Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kylie Niemand
ProfessorJanRieman
English 1103
September15*, 2010
wanted to expressabout my literacy experience.I needto still cut somethings out and
bt
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tighten up aspectsof my paper. I am happy with the way it came out, but I know I can
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with my determination and dedication to improving my skills I am finally able to say that
accordanceto the cultures and languagesI have been surroundedby. I was born in South
Africa and remained there until I moved to America at the age of six. Being raised in a
bilingual householdrwheremy family spoke both Afrikaans and English, was a very
enriching experiencefor me. In my opinion there is nothing quite like Afrikaans culture,
Niemand 2
and*specially their humor. Unlike America,where most storieswe know come from
books and novels, in South Africa stories are spreadmore by mouth than literature.
Coming from that culture, my earliest literacy experiencesderived more from hearing
stories rather than reading them. When I moved to Americarhowever,that all changed.
Transitioning from South Africa to America was one of the most difficult
written communication, I had trouble adjusting to the American way of life. I entered my
first American school in the first grade, and from day one, I felt out of place with my
literary skills. I had come from a world of multiple languagesand was rapidly thrust into
a world solely of English. I quickly found out that I was behind comparedto my
classmates;while most of the kids in my class learnedto read and write in kindergarten,I
never attendedthe equivalent in South Africa. I knew how to spell a few words but
discoveredthat some of my spelling was wrong such as 'colour' in America was 'color'.
greatly believed that I could read just as well as the other kids, unfortunately it turned out
*"7
c'{'i f t "qtu
t
Reading and writing has never been easyfor me, especially in the first grade. The
first book I can remember attempting to read front to back was a tiny storybook about
two people getting married. As a mother's day gift, my entire classtook turns reading a
book in front of a recorder so that we could present our mother with a tape of our
spectacularreading abilities. I took my book and practiced reading it over and over the
entire week before we recorded. I wanted to make my mother proud and wanted to prove
to myself that I could be as good as the American kids. When time came to record, I
Niemand 3
however I
continuously stumbled across the words and often had to restart the sentence,
was determinedto finish. I can still remember how elated I was when I completedthe
feeling
story, feeling as if I had just won the biggest marathon in the wod{toweverrthe
my ever .>b
did not last longrMy reading skills were weak contrastedagainstclassmatesand
lovely South African accent did not help the matter. Upon reading, I would pronounce
all too
words differently and immediately receive ridicule from fellow studentlyho were
eager to point out my wrong pronunciation. At that young age, the most traumatic thing
day
that could happento me was being made fun of, which becamemy life' Day in and
from the
outJ was constantly teased for having an accent and doing things differentlV--.---
) -
American waV. To make matters worse, I was forced by the school to work with a
4na* d-\s U*'Lt s{?
reading t"uffiiTil"" u *"dtl r would have to leave class in the middle of an assignment
I was
to go to an oflice and practice my reading and pronunciation. The special attention
receiving by the reading teacher gave the kids in class more ammunition to tease me.!r#h:
mother
school and then go home and continue practicing words and pronunciation. My
in her powerto help me. Almost every night, my mother would p,rn oiifooked on
,l
sittingat the counter
phonicsandwe wouldsirarttntatde-ardplaythegame.I remember
€oo*)vEft,ta,
mother
and bawling my eyes out becauseI kept getting some of the activities wrong.,my
I
improve my literacy skills persuadedme to work on my literacies individually as well.
Niemand 4
proud. I decided that by forcing myself to write book reports I could n€t-oildy advance my
A'4teL
readini6*Jry writing skills troo*I would read a different book each month andpPon
completing the story, t-wedC write a page or two describing the book and the main
events.I startedto feel better about my reading abilities in the seclusionof my own room
but in class I still felt weak with my literacy capabilities when comparedto my friends.
BythetimeIenteredmidd1eschoo1,readingbecameanacquaintanceofmine;ffif
still not a friend but no longer an enemy as comparedto years prior. I went from reading
books with pictures in them in elementary school, to books with no pictures at all by the
end of sixth grade. The transition to harder books was a gradual processwhich enabled
school. I soon discoveredthat although some books were boring and tedious, only a
necessityfor class, other books could actually be entertaining and humorous. I was given
acces'*t*'T- *1 *TY:
easy Schoor
home- have
wourd us
:::: llj:T:1 :o_:, tJ
readarticlesonlinewhichintroducedmeto thewondertul;oTil"offiferk#b # itm.Fl
a,tl ,fvt tS r*r aS c*.wov? {a> ,.
llpwavOf " Ylt .-o{o
has to ofTer. 3chool sfc<q
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By the start of eighth grade, my family had just moved to a new town and yet -/
again,my world was twisted upside down. I detestedthe school I went to and had a very
diffrcult time fitting in and making friends and instead turned to the world of literature.
