INTRODUCTION
Storytelling fascinates me. When I was a kid, my grandparents told me stories their grandparents told them. The stories motivated me to learn to read, which enabled me to enjoy the classics. Books written by authors like Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy are so immersive the stories have become folklore. Because they are so well preserved and easily accessible, the works of celebrated authors like Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, and William Shakespeare are enjoyed by the audience all over the world. Inspired by these works; I feel motivated to write a novel. To achieve this goal, I have signed up for writing lessons. Writing is an opportunity to not only engage the reader, but also preserve knowledge for the future generations. To become a good writer, I plan to continue dabbling in writing techniques and create text that pop.
LITERACY & LIFE EXPERIENCES
My first literacy experience was a writing assignment. I was in first grade. The experience established a relationship between my reading and writing skills. The exercise was about writing stories. The exercise had rules for crafting narrative, which allowed me to express my thoughts. I could write a story on any topic. I chose to write about hiking on the mountains. In the story, I went hiking with friends on a weekend. I tried to organize the story like a novel with chapters. Since I was a child then, I could not structure the details of the chapters for the story. It was a big stumbling block for me. Throughout the exercise, I struggled to develop the content or material for the story. I did not know much about writing stories. There were many errors in the story because I had introduced material from other topics to build the story.
The second literary experience was a report writing exercise. While writing the report, I had the opportunity to explore different writing styles. For preparing the report, I had to write summaries from different articles on the same topic. The rules for the exercise were to focus on the main points and write the summaries in different styles. This exercise transformed my writing style. Earlier, I had been trying to write in different styles. I did know how to make the text more engaging with different styles. Most of the time, the text was dry and boring. Occasionally, the passages were interesting to read. This exercise was the opportunity I had been looking for. While completing the exercise, I also experimented with voices and how they contribute to audience engagement. I used to write in the passive voice, because I had been taught to write formal reports in passive voice. After the exercise, I became better at the descriptive, expository, and narrative styles of writing.
The first, class project shed light on the complicated nature of my literacy relationship. In the class, I had to analyze the results of a laboratory experiment and write a report based on the findings. It was a test of reading comprehension as I had to critically analyze the results. After analyzing the observations, I had to present them for the audience by writing the findings and the conclusion. For the presentation, I needed to apply the descriptive style of writing to achieve the goals. Since I had only written essays and stories before, I felt nervous in the beginning. However, I overcame the challenges and applied the descriptive style of writing. Though it was a challenge to make the transition, I was happy in the end. This change also opened another world of writing for me. I began writing more about topics I enjoyed learning about. Most of the time, I was happy reading, but this new-found ability was a gift. I started writing a lot more, which also allowed me to discover and learn new things including natural and scientific phenomena.
CONCLUSION
I have continued to make progress in developing my writing competency. While I am good at academic writing due to the long engagement with educational exercises, creative writing is one of my weaknesses. I plan to continue writing. I plan to continue experimenting with voices to enhance my creative writing skills. I have enjoyed the benefits of the literacy relationship. Reading has empowered me to explore and discover world phenomena, while writing has allowed me to express my opinion and engage the audience. I am grateful for the opportunities as they have help develop my competencies. I believe my writing competency will continue to evolve and I will become a better creative writer.
How did you collaborate in ways that advanced your learning and the learning of others?
How did your attitude impact your product and the learning of others?
How did you respond when comprehension did not come easily and when you wanted to give up?
What did you recognize as a strength and what can you do to develop specific competencies?
Sample Solution