My Love Of Literacy

Ever since I was younger I have always tried staying away from reading. The only person in my family that likes to read is my mom; however, she does not read often. Once she picks up a book, she cannot put it down. My dad on the other hand, never picks up a book. He and I are one in the same; we do not like reading because we have a hard time comprehending what we read. My brother also does not like to read. He does not like reading because he has a learning disability. My mom always had an extremely tough time getting him to read. Overall, my literacy experiences at home are few and far between.

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

My relationship with reading has always been ambiguous. Many people would try to help improve my love of reading, my mother, my father, my oldest sister, whom at the time strived to be an elementary school teacher, everyone was always telling me to read more. We would even have special weeks where a group of young military men and women would come to read at my elementary school, but I was more interested in learning about their duties than what they were reading to me. I felt rude about it, but it was just how I was. My mother used to read to me quite often, she would sit me and my sister, Madison, down to read us a book each night. She would let us choose the book, even though I always chose Scooby-Doo, and Madison would choose something more along the lines of Where the

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.

Innumerable amounts of people consider a literacy to just be reading a book, magazine, or newspaper and writing an essay. Indeed those are common literacy’s but there is more to reading and writing than just a book and an essay. My literate practice happens to be dance. It is important to me that everyone recognizes how reading and writing plays a tremendous role in the world of dance. It is also important that others realize anyone can dance, but not everyone can be considered a ‘dancer’. It is necessary for a dancer to have passion, persistence, skill, devotion, strength and power. I possess all these qualities, which is why I believe I am an expert in my literacy. Dance seems just to be a hobby for many and a form of entertainment, but

I can somewhat relate to that because I rarely saw my father pick up a book and just start reading. He would sometimes read the paper to stay caught up on the news, but hardly ever did I see a book in his hand. I do however remember my mother reading quiet often. She would just sit on the couch with her cup of coffee and read for hours. Shoemaker stats that “when I was younger, both my father and mother were never home to neither entertain nor read to my brother and I” (348). That was completely opposite with my mother and I. She would read all types of books to me like The Hungry Caterpillar, Giving Tree, or Dr Seuss. I don’t have a lot of memory of when I first learned to read, but according to her I didn’t read well until the end if Kindergarten. On the other hand, I do remember her taking my brother and I to the public library where she let us check out a maximum of four books each. We would mostly check out nonfiction sports books like biographies of athletes such as: LeBron James, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Mark McGwire and many

Literacy has never legitimately played a massive part in my family. My parents never did anything that Involved in literacy. I was into literacy when I was little, but that changed as I became older. My Grandmother was the only person who could write stories easily and efficiently. My Father never fully cared a great deal about literacy. He was a mechanic, so he did do papers and read in college, but after that my father never was into reading or writing. My mother was never a very literate person. She didn’t like to read or write at all, so maybe that's who I got it from. My sister on the other hand is a very talented writer if she wants to be. She wrote an essay about my Grandfather who fought in Vietnam. She wrote about how he was her everything

Reading has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was a little child. I grew up as a normal child should grow and eventually I had to start learning for me to fit in society. My literacy started many years ago, after I knew how to talk and communicate with people. Reading my alphabet was quite stressful and I had to be given a hand by my family members. I remember my parents reading with me and it was the most meaningful and memorable way to spend time with me. This is because I liked reading a lot and I was eager to learn so that I could fit in with my older siblings. My favorite books were storybooks taking about adventures and fairytales

My parents are both very educated with Doctorates and still continuing to go to school. They are both very intelligent and they love to read. Every time my parents were not busy, I would see them reading. My dad is a pastor so he spends his days reading in the office. I never understood how they could read so much. I had a great example of reading growing up and my parents always encouraged me to read, even when I did not want to. I wish I could remember specific stories about growing up in this environment but I from adulthood that

My family played a big part in my love for reading whether they themselves were bookworms or not. My grandmother and sister are both very intelligent people who love to read, and I wanted to be like them. Even

What is my literacy identity? You would think this would almost be a simple question, but honestly it’s not. Even till my present day life I still struggle with pronunciation with words, and people misjudge me as less intelligent for it. But little does one know, I didn’t speak until I entered High School. I was one of those children that just nodded her head and pretended I was comprehending what our Elementary teachers were teaching us. I can remember listening to me teach instruct and it would go in one ear and right out the other. I was the child that was slipping through the cracks and falling desperately behind. So if I was unable to read, couldn’t pronounce words, may be comprehended a good 50% of instruction, and was almost defined as a mute; how fun do you think it was for me to write?

For as long as I can remember, I loved to read. There was never a distinct moment that clicked. Never did I see reading as a requirement; more so a desire. My desire to read paved the way for my need to tell my own stories. Aside from the stories I read, the ones I created brought a sense of satisfaction that I could never find elsewhere. My love for reading and writing is like the need for one to consume food and liquids to keep their body both nourished and hydrated. It’s a necessity! When I read or wrote, I craved peace and the need to escape into the world of endless possibilities. A place I can venture with no responsibilities and no worries. As I got older, my need to open a book and read, or write a story came natural. I was free!

By the influence of my mother, I was introduced to an environment such as the public library, where all I was surrounded by were books. A part of the reason why my mother encouraged me so much to read is because her parents also pushed her to read too. She states, “My parents motivated me to learn how to read and write in English because as immigrants they couldn’t speak or write in the language.” She also states, “They encouraged all of my siblings and me to learn English so we could continue expanding our knowledge and education.” I believe that because of my mother’s encouragement to read at a young age has allowed me to develop a strong connection with reading. For example, throughout high school my goal was to receive good grades all four years so I could attend a four-year university. I spent the majority of my time doing homework, studying for exams, and preparing for my classes, all of which require a form of reading. I enjoyed high school because of how fast and how in depth my teachers would go into each lesson. Luckily, I was able to accomplish my goal by ending with a 3.8 GPA and qualifying for acceptance into various

The people closest to me have inspired to be a devoted reader. My parents are dedicated readers. They each have their own bookshelf that they fill completely with their favorite books and authors. My dad’s bookshelf has (probably) every book written by Stephen King. My mother has the same devotion to Nora Roberts. I have always been amazed by how my parents treated reading: every time a new Stephen King book comes

As I grew up, I developed an immense love for literature and expressed profound gratitude towards the authors who could ignite my imagination. I learned to read by exposing myself to books and practicing until I knew how to properly pronounce the words out loud. Most importantly, my significant influences are my parents who always