Essay #1: Literacy Narrative

Document specifications: 4-5 numbered, double-spaced paged. Times New Roman, 12-point font. MLA heading and title format. For your first essay, I suggest building on ideas and/or story that you have explored on your blog and/or in class discussion. (If you would like to start fresh, that is also an option.) As you write, keep the literacy narratives we have read (Mother Tongue, Superman and Me, and My Rosetta) in mind. What do you admire about the way the authors of these narratives tell and interpret their stories? Might you want to adopt any of their techniques? There are two things that you must accomplish in this assignment. Keep in mind, even though these two aspects of the project are described separately here, they do not need to be separate from one another in your essay. First: You are to describe and experience with language acquisition. This could be acquiring the ability to write, read, to speak, or some combination of these. You are not by any means limited to discussing basic language acquisition (though that is an option). In fact, you are encouraged to explore your experiences with learning to write, read, or speak in a particular way. You might want to discuss something like a class in high school where you learned how to do a particular type of writing (poetry-writing, journalism, etc.) or your time with a social group who taught you how to do a certain kind of speaking (rapping, speaking pool-hall slang, etc.). Use any narration strategy that works for you, keeping in mind those that we discussed in class. Second: You are to reflect on the experience you have described. What does this experience mean to you? Why is it so memorable? What did you think of the experience when it was fresh, and what do you think of it now in hindsight? How has this experience influenced how you think of writing, reading, and learning? What lessons do you take away from your story and your interpretation of your story? Possible literacy-narrative topic: A portrait of your relationship with an English teacher-a great one or a terrible one. A writing assignment that gave you a new perspective on things. Writing something that was important emotionally or that helped you make a life decision-e.g., a journal, a poem, and song. Your experience of learning to read, as you remember it. Watching someone else learn to read. Your struggle to find a topic for your literacy narrative.

The third draft of the literacy narrative will be accompanied by a brief reflective cover letter (couple paragraphs) that addresses these questions: What did you want to accomplish in this essay? Did you accomplish the things you wanted to? Did you learn anything new about how to convey ideas to a reader? Is your opinion of the event described in the essay different now than it was when you began working on this project? If you have changed your mind, why do you think you did?

English 114 (02) Fall 2013 SFSU