A Literary Adventure

I asked my teachers when I needed to and read more books. Books helped me in learning new words and improved my spelling. Being placed in an English support class for testing low on the MAP test made me realize that I needed to try harder. I received one of the highest scores the following year and moved up to Accelerated English. This achievement made me realize I had determination; I worked very hard to obtain high grades. Advanced courses increased my confidence because I knew they could prepare me more for college. My goal was to be educated so I could be even more

Years of working several different jobs I started to engaged in the process of creating, understanding, and connecting to knowledge and literacy. I became more involved with my work assignments and connected to and learned materials that were given to me. At the age of thirty six writing is still difficult at times because writing has so many subjective aspects it is more complicated than two plus two equals four. Sometimes I feel if there is not a real purpose for writing it is hard for me to get motivated. However I have learned over the years that literacy helped me with the essential steps, to learn exactly what I needed to earn an important education and career credential. At times I still find it hard to learn

Literacy plays a huge role in many people’s lives everyday, whether it is learning how to read and write for the first time or writing a five-page essay for the hundredth time. We experience literacy differently and have our very own unique stories on how it has impacted our lives and had made us who we are today. It is an essential aspect that I use in my everyday life, such as in relationships, daily interactions with others, and learning. It has become such a powerful aspect and human right in which it allows one to speak his/her mind and in some cases express their opinion to the world. My personal literacy history has shaped me into who I am today because without my experiences I would not have been able to gain the confidence and

Since a child going up, literacy was not my strong suit. Literacy throughout my life seem not to cope with me. Later as I grew up, literacy meant to me that it is one’s ability to read, write, and speak. More importantly there is a more meaning of literacy, meaning that not only writing, reading, and speaking, but able to understand, analyze, and communicate with other peoples’ ideas. Soon enough literacy has made an impact on my life, it has been and will be a lifelong process. Literacy will always be with me, starting from my past and ending in my future.

3. His eyes widened and, accentuated by his __________________________________, you could tell he was sickened by the sight of his wife in the room. 4. The __________________________________ philosophy is to use a practical approach to problems, rather than theories. 5. She __________________________________ conversed with her friend on phone. 6. The room was hidden behind the __________________________________ green curtain. 7. He and his __________________________________ hung out at the bar smoking. 8. He could feel __________________________________ anger building inside himself. Matching: Match the antonym to the vocabulary word. _____ 1. concerned _____ 2. compliant _____ 3. clear, truthful _____ 4. ornate _____ 5. tiny _____ 6. beneficial _____ 7. harmful _____ 8. ideally A. austere B. equivocate C. mulish D. cynically E. benignly F. colossal G. apathetically H. pernicious

Literacy plays a huge role in my daily life. Every single day I read and write. Whether it’s writing an email or reading a text message, class assignment, discussion board, etc. My literacy journey is unique because I have had different experiences. As a result, this is how my literacy journey has let me to be the reader that I am.

One of the most eye opening experiences of my life occurred in the second grade. I would have never thought that doing one simple assignment in elementary school could change my whole perspective on literacy. My understanding of literacy was sparked when I had read my first real book. I remember sitting down on the vividly colorful carpet day dreaming about playing Mario Cart on my Nintendo 64 while everyone was obediently listening to the teacher read a book out loud. It wasn’t that I did not know how to read or listen, I just didn’t care. Reading to me used to be tedious because I did not understand the purpose of it. I did not grow up with the luxury of my parents reading to me because they weren’t literate in English, so I had to figure out for myself why literacy is vital in everyday life. My ongoing learning experience with literacy can be traced back to one simple visit to library.

One event that defined a part of my life that involved literacy was when I had to write a

My literacy narrative focused on an event, which changed my perspective towards reading. This event revolved around my life and later resulted in a better version of myself. It was about a competition for which I appeared during my freshman year in high school. There were some key points, which I noticed while working on my literacy narrative. Throughout my work, I enjoyed the ways of employing the five authentic skills that enriched my narrative with not just my words, but also with my emotions that are associated to it.

My attitude going into English 1301 was excitement at first. When I was in high school I took English and when I would turn in my essays I would get an "A" on every essay. The second week of English 1301 was when my instructor assigned me my first essay. This essay was to explain my composing process. At first I had no idea that I even had a process for composing an essay. I had never really thought about it. Then the instructor said that it had to be in APA format, 12 point font, and Times New Roman. This was all very new to me because in high school my teacher did not require me to do this. Throughout this essay you will see the changes of my composing process, the impact this class has had on me, and how I feel about my improvement. My composing process changed throughout the semester because I felt that my old process was not good enough. Therefore, I decided to walk into my house one day and sit down and begin to do homework. In doing this I paid close attention to every step I took from beginning to the end of my essay. A few things that I have added into my composing process was an outline and going to a public area where no one knows me or wants to talk to me. Throughout this course, I have realized that if I am around other students that are working on homework, I am able to buckle down and get my work done too. However, if I am in a public area such as the Student Center at TSTC, I am unable to focus because people come up to me and start talking to me which takes

I have my journey in learning how to read and write never stops. Understanding the importance of literacy came to me at the high school, when I faced real challenges and understanding how important that is to learn, to create, to dream and to help others.

Over the course of first semester in college I have learned how to read, write, and learn again. That sentence may be hard to understand, since when getting to college you are already supposed to know how, but it is true. Starting off with I Stand Here Writing by Nancy Sommers, I have learned how to enhance my writing by using personal sources to combine personal and academic writing. With the help of The Mind at Work by Mike Rose I got an example of how the teachings of Sommers can be applied in writing. We ended the semester off with learning how to read again. In James Gee book Semiotic Domains: Is Playing Video Games a “Waste of Time”? I got another look at how to view literacy, which I was not aware that there was another way to look at. Literacy should not be the ability to read and write but thought of as a semiotic domain. All that is saying is that from what is written, categorizing the text to certain domain and producing and adding meaning adds depth to what is written while we also get a better understanding as well. Overall I have a gained an alternative perspective on learning and when experiencing new things, changing your mindset will lead you to success in that domain.

Have you ever been given an assignment where you say to yourself, “how the heck am I going to do this?” or maybe, “what am I supposed to write about?” Well that’s exactly how I felt, thought, and did with this writing journey. Coming up with something to say about my writing journey has been difficult. I would be bold enough to say nearly impossible. So impossible it’s like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle. Okay that might be an exaggeration, but it has been difficult. The idea that I have a writing journey I understand. But thinking of an event or something that has made my writing the way it is has been difficult. So, what I’ve decided to do then is to write about my writing journey writing this paper.

My journey through reading and writing started once I started school. I don’t remember the early years but they laid down a foundation for me. It got me to where I am today. I love reading for pleasure but I want to be more open to different types of genres. I’m not the best writer but I try my best to write well. I have a strong approach to writing an essay but when it comes to actually writing, I don’t feel too confident. I hope that this year will help me become a better reader and writer.

During the last month of the course, I was given the opportunity to go back over my essays and revise them. I was also asked to make a digital portfolio to display my final drafts. After careful review of the essays and feedback from my instructor, I chose to rewrite the essays. I knew that my entire class could see the work I had done, once the essays were posted into my portfolio. This pushed me to rewrite my essays to the best of my ability. When I completed the essays, I felt good about the work that I had done and I was more confident about my writing ability. I then began to work on my portfolio that would display my journey through