My lunch period would be spent in the library and during free time you could always
catch me with a book; I figured as long as I was busy doing something,the other kids
could not make fun of me for not having any friends. I started to enjoy reading as it gave
book with
novel my parents would often sharethe
with books and after finishing a gfeat
intricate
harder and more complex stories with
me. I started pushing myself to read
for
I read and soon developeda passion
language.I becameimmersed in the stories
.readingand.,consequently,writingBythestartofhighschoollfeltconfidentwithmy
read, learn and expand my literacy skills'
literacy abilities due to my eagernessto
Myfreshmanyearofhighschoolgreatlyaffectedmyliteracytalents,aslwas
The
to read classic pieces of literature and write more essaysthan I had before'
forced
hard
were
assignments *:v ry!,t:l*.".1{#:*f3f#X$Slfr-:Jl" readings
but,h"
excitedmeas,ovffiEYorSal.s ;;# evT;s;in vear,I was
soeasyto understand,
Mr'
I loved the attention I received from
reading a new book almost every week.
when it
new book and how I liked the previous'
Bramanti when he asked me about my
cametimetowriteanessay,Ifeltconfidentenoughthatlcouldwriteagreatpaperdueto
neededto
gave me all the tools and knowledge I
Mr. Bramanti's class teachings.He
proud and
I was determined to make my p:Lrents
research, organize, and write my essay.
as
to the expectations Mr. Bramanti held for me, that I would often take twice
live up
what
classmates,often going above and beyond
long to write an essay compared to my
parents and
up to not only the expectations of my
was expected. I was determined to live
DuringmysophomoreyearofhighschoollmovedtoCharlotteand,onceagain,
but when I
school, I had not taken any honors classes
everything changed. In my previous
creek High to
the regurar level classesas Mallard
moved down to North carolina I found v4-,.zk,f
betooeasyforme.IbegantakinghonorsclassesandjuflitrTffiltookAdvanced
r enjof
^*r.-.4o
gettlng KnOW I dese"tdit through the
' a go()d gradewhen I .Q
Placement I
courses.
Niemand 6
I
level classesI did not feel that satisfaction'
hard work I haddone. In the regular
pushed
with the honors and AP classesand
respected the challenge that came along
on
and maintain high grades' My junior year AP English class focused
myself to succeed
in school' I
of literature more than the literature itself' For the first time
composition
Ms' cogburn
more than the reading. My teacher
focused on the writing aspect of literacy
taughttheclassinsuchawaythatitwasactuallyenjoyabletolearnbecausewe
lessons' My entire junior year' we only
continuously used visual aspectsthroughgulthe
and literature greatly he$ed me to
,""U
the
and thoughtful in my writing' However
refine my skills and learn how to be analytical
my senior year'
attention soon shifted back to reading
SenioryearwasarollercoasterformeaslleftmyfamilybehindinCharlotteand
the entire
back up to to
Massachusetts attend my previous high school' I spent
moved 13
his family
year living with my best friend and
After taf<ingAP
happ5and surrounded by friends'
determined to spend my senior year
althouglt
of not taking them again in westford
classesin charlotte there was no way
creek' I
previous high school comparedto Mallard
classesare significantly harder at my
I have ever taken'
this day, it has been the hardest class
took AP English yet again, and to
in that class'
final boolg r never stoppedreading
From our summef assignmentsto our
of the
twenty books both inside and outside
over the course of the year I read over
thesame
ongetting
classroom. h1a$-+sresolute
^ry+,!:::rryp7:*** I felt
going to this schoolfor a particularreason'
gradeasthe previousyearbecausliiu#*
my other
work harderin that classthan in any of
I hadto do as goodif not better.I hadto
interpret
presentedwith andaskedto analyzeand
classesbecausethe literaturewe were
Niemand 7
had so much depth to it that a.simple glance through would not cover it. Every book I
with every essay by revisiting everything I wrote and forcing me to read it over and over
while critiquing myself on what I did wrong, so that I could learn and develop my skills
for the next essay.I had an essaydue almost every week, the constantwork forced me to
continuously improve my skills and think of new and innovative ways to read and
Looking back to where I stood with my literacy abilities in the beginning of first
grade to presentday, it is amazing to seehow far I have come. From the insecuregirl
who was embarrassedby her reading skills and was mortified by the thought of reading
aloud in class, I now am confident in my literacy capabilities. I still have diffrculty with
grammar and spelling but I am more confident with my literacy abilities than I ever
thought would be possible. If not for my mother and father and their constant
encouragementto read, write and practice, I believe I would still detestreading. They
always made literature available for me and took extra stepsto help me become more
convinced in my ability to read and write. Out of all the teachersI have had in and out of
school, Mr. Bramanti, Ms. Cogburn and Ms. Goldberg affected me more than any other
they had each and every day in class.I have had literacies presentedto me in a varietv of
Niemand 8
forms from a plethora of people, each teaching me something different about the world
and the way we all communicate within it. Although I had trouble in the beginning I am
proud
ofthewayI have myriteracy
deveroped *ilrf.jffi *;;l;bl,l"#,o,^&jf
'?f,* k^ it
- - "
variousformsof literatur.
writeandunderstand Xi t w4 duaripf,w ba+ {6+*t
(t*H.
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