Prof. Ruth Garcia
English 1101, Semester
Unit 1: Literacy Narrative Writing Assignment (850-word minimum)
Due: xx/xx/xx
Assignment
In class we have read, discussed, and analyzed Sandra Cisneros’ “Only Daughter,” Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read,” and Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue.” In these narratives, the writers discuss their experiences with education in connection to elements of their identity; or, they discuss events that have shaped the kinds of readers and writers they are.
Now, for this assignment you will use these writers as models and write an education narrative of your own. What is a particular event that affected how you viewed or experienced education? Alternatively, what is a particular event that illustrates how an element of your identity affected your educational experience?
In developing your narrative, and regardless of which question you choose, you should reflect on your experience and the significance of your story. As you write, you should also keep in mind Mike Bunn’s “How to Read Like a Writer” and think about your purpose and audience as these will help you makes decisions about your content, style, and tone.
You will be graded on:
- Your ability to develop an overall point/significance for your narrative.
- Concrete, significant detail (are you painting us a picture?)
- Focused event (did you focus on one event or connected, series of events?)
- The thoughtfulness of your reflections (is there a point?)
- The carefulness of your proofreading and organization You should be able to explain the choices you made.
- Word count: At least 850 words!
- Whether or not it’s on time
Ruth, this looks good– it’s simple, and I like that. The one thing I’d say is that I’m a little confused by this: “what is a particular event that illustrates how an element of your identity affected your educational experience?” I’m not really sure what you mean by that. If you think you’ll be able to explain that to your students, it’s fine, but maybe you can clarify it here.
C
Hi Ruth – thanks for your thorough comment on my draft! I think it will be very useful in polishing that assignment for next fall and beyond.
I agree with Carrie in that I like the simplicity of what you have here. I think by anchoring the assignment to the three texts they will have read by then, you’ve given the students plenty of guidance on what you’re looking for. I think my one (admittedly quibbling) comment would be change the language from the singular to the plural in the second paragraph. The biggest takeaway from this assignment for me is students’ ability to string together a few/several events/experiences in their lives and explain how they led them to who they are now, so I think the plurality is important. Small change with big potential result!
Thanks again!
-Kieran