Literacy Narrative Assignment – Kieran Reichert

Essay #1: Literacy Narrative

In this unit, we have read several examples of literacy narratives. In “Mother Tongue,” we read about the Amy Tan’s mother’s “broken English” and how that, along with several pivotal educational experiences, made Tan the writer she is. In “All Writing is Autobiography,” Donald Murray talked about the different parts of himself he brings into his different writing projects. These were both literacy narratives, which are stories writers tell about their relationship to reading and writing.

In this unit’s writing assignment, you will write in response to the question “What does literacy mean to you?” that is personal, meaningful, and considered. You will describe experiences or events that have been important in shaping the kind of writer and reader you have become, or experiences that illuminate the role that literacy plays in your life. The purpose of this essay is to link your participation in this class to the rest of your experiences with writing in your life. As a result, each student will bring some fuller portion of themselves to the page and, the course will be enriched, and, in turn, you all will exit the course with a deeper understanding of what this course meant to you and how to take the tools we craft and hone outward into future writing situations. 

In preparation for this assignment, you have read two examples of literacy narratives — Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Donald Murray’s “All Writing is Autobiography” — and you will read a third sample student literacy narrative. Look to them for guidance.

If you feel stuck, think and write about the following prompts:

  • What is your current attitude toward reading/writing?
  • What are your beliefs about yourself as a reader/writer?
  • What happened in the past to make you have that attitude or those beliefs?
  • What experiences were most significant?

Also, consider the following areas of experience you might explore:

  • your family’s attitude toward reading/writing
  • your own reading/writing experiences in and out of school
  • what you remember about learning to read/write
  • what successes or failures you have had connected to reading/writing
  • a particular book that had an impact on you
  • your reading/writing strengths
  • your reading/writing weaknesses.

Your essays will be >750 words (approx. 4 pages) in length, double-spaced in a normal 12-pt font (Cambria, Baskerville, Garamond, Times, etc.), with 1” margins all around. You should write your name and course details in the header, and page numbers in the footer.

Given the nature of this essay, you should draw from personal experience, and you may use the first-person “I” when doing so. You will bring in two printed copies to our peer review session in class and turn in a final draft electronically and physically by the beginning of class on __________.

Please feel free to stop by my office hours or shoot me an email with any questions.

 

2 thoughts on “Literacy Narrative Assignment – Kieran Reichert

  1. Ruth Garcia

    Is it clear what the assignment asks students to do?
    The assignment is generally clear and gives students great ideas on how to get started if they’re stuck. If it were my assignment, I might give students more concrete questions. Looking at the second paragraph it occurs to me that this paragraph might instead become questions for students’ prompts. So maybe something like:
    “Can you tell of a moment/experience that shaped who you are or how you feel as a writer/student?”
    Or:
    “Can you tell a story of a moment that illustrates who you are as a learner/student?”
    Or:
    Can you tell of a moment related to literacy that shaped who you are as a learner/student/writer?

    Are the grading criteria clear?
    I might include a short statement or list saying, “You will be graded on….”

    What learning outcomes does this cover?
    I don’t know what learning outcomes this covers—this is something I need to figure out for my own assignment.

    Does it BEGIN to teach students about genre? (this isn’t necessary, but may be helpful) Is the assignment engaging?
    Yes—it mentions in the first line that this is a specific genre they have been reading. The only suggestion I have for this is that I might move the last sentence of the first paragraph up to be the second sentence. This way you define what a literacy narrative is as soon as you mention it. If you did this, the first sentence would then read something like: In this unit, we have read several examples of literacy narratives, which are stories writers tell about their relationship to reading and writing. In fact, inspired by your assignment, I’m going to make sure I add a similar sentence to mine. I’m pretty sure I don’t mention genre in mine.

    1. Carrie Hall

      Kieran, I think this is a good assignment and gives students a good question to ponder. I think this particular sentence: “In this unit’s writing assignment, you will write in response to the question “What does literacy mean to you?” that is personal, meaningful, and considered.” needs to be revised, as it’s grammatically confusing, but I do think “what does literacy mean to you?” is a good question.

      I agree with Devon in that along with that question, it will help to ask students to think about one or two SPECIFIC instances that influenced their views on literacy. The reason for this is twofold: it makes for better writing; otherwise, you’re going to be reading just kind of vague texts about people’s feelings or dictionary definitions, etc…but also, focusing on one or two scenes does allow you to teach very specific skills– like evidence, and also writing concrete, significant detail.

      This will help you with your missing ingredient: what are you grading them on? Now, this isn’t a traditional essay, so you’re not looking for a thesis– but it’s okay to look for a “so what?” or a general point. I grade mine (as you can see from my example) on concrete, significant detail, and choice of English, etc… You don’t have to choose what I did, but think about what you value here and what you want them to learn in this first assignment.

      One last note: I would make sure to clarify that they don’t have to have a positive spin on literacy. Sometimes if you don’t say that (and even if you do), students feel the need to talk about how wonderful English professors are, and so on.

      I think it’s pretty much there! Just a few little changes. Let me know if you have any questions.

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