Tabitha Shearin

The two stories I decided to read were by: Mellix and Bacque. I first started
with Bacque's story about how reading as a child changed her life and then
transitioned to Mellix's remembrance of how she learned the difference
between black English and standard English. They were both sound
narratives but they gave me two completely different emotions toward
them. Bacque's mother was extremely influential in early years of her life
by sparking the curiosity of reading. The morning paper, the daily bible,
and the nightly stories developed Andree into a child obsessed with words
and their writings. See Spot Run was the first book in grade school she
remembered reading. She came home and read two sentences of the
book repeatedly, until she moved on to more complex and complicated
sentences. Everyday at a random time her principal would announce
"DEAR Time." Drop Everything and Read, shaped Bacque in realizing
reading was important if you had to stop class work to do it. Grade school
brought about a loathing for reading in depth, and only instilled factual
reading. It wasn't until her sophomore year of college, when the world
seemed like too much, that she needed an escape. Novels became her
mysterious place to hide and she credits it all back to, "See Spot
Run." Mellix takes us into an elaborate memory of a time in her
childhood, where all of the family was together, at her grandmother's
house in South Carolina. It's in this memory she describes to us a distinct
difference in language and how she learned the appropriate times to use
them. Her aunts and uncles that were down from the city "owned" standard
English while her mother and father merely adapted to their situation. It
was by second grade that she knew and applied to rules for writing; you
always wrote in standard English. She felt like the language wasn't truly
hers, simply something borrowed for special occasions. She uses an
example of a picture she drew on the back of one of her writings to
illustrate the differences in restraint used. She was short and rigid in her
writing while her pictures were illustrious and beautifully colored. By twelfth
grade speaking and writing standard English had a new found importance
in being successful after graduation. By the end she leaves you with; "I
write and continually give birth to myself."
I quite enjoyed Mellix's recount of growing and learning, far past what
Bacque's story did for me. I grew up in a similar society and mindset of
Mellix's family. It made me remember where I came from and my own
personal learning story. Bacque's story didn't have much social conflict,
she stayed focused on the baby steps she took in curiosity. While Mellix
had racial subissues. I grew up in a small southern town that uses a very
simplistic style of dialect. Mellix experienced similar trying times in

distinguishing when to use what form of communication in society. She

drove her point home with dialogues and examples. Bacque used more
first person, from her own account, and there wasn't much conversation so
it made for a good read, but it was difficult to insert myself in her story. I
like how emmursed in Mellix's writing I became, I felt almost at home, while
with Bacque I enjoyed how she stayed focused to her, There weren't very
many outside factors to her story which allowed her to stay attentive to her
process. I tend to wander and ramble and include way to much detail so I
will use that as a reference point when writing my own narrative.
Tabitha,
I thought your analysis of the two stories was well considered, and you
related back to your own writing in a way that shows your understanding of
the assignment.
My overall critique is in the way you outline your thoughts. Many can be
made more concise, and in revision youd do well to work through each
point looking for ways to tighten up the piece as a whole. In addition,
separate points into multiple paragraphs that make it easier for the reader
to take in and digest the information. Overall, however, you did a great
job!
Grade: 5/5