36 MP3 Peer Review Draft
Jahtae Madrigal
3/31/2024
English 101
What does reading mean to you?
What does reading mean to you? To me, reading is a way that I can escape reality and become one with myself and not have to worry about the troubles that we face in society. Not only can I daydream while reading, but I am also improving my brain and memory functions as I age. Reading has many benefits and is something that people should explore more often. In the book, “Don Quixote”, he read so many books about chivalrous ideals that in his mind, he became a knight. I can make connections with this book in many ways. If more people started reading at least a book a month, I believe that we could grow together, and become more emotionally intelligent, and self-aware. Reading is something that should be more enforced in our education because of the advancement of technology and social media. Reading also allows me to express myself in many ways and explore different worlds whether fantasy or nonfiction.
When I read, I can almost dissociate from my surroundings and block out any noise to really get into the book. I like to imagine myself as a part of the story which helps me get a full understanding of what I am reading, and it also makes the book more interesting and exciting. In the book, Don Quixote, He read so much that he almost completely forgot about his duties at his home and even sold some of his land to buy more chivalrous books because he was so attached and sure that he was living that reality. “He became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise, and his days from dawn to dark, poring over them; and with little sleep and much reading his brains got so dry that he lost his whit’s” (Chapter 1). Although I have not lost my whit’s while reading a book I enjoy, in some ways I can make some sort of connection because, at one point in my life, I read books that I enjoyed so much that I was up all night reading it and wanting to relive what I read. I dreamed that I was part of the book and even tried to make my reality like what I would read. Like myself, the book states that Don Quixote was always fast asleep reliving every moment of the Chivalrous books that he read. “But what was very surprising, his eyes were shut all the time and he was fast asleep, dreaming of this encounter; for his imagination was so much engrossed by this adventure…” Although Quixote started to lose himself in reading, he was also building his brain functions and was a very intelligent man. Reading books about fantasy allows for people to express themselves in ways that others may not be able to do. When reading, it’s not just about what information you are getting out of it, or how popular the book is, but what it can do for you in the long run.
Did you know that almost half of the United States has only read one book in a whole year? “If we focus on US adults who engage with reading, 74% of Americans declare that they’ve read, even partially at