty average writer. She feels that she can do well enough to get by, but can do nothing special. She feels she is much, much better at research-type papers than creative writing, and will rarely let anyone read her fiction pieces. Lydia hopes to improve both her skills, and her confidence over her work during the course of this class.
Lydia is somewhat of a writer. She has been told that she is pretty good at getting her ideas out, but she feels personally that she struggles. Lydia learned to write the same way that most kids do; a little bit of letter practice at home, and a lot of work in school. People write for a plethora of reasons; to earn a living, to inspire people, to inspire themselves, because they are forced to, because they enjoy it, because they are good at it, because they are bad at it, because they have nothing better to do, because they have a message to share with the world, because they want to be known, because they want to make a point, because it is a form of communication, really, people can write for any reason. It's hard to list what someone would need to do or know in order to write well, because there are so many different forms of writing. Each form uses different skills and rules, so someone who is an amazing poet could be the worst research paper writer alive. Generally, though, knowing proper grammar and spelling is a good idea, and you will want to know the individual rules and procedures for whichever specific type of writing you are completing. Lydia personally enjoys writing research papers. She finds it difficult to think of interesting and consistent plots, and has a hard time describing characters and settings in an eloquent manner. She finds it much easier to list facts and statistics in a logical and tidy way. It is very hard for Lydia to decide what she'll write about. Generally, she excels when she has only a few teacher-provided options to choose from, and struggles to come up with her own, authentic ideas. On the rare occasion that she attempts creative writing, her ideas usually come from fragmented dreams that she has mostly forgotten, or from the current events she hears about on the news. With her writing, Lydia is always encouraged by praise, obviously, and constructive criticism is always appreciated. When Lydia writes, she usually isn't looking for a particular reaction from her audience, so she really is not concerned with the emotional response from readers. Because she mostly writes research papers, she is used to getting no response in particular. Lydia does write a bit at home, but she should write more. On the rare occasion that she attempts creative writing, it is usually only in bursts of about two hours a day for a week, before she gets stuck and gives it up. Lydia never usually has to write at home, as she usually on-top of her school assignments. When she does, it is always for fun. In general, Lydia feels that she is a pretty average writer. She feels that she can do well enough to get by, but can do nothing special. She feels she is much, much better at research-type papers than creative writing, and will rarely let anyone read her fiction pieces. Lydia hopes to improve both her skills, and her confidence over her work during the course of this class.