The Literacy Narrative
Guidelines
As you begin this essay-writing process, I would like for you to reflect on your experiences and attitudes about reading and writing. Some of us have negative
early experiences with reading and writing, ones that have affected the various ways we feel about reading and writing as adults. For others, reading and
writing are treasured skills that come out of a childhood fascination with language and self- expression. Some of us have experienced the strangeness of
language in a foreign country, while others have sat in a writing classroom and felt it little different from a foreign country – a place unfamiliar and
remote. Regardless of our backgrounds, our ideas of literacy often become deeply ingrained as good or bad without much thought from us as to how those views
came to be. As a result, many of us have definitions of literacy – of reading and writing – that could benefit from a thoughtful and honest close self-
examination.
Topic Choices
Please draw from the following topics as you develop your essay focus. Also note that not all of the suggested topics are focused on traditional literacy
instruction and learning (see the last two). If you have other ideas, please let me know. We can always add to this list.
• Narrate an early memory about writing or reading that you recall vividly. Then explain why this event is significant to you now.
• Describe someone who taught you to read or write and explain this person’s significance in your life.
• Identify a book or other text and explain its significance for you in your reading and writing.
• Narrate an experience with a writing or reading task that you found (or still find) difficult or challenging.
• Describe a memento/artifact and explain how it represents an important moment in your reading/writing development.
• Recall a time when you learned a profound lesson or experienced an epiphany. That lesson does not necessarily have to have happened within a traditional
classroom; however, it must be tied to “reading” situations, people, events, etc.
• Consider a specific talent you possess or special task/activity at which you are adept.Those specializations have their own jargon and terminology and
learning them requires a highly-specialized type of literacy. Focus your essay on how you learned how to create/perform that talent or task.
Sample Solution