Literacy Narrative, part 1. Reflection

My Literacy Narrative focuses on how I was growing up and loving (and at one point even hating) to read. I tried to describe every single thought in my head as clearly as possible. However, at some moments it seemed hard to transfer them into this essay. I decided to use the freewriting exercise and it made the process of writing this narrative much easier and faster due to the fact, that I was forming my essay by putting together all these pieces created separately (answers to the questions from freewriting exercise) into one big picture. When I finished writing the essay and began adding the picture that I took during the winter break when I went back home, I started reading my narrative again from the beginning and came to the conclusion, that what seemed difficult to start turned out to be an enjoyable and great experience.

 

Reflection of Literacy Narrative

How did you learn to read and write? In my page, you will discover the reasons and the process from which I became a writer.

My process for writing this narrative felt considerably easier than papers I have written in the past. I think the freewriting before hand really helped guide me through the process. The act of answering the specific and simple questions almost wrote the entire paper by itself. This was very different than my typical process of staring at the blank page and waiting for inspiration to present itself from the ether.

Through writing the narrative I recognized the dedication my parents and the rest of my supporting cast gave me. This gave me a strong feeling of appreciation which I’d like to express to them some day.

The most interesting sentence in my opinion is, “I was disappointed in myself for not getting further but then realized I had unintentionally memorized the entire chapter in my head.”

Writing Blog

LARPv

  • Please write about the key moment when, where, and how you first learned to read. What was learning to read like for you? What sorts of books did you read?

From my  memory, I learned how to read and write twice. One is Korean, and one is English. I can no longer what I read in Korean books anymore, but I know that my first book in English was The Holes.

  • How did you feel about reading and writing as an adolescent — say, during middle and high school? What sorts of experiences did you have as a reader and writing in school?

During middle and high school, I really was disinterest in reading and writing. I didn’t hate it, but I would avoid taking writing related classes.

  • What are your experiences with social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, or others? What do you remember about your first experiences with such sites? Do you text on a smartphone? What sorts of experiences have you had writing to/for people with those sorts of technologies?

Only social network I have is Facebook, and I rarely use them. I never got into social networking culture. I felt that there was no need for me to express my thoughts in open public area.

  • What are some of the biggest struggles you have had as a reader and/or writer? What are some of your best moments as a writer?

My biggest struggle with reading and writing was properly utilizing English. I really never had best moment as a writer.

Link to Essay

Preface and Reflection: Literacy Narrative

Ever since I was a child, I have been obsessed with text books, encyclopedia, and any sort of book which directly and explicitly states information, unlike novels, whose overwhelming amounts of sugarcoating and lack of conciseness bores me. Although these still comprise a great part of my passion for reading, I am still in search of other forms of recreational reading which deviate from my current interests. I’m kind of a tough cookie when I attempt to read a novel: I usually do not go beyond Chapter 1 if the content is not concise at my degree of liking. My childhood experiences in elementary school cemented this preference over explicit information rather than fictional, sugarcoated narratives.

As I wrote this analysis of my peculiar reading preferences, I realized it was about time to share my perspective with other people. Talking about my reading preferences is something I usually avoid, given that they deviate greatly from the general public. Writing was a breeze, especially after freewriting prior to its composition. In a sense, it was refreshing to finally let it all out after such long time keeping these thoughts to myself; it made me realize that not talking about this for so long has actually been a terrible idea, since my quirkiness opens up new topics of conversation, and possible recommendation of books that I might actually enjoy.

If there is one sentence in this essay that best reflects who I am, it would be the following:

“I went over to the kindergarten section of the library, did my “market research”, and did the math…”

I think now it’s the time to read about a chubby 5th grader against the world in my literacy narrative.

