My Literary History

Dear Mr. Coon,
For as long as I have been literate, reading and writing have both been pleasurable past-times of mine. When I first learned how to read, it was as though suddenly the entire world was at my fingertips. I voraciously read reference books, magazines, children’s novels, and whatever else I could get my hands on. Through reading I could discover all sorts of fascinating secrets about the world around me and venture into exotic and exciting places. When I was in third grade, an hour of every day was set aside for reading. On the class bookshelf, I discovered abridged versions of classics such as Les Miserables, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Time Machine. I found all of these enjoyable, however, The Time Machine quickly became a personal favorite. I later went on to read the unabridged version as well as a few other works by H.G. Wells. When the first novel of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series was released, I soon acquired a copy and thus found another favorite author to add to my repertoire. With each installment of the series, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in the whimsical world of Hogwarts.
In middle school, I was introduced to the works of Shakespeare and my world was profoundly rocked. I found all of the extended metaphors, clever dialogue, and flowery speeches to be absolutely enthralling. Later, I discovered Voltaire and was enraptured by his crisp witticisms in Candide. Although, it was not until last Summer that I had my most profound reading experience yet. Since I was reading The Dante Club for my I.D. paper, my father convinced me that I should not read anything with “Dante” in the title without actually reading Dante and that furthermore, because I am Italian, reading The Divine Comedy is essentially a moral obligation. On June 6, 2006 my bilingual copy of Inferno arrived from amazon.com. As I read the poem, I found it amazing how many pieces of literature, art, and film had used themes and concepts from it. I quickly developed an almost fiendish obsession with the work that I still carry with me today.
Reading has also fueled my highly active imagination and inspired me to do some creative writing of my own. In my earlier days I wrote a series of fantasy stories about four ordinary individuals who discover that they have supernatural powers with they must use in order to avert the destruction of the universe. However, my most prized pieces of writing are my poems that I often publish in Day Breaks and a two-act play entitled Gemini that I wrote at the end of my junior year. As a writer, I find my strengths to be my imagination and ability to use language in a thoughtful and original manner. However, I often have trouble conforming to style guidelines and working with length requirements. In general, I find writing to be enjoyable because it is an opportunity to express my thoughts eloquently using tactics learned from the authors that inspire me.
Sincerely,
Lauren Mattioni
(513)