Coming Of Age Is A Process - 1834 Words

â€Å"Coming of age is a process wherein an individual develops self-actualization.† (Short Story Returned, Raghuram) Throughout freshman year English, I have overcome numerous predicaments, consequently progressing in my coming of age process. My journey thus far parallels the plot of a crime novel. Similar to the protagonist of a crime novel, I have and will continue to face a series of unforeseen events on my ultimate quest to fight for justice or to mature. The countless setbacks of my expedition parallel the plot’s antagonist causing harm or evading conviction while my progression is depicted by the latter, catching a break in the case. By the denouement, I, the detective, will have achieved my goal of apprehending the criminal, helping†¦show more content†¦I viewed reading as a chore, was often unenthused, and would mostly annotate on the overarching themes without gathering any meaning from them. Books were merely a series of words printed on paper. This school year, however, I began to understand the allure reading has to offer. I have grown to appreciate reading and the insights a book can offer. When reading our numerous texts, I was able to live vicariously through the characters of the books and relate aspects of their lives to my own. Because all of the books from English I pertain to coming of age, I was able to not only learn about maturation as a process, but understand how it pertains to my own life. Through protagonists such as Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye or Esperanza from The House on Mango Street, I learned about my â€Å"misguided desire to preserve childhood innocence† and to empower feminism similar to Holden and Esperanza respectively (Heart of Gold, Raghuram). Gradually, I have finally developed the ability to relate to novels and its characters amidst writing my own story.Whether it be thematic elements or the details of a case I am working on, I have become more observant to even the most trivial details. Now when I read, I not only look at the themes, motifs, and symbols, but also repeated phrases or situations that parallel each others as well as the symbolic meaning behind some ambiguous phrases or scenes. Reading now, in contrast to last summer, is a