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As an avid reader for as far as I can remember, and consequently an aspiring English teacher, I have been changed momentously by writer's and their words. I have always loved slipping into a good book and many times, those books influence my own life through their characters, story lines, and messages. As a child, I read the standard books by Dr. Seuss and C.S. Lewis and grew into such authors as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Harper Lee. I began to thoroughly enjoy novels that discussed both social commentaries of their time, as well as issues that are timeless like racism, finances and religion.

As a small child learning how to read, Dr. Seuss' books are simply full of bright colors and infamous rhymes and characters. However, as an education major, I used his books again to understand deeply threaded diversity issues. After gaining a new admiration for Dr. Seuss and his writing abilities, I learned that I could use these books as both primers and social commentaries for my students. His stories will forever play a role in my life and the way that I teach my classes.

As I grew older and began reading chapter books, I stumbled across the popular Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. Similar to Dr. Seuss' books, I fell in love with these books for their fantastical story lines and three dimensional characters. However, when I became an English major, returned to this series, and also the religious analysis that accompanied it, I gained a whole new understanding of what authors are capable of within their texts. I had already began to see symbolism and the many layers that can be found within a novel, but C.S. Lewis was able to use religious symbols so expertly as to make his stories accessible to both fantasy lovers as well as religious intellectuals.

Symbolism is something that teachers drill into their students and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as well as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird are two novels that have risen again and again in classrooms to exemplify that very literary device. Fitzgerald's novel on the financial world of the wealthy and the legendary American Dream idea quickly became one of my favorite commentaries of all time. His rich characters and the situations they face due to their wealth and deceit are situations that will always continue to be part of the American Dream. Americans grow up trying to be as wealthy as possible because they feel that that will make them as happy as can be. However, this novel shows exactly what money can do to

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