Litteracy narritve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Litteracy narritve - Essay Example Hence, this paper explores how my impression on reading and writing have been influenced and affected by reading the Sherlock Holmes stories. First, through Sherlock Holmes stories I learned how to read and write in English. English is not my first language, and thus, I had to learn English as I was growing up. My greatest breakthrough in English was in high school when I discovered Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. For instance, my interest in understanding fully the detective stories prompted me to improve my vocabulary. Initially, I was only able to read the shorter stories such as â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† and â€Å"The Red Headed League.† However, these did not have Sherlock Holmes, as the very first story Doyle wrote where he introduced Sherlock is A Study in Scarlet, which is a novella-length work. I first read the opening chapters of A Study in Scarlet just to see how Sherlock and Dr. Watson meet. However, the story really intrigued me, and I could not wait to finish the whole narrative. To ensure full understanding, I would often read the story with a dictionary, looking up difficult words that I wo uld encounter. For example, one particular part of A Study in Scarlet describes Sherlock playing the fiddle, and that the music he played was â€Å"sonorous and melancholy† (Doyle 16). I distinctly remember ignoring these words during my first reading attempt of A Study in Scarlet, but I eventually looked at the definitions in the dictionary when I made a serious attempt to finish the novella. Thus, I was able to expand my vocabulary, which made me realize how reading literary work in a particular language is helpful in improving reading and writing in that language. Second, from the Sherlock Holmes stories I learnt the importance of logical organization and unity in a written work. A large part of what makes the detective genre so interesting is not only the mysteries, but also, how these mysteries are solved. While some of