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Jordan Russ
Mr. Borrero
English 1101-017
September 23, 2011
Genre DeIense
For my literary narrative explaining and portraying my progression in literacy and
composition during my liIetime, I chose to compose an autobiography. To me an autobiography
is the easiest way to portray my past experiences and my personal stories. In the past I have
written essays in autobiography type Iormat about my some oI my other liIe experiences in the
English classes I took in high school and they really helped me open the doors oI my liIe and
spill my emotions onto my paper. Writing about myselI is usually an awkward thing to do, Ior
anyone even; however, the use oI an autobiography can almost completely eliminate all oI this
awkwardness because oI how direct the writer can be with his audience about how vividly the
writer recollects any given memories used in the writing. This particular writing style most
accurately portrays my history oI literacy and composition because it gives me the ability to give
every single detail oI every experience that I Ieel is important directly Irom my perspective.
The techniques used and the way something is written is almost equally as important as
the content oI the writing. An example oI this is any given curriculum versus the teacher
teaching that curriculum. One teacher may teach in a particular manner that wouldn`t help any oI
their students, whilst another teacher teaches the same curriculum which successIully reaches the
entire range oI students. Figuratively, anything can be learned by anything as long as the method
oI teaching and the inIormation is given in the correct manner to simply get the point across
eIIiciently. I choose to write my narrative as an autobiography because oI the experience I have
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with this speciIic genre oI writing. I Ieel as iI one`s comIortableness with anything in liIe directly
inhibits its outcome. II a student is uncomIortable during the school day while wearing
sweatpants, a hoodie, as well as various other winter items during a hot summer day, the Iocus
on their schoolwork will be very low. II the student changes into his athletic shorts and t-shirt
and begins to cool oII and be more comIortable with the situation at hand, he may be more prone
to show more Iocus on his schoolwork. This can be almost directly compared to taking a test
while you are hungry. It becomes hard to Iocus on the test because oI your stomach growling,
rumbling and making you Ieel uncomIortable. Your perIormance can be dampened and this is
true with your writing as well. II you are more comIortable with a certain genre oI writing, your
ideas may be personiIied with that genre oI writing more eIIiciently than another genre. Almost
every situation can be improved with increasing how comIortable someone is with a particular
task. ComIortableness gives one the ability to completely Iocus on the task at hand. I myselI am
more comIortable writing an autobiography.
When it comes to arts and craIts, and the aesthetic side oI projects Ior any class, I am not
the most creative one. It is easier Ior me to just put my thoughts onto paper in the Iorm oI an
essay rather than trying something else. I have never been one to make anything Ior my projects,
Ior example; I do not have much experience creating poems, and I do not have the imagination to
create a children`s story or something else oI such, I`ve just never had much oI a creative
mindset when it comes to schoolwork. All throughout grade school and even in high school, my
mother and sometimes my grandmother would help me construct my poster boards and the
inIamous baking soda and vinegar exploding volcano that was to be built in the sixth grade. Even
though a volcano should have been a Iun and easy thing Ior me to make, my creative side
hindered me Irom being able to make it myselI. The construction side oI any project was always
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my downIall, so when I was given the option to choose any genre to portray my literary
narrative, excitement Iilled my heart. I knew right then and there I would be choosing some Iorm
oI strictly writing to portray my past experiences in literacy and composition.
During high school I was given the very unique and special opportunity to have the same
English teacher Ior three years in a row. This teacher was an enormous Ian oI autobiographies.
Each year we had a cumulative assignment on the works we completed during her class
throughout that current year. The assignment that was given was usually given to us to write in
an autobiography Iorm. These autobiographies had a Iour page minimum and were strikingly
similar to the writing I am doing now.. Although those assignments and autobiographies only
covered the course oI about Iour months oI my literacy and composition progression, thinking
back upon them contributed to an immediate outline in my head oI what I wanted to do Ior this
assignment and quite a good Ieel Ior how I wanted to portray myselI in this narrative.
Portraying my thoughts and ideas is easiest Ior me when I can sit down and pour out my
thoughts onto paper instead oI constructing aesthetically pleasing projects or poems. I could have
chosen any diIIerent type oI essay or written document to portray the history oI my literary and
composition progression however I chose the autobiography because I am most Iamiliar with it.
Choosing an autobiography gave me a challenge to do something that not many others in the
classroom had chosen. Only one other person in the class had chosen an autobiography and it
seemed like a very challenging genre to use Ior this project. My experience with autobiographies
gave me the satisIaction oI know that this would not be a problem Ior me whatsoever..
There are not many writing styles and genres that allow one to portray their emotions and
personal experiences the way an autobiography does. An autobiography opens up the
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possibilities to write almost anything that is on the writer`s mind. From a personal standpoint I
love the idea oI writing an autobiography because oI how honest and open you can be. It is not
opinionated and there is no speciIic standpoint that is created. One cannot oppose the views
inside oI an autobiography because there is theoretically no standpoint being used. I believe this
removed some oI the stress involved with writing papers and portraying one`s ideas. There is
always some imagined sort oI Iear that there could be a person out there, or some sort oI group oI
people out there that oppose your views as a writer. That Iear alone could intimidate many
writers into the inability to portray the Ieelings that they wish to portray to their readers
correctly.
Writing has always been a means oI communicating with others Ior me. It is also one oI
the easiest ways Ior anyone to communicate. Normally when writing, the writer does not always
know that audience is going to be the audience receiving the writing. This can provide one with a
sense oI wellness and comIortableness with writing over directly speaking to another. I know
that I would Ieel much more comIortable getting my point across to someone in writing rather
than having to look at them. While writing, I have the chance to edit, review, and perIect my
words rather than spitting them out on a whim like what is done in person.
Writing Ior me has always been easier when I have something personal to write about.
When I have a personal experience that I can directly relate to the story I am telling, my words
just seem to spill onto the paper and the ideas just Ilow out because I can relate to the story I am
telling. An autobiography is perIect Ior just that, because every single description oI an
autobiography is simply 'personal stories. Also an autobiography requires no real knowledge oI
anything other than one`s liIe. II you just tell the truth, and elaborate on your memories in order
to paint a visual picture Ior the reader, then your writing is a success. There are Iew wrong ways
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to portray a memory to another person, as long as you are being descriptive and recall as many
memories as possible to try to make the reader Ieel as iI they are there.
I picked an autobiography Ior my generalized literary narrative because it was the easiest
choice Ior me. It was the most comIortable choice Ior me considering I have written them beIore
in my classes and it came easy to me. It was the Iirst thing that I thought oI when I was given the
option to choose any type oI genre I wanted to choose. Being able to portray personal
experiences instead oI opinions and display research was also an added bonus to being able to
write. My un-creative nature also tempted me to write an autobiography because I am not well
suited Ior creating an aesthetic project that is eye-pleasing as well as inIormative. The ease oI
writing an autobiography also helped me with my decision to choose this option. Writing has
always been a staple oI my educational career because I have always been able to rely on writing
to get my point across when I couldn`t with other methods. To me, writing is the easiest way Ior
me to get my point across to my target audience. I can`t think oI a better way oI getting one`s
opinion out in the open than an autobiography; this is why I chose one.