Literacy Narrative
It was a black flag day, and the temperature had risen to a searing 124 degrees, I was still wearing my flak jacket when my unit’s administrative officer approached me with a set of instructions. “Excuse me Sir, but isn’t there someone else who can write this report?” I asked my Lieutenant who looked at me in disbelief “Look Staff Sergeant I realize that you’re tired, but the answer is no, since there is no subject expert at our location and you were the only Staff Non-Commissioned Officer from our unit present at the time of the incident you are responsible for writing it, but don’t worry I’ll check for content and grammar; maybe next time you’ll think twice before volunteering to join a convoy.” I proceeded to panic, I had I just gone through a whirlwind of emotions, and my very inexperienced supervisor was ordering me to write an after-action report detailing everything that five other Marines and myself had experienced in the past 28 hours, then brief the senior leadership of an entire regiment on the lessons learned during the ordeal. Writing that after-action report was
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There was no applause, I stepped down from the podium and the next speaker moved on to the following topic, as I was leaving my Sergeant Major told me “Staff Sergeant you did well, we’re not cold bastards, we all get scared out there, we all deal with the toll of these things, but we are Marines and it is important to put that aside for moments like this to better prepare the next Marine who finds himself in your position, you kept your bearing and lead your Marines, don’t think that we don’t know, we do, we just have to carry on with the plan of the day every day until we go
At this point in my life I find myself in an interesting predicament regarding my attitudes toward reading and writing; more so towards reading. Years ago I used to love reading books for pleasure but nowadays I find myself reading things that little to no effort to digest. This includes the very basic posts on facebook expressing one’s opinion on something or articles and threads on reddit discussing topics I find intriguing. Perhaps it’s the severe senioritis that has overcome me as I enter my last semester at Chapman University. As I’ve gotten lazier I can see it start to reflect in my everyday life. Deep down I still love to read but I rarely find myself getting truly invested into the action unless it relates to something I am very
My reading experience has had a lot of ups and downs. I was never an over-achiever in my language arts or reading classes, which has affected my passion for reading. A lot of my opinions about reading have changed even just since this summer. I don’t have any recollection of reading before kindergarten except for learning the letters. Kindergarten was a struggle for me, but after kindergarten to third grade. In third grade I peaked and absolutely loved reading and writing, but it faded in middle school and has been fading since then for me.
Errors: Starting the revision to this essay was very easy for me after this semester. English 101 helped my writing skills so much from high school to where I am now. I started by re reading my entire Literacy Narrative essay. Even just reading through this essay after three months, I picked out a lot of stuff that I could change. The first obviously was just going through and checking all my grammar. There were a lot of times where I could have used commas and did not. Many times I could have used better transitional words that just made the sentences flow better so I tried to fix a lot of those mistakes. Another minor issue was a more defined use of vocabulary so I tried making some of the simple words bigger and give it more spice. Secondly, going hand in hand with grammar I fixed some minor spelling errors even though there really weren't too many.
Learning to read and write as a child is an experience that all can relate to. The average child learns to read and write at the early ages of three and four. Developing literacy at an early age is crucial to academic development as well as to performance in life. Early development can be just what a child needs to stimulate their minds, which in turn is assisting in the evolution of their future. The early and latter stages of development in a child’s literacy journey are the makings for their reading and writing skills. It also plays part in their analysis of obstacles as well as their developed or problematic literacy future. A child
This is a great example of initiative, honor, courage, and commitment to the mission. This is a perfect example on how we must be on a day to day basis. Always putting the mission before self-comfort, to never question or object with whatever order or command you are given. Especially with us being in The United Stated Marine Corps, we should abide by these examples, and help others understand the importance of it as well. Everything that Captain Rowan did reflect our duty, our expectations, and our standards. Our duty as Marines to complete whatever mission is given to us, regardless of the objectives we may encounter throughout the way. To exceed the expectations they have for us, and to prove that no mission is impossible. One very important standard is to never strive for the bare minimum, but to always do everything to the best of our ability. We should always adapt and overcome in any given situation, and take initiative with good judgments. We should always work with what we got and do it with no hesitation, but most importantly, to go above and beyond the call of duty. Staying motivated and dedicated and applying Honor, Courage, and Commitment will take
Writing has always been my most difficult part of English. Reading, on the other hand, is something I could do all day; however, with writing, I grimace just thinking about it. It was not that I did not have anything to say, because I actually have quite a bit to say. I just could never figure out how to phrase what I had to say in just right way on the page. My mom taught me to read and write at a young age. After that, I would devour any book that I could get my hands on. However, I have had trouble with writing since it became more than just my alphabet and numbers.
