EN-180 Essay #1: Literacy Narrative and Analysis
Adapted from Writing about Writing
Background: For the first unit of our class, we have been discussing the meaning of “literacy,” the concept of multiliteracies, the idea of “reading” as making meaning, and the realization that a “text,” then, is something that can be read (not just an alphanumeric text, but a defense in a sport, a rock formation, an artwork, an architectural marvel, even people). We have also read about other people’s literacy experiences and realizations about literacy. Now it’s time for you to look inward and consider your own literacy development.
Assignment: Drawing upon what you have been reading in this course to closely examine your own literacy experiences, history, habits, and processes. The purpose of this inquiry is for you to get to know yourself better as a literate person and to gain a stronger understanding of literacy in general. As Malcolm X argues, awareness gives power and purpose; the more you know about yourself as a literate person, the more control you are likely to have over your literacy.
1. You will write an essay of at least 3 to 5 complete pages in which you narrate the story of your literacy development and analyze the story’s meaning. Do NOT provide a month-by-month telling of your literacy development (“In the fifth grade I …; then in the sixth grade I…”). Instead, narrow down to one or two specific BIG MOMENTS that you SHOW in vivid, relevant detail; a good writer makes the specific speak for the general.
2. You should also make connections to the readings we’ve done for class, making sure to incorporate at least two direct quotes from two different readings. Even if your literacy is different from the literacies discussed in the readings, you should find an interesting image, choice of words, or an insight that you can relate to your own experience.
Your essay must also show an analysis of your experience – the significance of it all – and you should have an explicit or implicit thesis.
Audience: Think of your audience as not just the instructor, but also your classmates and anyone with an interest in the meaning and value of literacy.
Invention, Research and Analysis: Begin your discovery process by considering your history as a literate person. For the purposes of this paper, we are focusing on our history with language – reading and writing – rather than our fluency in other skills or practices. (These other types of literacy are important, but thinking about our relationship with language will be better applicable to the rest of the course and our careers.) Think of your memories related to generating an interest (or disinterest) in reading and writing, building those skills, and whatever literacy sponsors may have helped you. Do not settle for bland generalizations like, “I really love to write.” Mind your memory. Think carefully about where you’ve been and where you are going as a literate person. You might begin by answering questions such as:
• How did you learn to read and/or write?
• What kinds of reading/writing have you experienced in the past?
• What is your earliest memory regarding your literacy?
• What particularly vivid memories do you have about your literacy activities?
• How much have you enjoyed or been pleased by the pursuit of your literacy?
• What obstacles/frustrations did you overcome in the development of your literacy?
• What do you sense is the value of your literacy, and where did that sense come from?
• What are your current attitudes/feelings about your literacy?
• How might your literacy impact your life (or others’ lives) in the future?
• Do you think of any people, institutions, experiences that were your literacy sponsors?
• How do the readings we’ve been doing connect to your own literacy development?
Questions like these will help you think deeply about your literate past. Your essay will not include answers to all these questions (and should not be written as if you are just working through this prompt), but thinking about these questions should stimulate your mind.
When you plan your narrative/analysis, you will select from all the memories and information you have gathered. The question then becomes, how will you decide what to talk about out of everything you COULD talk about? This depends on your analysis of what you’re remembering and your purpose in conveying your information to your audience. As you consider the meaning of your literacy experiences, you should be looking for an overall “so what?” – a main theme, a central “finding,” an overall conclusion that your inquiry leads you to draw about your literacy and the value of literacy in general. It might be, for instance, an insight into why you have developed and practiced literacy. It might be an argument about how society can improve literacy education, based on your own experience. It might be a resolution to do something different, or to keep doing something that’s been working. It might be an understanding about a past or an ongoing conflict regarding your literacy and how you resolved or plan to resolve that conflict. Those are just some possibilities; there are many more.
Planning and Drafting: Your consideration and analysis of your previous experience, one way or another, will lead you to a main point – what you’ve learned about literacy – that your essay will demonstrate and support. Because your literacy narrative tells the story of a particular person – you – its shape will depend on the specific experiences you’ve had and the importance you attach to them. Therefore, it’s difficult to suggest a single structure for your essay that will work for all of you. The structure that you use should support your intention and content.
You should, of course, have an introduction that hooks your audience. There are many possibilities, but you might begin with an epigram – a famous quote that sums up your overall point, or you use a brief anecdote to set up your purpose, or you could start with an interesting moment in your life and then broaden to your focus and then return to your narrative. Your thesis (whether explicit or implicit) might not come to you right away but could evolve as you’re drafting, but don’t forget to have one. In the body of your essay, you could tell the story with your one or two big moments and then bring in your analysis, or you could braid your analysis in with the narrative. Work in references to the readings at relevant spots. Remember to not just drop in a quotation from thin air, but to introduce the author and work, quote fairly and accurately, and explain the connection you’re making between the quotation and your experience. Your conclusion, of course, should satisfy your readers, give them the significance of what you’ve written, and what they should take from it. Thus, your essay should not just end with you but with a larger connection to literacy.
In case you’re wondering, it’s quite appropriate to use first person (“I”) in this essay because you’re writing about yourself.
Like any good essay, yours should have an eye-catching title. You might find that creating a good title might come after you’ve been working on the essay over several drafts.
Revising: Revision means “to see again,” so as you work your way through your drafts think of how you might improve the content, development, organization, and style – the big things, saving the smaller things for later.
Proofreading and Editing: This is the time to focus on smaller issues like grammar, sentence structure, mechanics, and making sure you’ve correctly used MLA format, including for in-text citations and the Works Cited page.