Autobiographical Essay # I

Krystal Robinson
Professor Boland
English 329
20 January 2009
Autobiographical Essay
I vividly recall my first experience with reading. It was the year 1963, and I was five years old living in East St. Louis, Illinois. I had three older siblings, a sister twelve, a brother seven, and another sister six. As I sat in the kitchen watching my older sister and brother washing the dishes, I placed my legs upon the chair I was sitting in and began to picture read their first grade book titled Fun with Dick and Jane. Simultaneously, they told me to put the book down because I didn’t know how to read. That was true, but I enjoyed looking at the colorful pictures and self determining what the words on the pages could possibly mean.
Back in those days, we weren’t required to attend kindergarten. I started the first grade at Webster elementary school. I was six years old and my first grade teachers’ name was Mrs. Smith. I learned the alphabets first. Then I learned the phonetics of the alphabets. I recall Mrs. Smith teaching the class a little song so that we could remember the long vowel sounds: A, E, I, O, and U. Te song went like this: Baby wants a cake, aaa, baby wants a cake, aaa, but mother says ah, ah, ah. Baby wants a tree, eee, baby wants a tree, eee, but mother says ah, ah, ah. Baby wants a five, iii, baby wants a five, iii, but mother says ah, ah, ah. Baby wants a rose, ooo, baby wants a rose, ooo, but mother says ah, ah, ah. Baby wants a mule, uuu, baby wants a mule, uuu, but mother says ah, ah, ah. I liked singing this little song and I learned the long vowel sounds very quickly.
The next phase, as I recall, was to learn how to read. My first grade reading book was the same one I pictured read while watching my older brother and sister wash the dishes: Fun with Dick and Jane. There were seven characters in this book: Father, mother, Dick, Jane, a dog named Spot, and a cat named Puff. The sentences were simple, such as: “See Dick run. “See Dick run and get the ball”. Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading my Fun with Dick and Jane book. It was valuable and rewarding to me. It made my childhood days seem fun. Just looking at the happy pastel colors of yellow, pink, blue, and green represented in the book made life joyous to me. Still today, I enjoy reading and I am proud to be named amongst the literate.