Paper 1: Literacy Narrative (including drafts and feedback)

First Draft
We would think that we are taught to read the same way. First, we learn the alphabet through a simplistic song which we can always recall. We then learn phonic rules like how the letter y is sometimes a vowel or how we must subtract one vowel from every dipthong. Then we begin aimlessly sounding out letters, hoping it would flow so we appear to have a grasp on this cryptic language. One day the clutter of letters unscramble and turns to words which then become sentences and so on. The foundations for learning to read is constant but as my peers progressed, I continued to jumble and mispronounce my words, my struggle derived from my cultural background and some undetected problems with my vision. Although my reading skills were lacking, I always found comfort in the art of writing; but I have never been good writing under the pressure of structured assignments. My family has always embraced literature, reading and writing. My brother, who is six years older than me has always been an avid reader, devouring any book he can get his hands on. My parents are the same way. In my home we always had book shelves full of literary masterpieces ripe for the picking. Classics like Moby Dick and the Invisible Man where some of my favorites. Coming from a bilingual home, made me realize from very early in life the differences in communication, whether this communication was spoken or written. I remember having books in the house in both languages that were read to me. Before learning how to read on my own, I was able to visualize in my mind some of the stories and characters from the books that my parents read to me. At three I went to pre-school and the teachers there, and while they did not teach us how to read, they taught us about the letters, sounds and other areas that were preparing me for

reading later in life. I do remember however that many times I was able to memorize paragraphs or even small children books which made me feel proud that I was able to read. But memorizing, as I learned, was not reading. Everything seemed to be going well until I started second grade when I began to struggle with reading. I vividly recall my second grade teacher Mr. Valoo (Literary Sponsor) trying to help me but there was something that was not clicking. I simply could not make the words flow into an understandable complete sentence. Almost a year later, I had to go to the optometrist as it was clear that I needed reading glasses. I had stayed a bit behind in reading compared to my peers; but between myself, teachers, parents and tutors, it seemed that I had finally found myself as a reader. However I always felt that reading never came as naturally to me as, for instance, writing did. I had to practice a lot with my reading, and it seemed that by the time I was in High School, I finally felt that some of the struggle with my reading finally disappeared. I have perhaps one of those unique experiences that few children in the US have, yearly summer vacations to Peru that were filled with tutors that taught me not only reading, but several other subjects in Spanish, such as math and language arts. One summer, when I was already a teenager, I even attended a High school in Peru for two months during a summer travel (Institutional Sponsor), but not much reading and writing took place at the time. Although I was never extremely excited about reading, I could say that writing was my passion. When I was twelve I began writing in a journal. (Writing) It may sound clich, but as a young girl, my journal was something I could confide in and a friend I could share my secrets with. Whether it be who that cute boy in my class was, or how upset I was I never got an easy bake oven, my journal was always there. I loved to write, but only informally. Writing came easily, and I enjoyed it. Then teachers in school began to assign writing assignments. The

prompts were timed and structured. I felt that these strict rules limited my creativity and lowered my abilities. When I looked at a prompt I would simply stare at my piece of paper; writers block was a constant frustration. Strangely enough once that timed writing prompt was over it would all come into my head. Ideas and ways of saying things were always on the tip of my pen, they just needed time to escape. Who I am today as both a reader and writer stems from my past experiences. My family and school have both molded who I am, in a literary sense. I have grown from my past, learning to become a better reader, and the skills to allow my creativity shine through, even under pressure.

Final Draft
We would think that we are taught to read the same way. First, we learn the alphabet through a simplistic song which we can always recall. We then learn phonic rules like how the letter y is sometimes a vowel or how we must subtract one vowel from every dipthong. Then we begin aimlessly sounding out letters, hoping it would flow so we appear to have a grasp on this cryptic language. One day the clutter of letters unscramble and turns to words which then become sentences and so on. The foundations for learning to read is constant but as my peers progressed, I continued to jumble and mispronounce my words. My struggle derived from my cultural background and some undetected problems with my vision. My family has always embraced literature, reading and writing. My brother, whos six years older than me has always been an avid reader, devouring any book he can get his hands on. My parents are the same way. In my home we have always had book shelves full of literary masterpieces ripe for the picking. Classics like Moby Dick and the Invisible Man where some of my favorites.

Coming from a bilingual home, made me realize from very early in life the differences in communication, whether this communication was spoken or written. I remember having books in both Spanish and English that were read to me. Before learning how to read on my own, I was able to visualize of the stories and characters from the books that my parents read to me. At the age of three I went to pre-school and the teachers, while they did not teach us how to read, taught us about the letters, sounds and other areas that were preparing me for reading later in life. I do remember however that many times I was able to memorize paragraphs or even small children books which made me feel proud that I was able to read. But memorizing, as I learned, was not reading. Everything seemed to be going well until I started second grade when I began to struggle with reading. I vividly recall my second grade teacher Mr. Valoo, who was an excellent literary sponsor, trying to help me but there was something that was not clicking. A literary sponsor is someone or something who helps you read and write (Brandt). While I receive a lot of help from my literary sponsor, I simply could not make the words flow into an understandable complete sentence. Almost a year later, I had to go to the optometrist as it was clear that I needed reading glasses. I had stayed behind in reading compared to my peers; but between myself, teachers, parents and tutors, it seemed that I had finally found myself as a reader. However I always felt that reading never came as naturally to me as, for instance, writing did. I had to practice a lot with my reading, and it seemed that by the time I was in High School, I finally felt that some of the struggle with my reading finally disappeared. I have perhaps one of those unique experiences that few children in the US have, yearly summer vacations to Peru that were filled with tutors that taught me not only reading, but several other subjects in Spanish, such as math and language arts. One summer, when I was already a

teenager, I attended a high school in Peru for two months during a summer travel (Institutional Sponsor). Although I was never extremely excited about reading, I could say that writing was my passion. I always found comfort in the art of writing; but I have never been good at writing under the pressure of structured assignments. When I was twelve I began writing in a journal. It may sound clich, but as a young girl, my journal was something I could confide in and a friend I could share my secrets with. Whether it be about that cute boy in my class, or how upset I was that I never got an easy bake oven, my journal was always there. I loved to write, but only informally. Writing came easily, and I enjoyed it. Then teachers in school began to assign writing assignments. The prompts were timed and structured. I felt that these strict rules limited my creativity and diminished my abilities. When I looked at a prompt I would simply stare at my piece of paper; writers block was a constant frustration. Strangely enough once that timed writing prompt was over it would all come into my head. Ideas and ways of saying things were always on the tip of my pen, they just needed time to escape. Who I am today as both a reader and writer stems from my past experiences. My family and school have both molded who I am, in a literary sense. I have grown from my past, learning to become a better reader, and the skills to allow my creativity shine through, even under pressure.

Peer Review Feedback

Hi Michelle, I think you did a really great job with your examples and explaining why these examples are important to how you developed literacy skills. One suggestion that I could make is maybe explaining somewhere in your essay describe what a sponsor is or have the definition of a sponsor and maybe cite Brandt if you can.
Ashley Leonard, Sep 2 at 6pm

Hey Michelle, Your essay was very good structure wise and flowed incredibly well. I feel as though the bilingual aspect puts a different twist on this sort of writing. You could put a more personalized story on how your literary sponsors helped you along the way.
Matthew Simpson, Sep 2 at 7:30pm