Literacy Narrative Reflection

It’s a hard thing going back in time to when you first read a book. In remembering my past I remembered how difficult it was for me to learn to like to read, how long and arduous the path was but also how amazing it felt. From struggling to read a single page to falling in love with comics or picking up my first non-fiction book the experience was not only hard but rewarding. To convert those emotions and memory onto paper, however, is always a challenge and my literacy narrative shows that; it was not easy capturing those moments with words. The more lax writing style was very helpful and allowed me to be more creative. I think, given more time, I will be able to better portray those feelings. Overall it was a very interesting and challenging experience that I’m excited to see develop further in the semester.

I think this is a good line: “I used to hate books.”

Literary Narrative Reflection

My narrative essentially focuses on my development as a reader and a writer in my early years.  I realized that this was important because those years laid the foundation to how I became a reader today.  In further thought, I have realized that many of my previous reading habits, albeit elementary, are similar, however, they are significantly more refined.

Initially, I was not very keen on the idea of any writing exercises before I wrote my essay.  Though, I decided to follow Professor Morgen’s idea to start doodling before I wrote my essay.  This concept seemed intriguing to me because I guess I enjoy doodling.  Initially, I thought that it may not be helpful for me, but I became significantly more relaxed when I continued.  Since I was relaxed, I was not as stressed. Subsequently, it made it notably easier to write.  In fact, I anticipated to only write half of the base of the essay in one sitting.  I wound up writing nearly the whole thing because it seemed easier to do so.  I also tried to jot down ideas in order to try to structure my essay better.  However, this did not seem to work very well.

While writing this essay, it allowed for a great deal of introspection.  I realized that reading and writing have had a large impact on my life.  Specifically, though I did not write about it, I contemplated the tasks I complete everyday that involves reading and writing.  My experiences as a child clearly made these tasks second nature.  I found it surprising that I vividly remembered some of these moments.  One in particular was a nightmare that I had when I was reading a book before bed.

This essay was quite enjoyable to write.  Perhaps it is because I was able to write about myself rather than a history or philosophy paper.  I understand that writing about myself is much more enjoyable because I hold all the information; in order to unlock, I do some reflection.

Narrative Reflection

pepe-reyes-163878

 

Stopping to reminisce over how I got somewhere is not something I typically do. There have been three main events in my life that have shaped how I became an avid reader and unhinged writer. It was surprising to me to realize that perhaps only a few events in my life truly matter in making you who you are, but it is how you act in between those events that let you see results. Free writing was the best way for me to simply sit down and analyze what things caused me to be who I am by simply letting my mind wander almost 8 years into the past, remembering things that may not seem that relevant to me. The most astounding revelation that came from writing this narrative is that even though I am the one who reads and writes, I would not be doing either so well or consistently if I hadn’t had the help of a few other people that would push me and motivate me to be better.

Looking back it is hard to think that a birthday present I received in the 4th grade, a married couple, and the metaphorical blood shed by a BIC pen would lead me to create the reader and writer that I have become…

https://danielmora286861244.wordpress.com/literacy-narrative/

 

Image Source: http://bulletjournal.com/reflection/

Literacy Narrative Reflection

In my literacy narrative, I compare the positivity I have experienced with writing and the setbacks I have had in my history with reading.  Though I have always been a dedicated student, I have learned that needing extra help in a single subject area is something to accept.

Since I have had a similar assignment in the past, I knew I wanted to just go more into depth.  Having the pre-assignment prompts allowed me so include details that I otherwise would not think to.  This assignment was the first time I have put into words how I actually felt with the extra reading program I attended in first grade.  I was able to actually ponder how this made me feel in the past compared to what it means to me now.

Literacy Narrative

In writing my Literacy Narrative I first tried to trace a story line through my experience with writing. As I made my way through chronologically I came naturally to some kind of conclusion about what role writing has played in my life at different times. The image I chose to be featured on the site is an old picture of me, I hadn’t learned to read yet, but I had developed a habit of memorizing the words to my favorite books and reciting them as I pretended to read.

 

1 38 39 40 41 42 44