response about fiction (Laura)

In elementary school I remember being taught the basics of a story such as creating the plot, the different characters and choosing a setting in which my story takes place. Reading all the materials given, I guess you can say I definitely expanded my knowledge about Fiction. It’s been a while since I had to write a short story with an idea that I’ve come up with by myself so I’m a little rusty. I remember reading a lot of short stories through high school that were considered classics and had help introduced me to the world of writing.
Prior to the class I knew the basic definition of fiction, stories made up by an author along with all the necessities that piece together a story such as setting, main character, time period, and the conflict. They take from their imagination and bring it onto the pages of a book. With imagination people are able to hear original thought provoking stories and gain knowledge about things that exist in the world. As someone flips through a book they see a story told from a different point of view and learn about new understandings and situations they never experienced before in their lives. What I’ve learned though is fiction surrounds a person’s life. Just turning on the TV I see it in the shows that come on, like some hilarious storyline on a sitcom or an action filled drama.
Growing up I saw it in those old Disney movies that caused me to be glued to the television watching The Lion King or my personal favorite The Little Mermaid. At time my brothers had to hide the tapes because I would watch them over and over, almost hypnotized by the pictures and stories that came across the screen. Watching a story unfold allowed you to enter some sort of fantasy world and put ones imagination into overdrive. Imagination after all can be very important in the development of a child, it allows us to explore our world and learn how to become creative thinkers. I can definitely relate to what Jonathan Culler writes about when he mentions how from an early age children beg their parents to tell them a story because I can definitely be held accountable for asking one of my parents to read me a bedtime story or forcing them to make one up out of thin air. My bookshelves held a bunch of children books ranging from Mother Goose to the all mighty Dr. Seuss, and I loved hearing them read over and over again even though I knew the story by heart.
When a parent reads you a story like the classic children’s book seen in any library where the wild things are or if you give a mouse a cookie you can picture the images in your head broadening our imaginations in the process. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that you learn some great morals as well. Books open up these never explored worlds for a child that they can enter and learn from. I remember in sixth grade when the Harry Potter books came out and were starting to become really popular, I had a friend that seemed to get sucked into them. It was as if she was living vicariously through these characters she had grown to know and love. Each time a new book would come out she would finish it in a couple of days. As she grew up and become older that feeling of reading a book of fantasy and the excitement that went along with it never left, which I think is true for everybody. It doesn’t matter how old you are, everyone can get absorbed into a book.
I found it interesting reading about narration and the different ways I myself can narrate my own story. Reading about the options I could take with my story was helpful such as focusing on time and the mindset of my character as they recall a memory in the present time or how they felt in the past. There’s also the speed to take into account, deciding whether or not I want to skip through the details or slow it down and state the specifics. There was a lot of useful information, especially Cullers story. It gives the reader the importance and impact a piece of fictional writing gives to society.