Students are asked to write a brief personal essay (250-500 words), responding to the following assignment. Essays should be personal reflections on the quote below – essayists are encouraged to reflect on what the quote means to them, and how it relates to their life, personal experiences, and most importantly their relationship with reading and literature.

Books take us to places we’ve never been, introduce us to people we have never met, and allow us to a chance to see into their worlds.   We can live many different lives through the characters and situations we encounter in fiction.  In essence, books offer new experiences we can have from the comfort of our own homes.  

Like with other new experiences, the way we respond to books may come as a surprise, even to ourselves.  Whether we are identifying or empathizing with a character or become angry or sad because of a turn of events, fiction can reveal new and important aspects of ourselves.

In your journey through reading, what new discoveries have you made about yourself?