Project 1: Education Narrative

Due Dates: 

Project 1 Due: **Monday, Oct. 2nd**   |      *DRAFT DUE Wed. Sept. 20th

 

Readings: 

Maybe I Could Save Myself by Writing by Jose Olivarez 

Amy Tan “Mother Tongue” 

Jamila Lyiscott’s “Broken English 

Jose Antonio Vargas “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” 

Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read”  

 

In this unit, you will write about a significant event or events that had an impact on the way you view education and/or school. Think about the examples we’ve read in class: they talk about specific events in-depth, using concrete, significant detail– and then they explain why those events were important– not just to the writer, but to the reader. 

What can your experiences with education tell your audience about the educational system in America, for example? Or about the ways we learn? You want your reader to come out of your narrative having learned something or thinking about things in a new way.

 

You will have a chance to discuss your educational journey and goals, in whatever way you want to define “education.” We’ll look at the genre of Education Narratives to learn:

  • what it means to be an example of the genre of education narrative, 
  • how people craft education narratives (what people include or don’t include, how they tell the story, etc), and 
  • what our own narrative can reveal to us and to others.

What is an Education Narrative?

An education narrative tells the story of your educational journey and goals, in whatever way you want to define “education.” Your narrative may capture an important event in your education that was particularly formative, maybe a key learning event that shaped your thinking or a time you had a profound learning experience or a person who deeply influenced your learning/ thinking. 

You may want to write about:

  • an event in your educational career that was particularly formative;
  • a specific learning event that led you to become the thinker you are today;
  • The first time you had a profound experience related to learning;
  • A place, person, book, author, community or experience that influenced your identity as a learner in a positive or negative way. 
  •  An important lesson that was learned, a time you learned something about yourself as a student;
  • How you define “education” and what it means to be “educated;”
  • What your experiences with education tell you about the educational system in America, for example. Or about the ways we learn. 

Whatever the context you choose from the examples above, you should:

  • Talk about how the event shaped your relationship to school or education in general;
  • Talk about how your particular experience relates to some of the bigger social and cultural issues we discussed in class, such as race, the education system, Standard Written English (SWE), etc.;
  • Reflect upon how your experience has enabled you to understand something specific about reading, writing, learning, or language AND how that understanding reflects on the communities/world you inhabit.

 

What will you be graded on?

Content/ Genre:

  • Your ability to develop an overall point/significance for your narrative.
  • Focused event (did you focus on one event or connected series of events?)
  • Did you talk about each of the 3 key focus areas?

 

Organization: 

  • Are your ideas well-organized? 
  • Does your literacy narrative follow a clear structure? 

 

Purpose and Audience:

  • Is the purpose and intended audience for your narrative clear? Do you write in a tone and voice that matches my purpose and audience? 

 

Language/ Presentation

  • Have you incorporated sentence structure and vocabulary that allow you to express the complexity of your ideas in a clear, effective style? This style does not have to be Standard Written English (SWE) 
  • Did you revise for content and edit for grammar, spelling, and conventions? 
  • Does it meet formatting requirements? Does it look presentable (not sloppy)? 

 

Citations: 

  • If relevant, did I properly cite all sources referenced or used in the piece?

Word Count

  • Is your narrative an education narrative that is at least 1000 words?