- What, from what you’ve seen so far, are the “ingredients” (also known as “conventions”) of an education narrative?
The plot, word choice, diction, sentence structure, and figurative speech.
- What do you think might be a place to get started with your own education narrative? Use examples from the readings– especially “Saved Myself By Writing,” since that is the homework for today.
I think a place to get started on my own education narrative is talking about my past that has to do with education. An example from “Saved Myself By Writing” is, “When I was a teenager, I felt like I belonged nowhere. I know it’s a cliché: Ni de aqui, ni de alla, but damn if I didn’t feel that. I walked around with my head to the ground. I was just trying to get through each day.” The narrator is using “was” because the narrator is writing in perspective of adulthood and he’s talking about his past. Olivarez found a core idea to write about his education narrative by stating, “I decided to write a book of poems, Citizen Illegal, about what it was like for me as a teenager. I didn’t always love poetry (though I always loved reading).” By stating this Olivarez is introducing me. to the topic, that he loves to read and poetry was his soft spot to put his voice out there.
- What are your questions or concerns about writing an education narrative of your own?
I don’t have questions per se, but in terms of concerns, I don’t know how my audience will engage with my education narrative. That will put me in a sticky situation because I’m not trying to force my audience to understand my point of view.
- If you like, you can also feel free to share an educational experience you had and ask for feedback from your colleagues (and me) to see if we think that might be a solid place to begin writing.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any of educational narratives archived from past writing. One of my educational experiences has got to be repeating 2nd grade in grade school. For some reason I felt traumatized and dumb, when that shouldn’t have been the case at all. To this day, I am glad that happened to me because it really shaped my learning and education moving forward in institution.
It amazes me you had to repeat second grade, considering what a good writer you are now. I think this is a great topic. I encourage you not to worry too much about how your audience will take it (yet) and start by writing as honestly as you can.
It’s okay not to have your narratives “archived.” As you yourself mentioned. Olivaros is writing from memory– you can too!
That’s a good place to start talking about your past experiences when writing an education narrative. I don’t think you will force anyone to understand your point of view but vice versa it will be something they identified with.