Cheung 1 Maximilian Cheung Professor Leslie Wolcott ENC 1102 18 January 2014 Literacy Narrative: Defining Moments For

the majority of my lifetime, literacy was known to me as merely knowing how to read and write. Now, I have come to realize that literacy is not confined to such a simple definition. It is much more than just knowing how to do something. Literacy is understanding how to function in a society. It provides us a way to see into the past and record what we have learned for the future. With literacy being such a crucial part of our history and society, it made me wonder about how I became a literate person and who or what helped me along the way. Deborah Brandt describes the people and institutions that enter a give and take relationship with the individual that they help in achieving literacy as sponsors (167). Not only are suitable sponsors essential in your development of literacy, but they are integral in how we mature into the people we are today. The sponsorship of my elementary school and my teachers were an irreplaceable part in my development of literacy. At a young age, I was taught a lesson from one of my most influential sponsors that I will not soon forget. I was given an assignment by my second grade teacher, Mrs. Carl. My classmates and I needed to create a book. We were given a few pieces of paper and a stapler and told to go to work. I remember thinking, Man oh man, this is hard. Not only did I have to write an imaginative story, but I had to draw the right pictures that corresponded to my story. It took me hours to just come up the right names for the characters. After finishing my long and arduous five paged book, I realized what Mrs. Carl wanted me to teach me: writing a book is no easy feat.

Cheung 2 The assignment made me understand how much an author invests in their work and gave me a new found appreciation for books. Every elementary school teacher needs to follow a certain curriculum imposed by their school, but are allowed some freedom in terms of what assignments they can give and I am happy they do. Otherwise, I might have never gained the appreciation I have for authors as I do now. I have long forgotten most of the names of my teachers from my pre-college academic career, but have never forgotten Mrs. Carl and lesson she taught me. This fact alone displays how beneficial sponsors can be at an early age. Though the driving force behind sponsors such as schools may not be as benevolent as teachers, the right school may have a tremendous positive impact on its students. My elementary school had a program which I was enrolled in that allowed fifth graders to interact with kindergarteners and help them learn how to read. I was assigned to a boy named Zachary and we would go to the library to read every day for half an hour. He would read for the most part and I would only interrupt him when he had trouble pronouncing a word. At first I found the program to be an annoyance, but I would soon find it enjoyable. By the end of the year, he could read books at a second grade level. I was amazed at his progress and was ecstatic. It felt amazing to directly help others in accomplishing something. Through the program I was able to recognize the significance one person can have on another person. Luckily, I was enrolled into a school with a unique program which provided me with that experience. If I was enrolled in an institution, I may not have gained the knowledge and sense of responsibility I received from the program. Undoubtedly, we have numerous sponsors throughout the course of our lives. There are some which were more substantial than others. For me, they were Mrs. Carl and my elementary school. Not only were they irreplaceable sponsors of my literacy, they taught me that behind

Cheung 3 every creation is an individual who worked tirelessly to produce it. They taught me that anyone can make a difference in another persons life. Hopefully, I made an enough of a difference in Zacharys life for him to include me as a sponsor of his literacy in his literacy narrative.

Cheung 4 Works Cited Brandt, D. Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication, 49.2 (1998): 165185. Web. 6 Jan. 2014.