My first experience to literacy came as a young adult. I have always been reluctant with my education, because of the family problems I experienced growing up. The harsh treatment our family received growing up made it very difficult to study in school, my body was physically in class but my mind was not. The trials and tribulations I went through growing up as a kid continued throughout my teenage years. Dropping out of high school I believe brought upon literacy difficulty. At the age of twenty-three, I finally had enough of feeling undereducated. Living in my mother’s basement with no job and an 8th grade education, the walls started to close in on me as my frustration became greater by the minute.
SSG Bob on 23 Sep 05 I had received a phone call at 1410 hrs. from SGT Bill stating that he had come into some money and that he had known that I was wanting to get some additional equipment for OUR SRT. SGT Bill stated that he needed myself to come in and type up a letter of justification and if I could also have SGT Jones come in as well to assist in writing this letter due to the fact that SGT Jones had been placed in charge of training folders. On notification of this I was on the phone notifing my soldiers of where they needed to be and in doing this I had also asked SPC Man if could also inform you of what I had going on in case he had seen you before me, but his telling you was not going to be your only notification, nor would I
Throughout my childhood, the idea of having a college education was greatly stressed. As a result, it was my duty as the next generational child, to excel in my studies and achieve a life of prosperity and success. Learning became the basic foundation of my growth. Therefore, my youth was overtaken by many hours spent reading and writing what was known to be correct "Standard" English. I first found this to be a great shortcoming, but as I grew older, I began to realize the many rewards acquired by having the ability to be literate.
Throughout my childhood, the idea of having a college education was greatly stressed. As a result, it was my duty as the next generational child, to excel in my studies and achieve a life of prosperity and success. Learning became the basic foundation of my growth. Therefore, my youth was overtaken by many hours spent reading and writing what was known to be correct "Standard" English. I first found this to be a great shortcoming, but as I grew older, I began to realize the many rewards acquired by having the ability to be literate.
The bell rang for second period statistics and everyone frantically discussed their exhilarant weekends and rustled in their seats. Focused, I eagerly flipped back and forth between notes attempting to solve the problem on the board when a particularly blunt comment caught my attention a few desks in front of me. “Why are you wearing a girl backpack?”, a female classmate playfully exclaimed to another male classmate from across the room. My teeth clenched as a million thoughts raced through my head and I felt the muscles in my face creating an alarmed reaction. The male student argued back boldly, “It’s not a girl back pack!” I placed both hands on my forehead and closed my eyes for a few moments. They disputed over the backpack for a lengthy thirty-seconds before the teacher strolled around the room checking homework.
I communicate in many different ways, whether it be visually, orally or electronically. There are a few instances that stand out. First, through the oral and electronic means of communication. During the summers I coach a youth baseball team and I communicate with the players and their parents in many different ways. At practices where I talk and work them how to do specific drills. At games I cheer them on and give them tips to succeed. But, since most of the kids are only eleven or twelve years old I have to communicate to the parents. I usually do this through email where I tell them about upcoming games and practices. I also provide them my cell phone number so they always have a good way to reach me. Without the
Amber Wiltse’s literacy narrative begins with “How do you go from this… to this” (Wiltse 645). This beginning is effective in getting the reader's attention, along with conveying the author's message. Her combination of narrative writing and photographic visuals illustrates the way that literacy has influenced who she is today. Amber starts with a picture of her when she is a baby and then places a picture of her as a senior, she parallels the following caption with these photos “How Do You Go from this… to this? The answer is literacy” (Witse 645-646). This example shows how literacy has influenced her life, and helped her to mature, and grow into the women she was when she wrote her narrative. The photo of Amber’s brother and her embracing
The ways I imagine my audiences in my literacy narrative and problem letter have similarities and differences. One similarity is in both writings I expect my audiences to have some knowledge of the topic, but my writings will lead them to think from a different perspective, or from my perspective. Moreover I imagine my audiences to expect me to help them to understand a problem or a topic better. They will want to see evidences and reasons to support my claims. Although the ways I imagine my audiences in my literacy narrative and problem letter have similarities, they also have some differences. The most obvious difference is the audiences in my literacy narrative is a group of uwp1 students, who might have concerns or different interpretation
My personal experience in language, literacy and numeracy education is not only significantly different to fellow students within my cohort, but also fairly unique due to the entrepreneurial and adventurous upbringing my parents provided. These experiences not only ensured I am able to perform well academically in school and beyond, they also fostered good learning habits and installed the constant willingness to learn and absorb new knowledge in me. From my own experiences, I recognised the urgent need for teachers to address diverse levels of language, literacy and numeracy abilities of students within a classroom and to cater such diversity, preventing students who are already struggling from falling further behind. The experiences also emphasised the importance of activating students’ prior knowledge and interests in motivating them to learn.