Author: Rashawn Lemon

   Intro

Hook:   Slaves weren’t allowed to learn how to read because slave owners feared that if slaves were educated then they would have the knowledge to rebel and fight back. Gaining the ability to read is important, not just to slaves but to everyone else. Reading is a skill that we have to use everyday so we don’t get screwed in life. Being able to read something and break down the information and process it is kind of like a sixth sense to be honest. our brain is basically multitasking which is cool.

Topic:My experience with reading was influenced and formed by my Dad’s experience with learning how to read.

 Thesis: reading is important because you will fail in life and be dependent on people without that vital skill.

Body paragraph 

Topic sentence: Reading is important because without it you can’t succeed in school.

Point: If the parents or the kids don’t know how to read then they will struggle with school no matter the grade they’re in.

Illustration: When I was in 2nd grade , I needed help with my homework because I couldn’t read the questions. I asked my Dad  to help me but he couldn’t help since he also couldn’t read. I began getting zeroes on my homework grade because of the inability to read and the teachers called my parents asking why I wasn’t doing my homework. It was embarrassing for my dad to explain why I couldn’t do my homework and it hurt him.

2. I couldn’t participate in class because I couldn’t read.  The teacher would bring out a children’s book , ( not Dr Seuss of course because he actually did just make up words) and tell us all to follow along. I couldn’t follow along because I didn’t know what they were reading and I didn’t know when they finished reading a page or not. One time the teacher called on me to read a page of the book, I froze in terror and said nothing and just stared at the page. One of the assistants came over and told me that I wasn’t even on the right page and she flipped it for me but it didn’t matter because I just couldn’t understand any of the words. Some of the classmates laughed at me and I came home frustrated that day.

Explanation: Because I didn’t have the skill to read , I was behind in class and got made fun of by classmates. I almost failed 2nd grade because I had no one to read me my work at home. This is why reading is important and special when it comes to school.

Body paragraph 2

Topic sentence: Without the ability to read you will become dependent and reliant on people.

Point: If you can’t read you will need the help of others, sometimes they can be complete strangers and they might not give you all the information that you need.

Illustration: When I was older my Dad would drive us around but he would always need me or my Mom to read what the parking signs would say. For example the sign would say Tuesday and Friday 8:30-10 am. My Dad was reliant on us , he always would ask one of us to stay in the car so he can find parking and know which side to park on. one time we weren’t there and he parked on the wrong side and got a ticket.

2. When my Dad would get letters he would never open them until my Mom came home since he couldn’t read them and also when he would have meetings about insurance he would have to bring my mom along to make sure that the people at the insurance company weren’t leaving out important information and taking advantage of him. My Dad couldn’t do any paperwork on his own, he couldn’t fill out job applications on his own. He  struggled with everything in life because everything requires reading and understanding.

Explanation: Not being able to read made my dad reliant on people around him because he couldn’t read anything that involved paper work without the assistance of my mom. Without the ability to read a lot of people would have trouble finding good paying jobs.

Conclusion: reading is important because you will fail in life and be dependent on people without that vital skill. My dad is a perfect example of someone who is unable to really succeed through life because he can’t read important papers , he can’t fill out job applications and he has a hard time parking. I personally struggled in school when it came to my grades because I had no one to read the homework questions to me and I couldn’t keep up in class. In history reading and writing has helped people of color learn about their history and be able to express themselves and the problems going on throughout our world through text , through literature , through poem. Reading has power and people should utilize that power.

 

 

 

 

A story that that comes to my mind when thinking about the history of my education is the story my Father told me. My father is pretty old and is in his early 60s. he was around during a time where people of color were treated very differently, he would tell me stories of how he use to have to sit in the back of  a bus even after black people gained civil rights because he didn’t feel comfortable in the front and wasn’t use to it. when I was little I would always ask my dad to read me stories and he would tell me stories. as I got a little bit older I was beginning to learn how to read , one day I was having a hard time reading a sentence so I called my Dad over to help me. My dad refused to help me and instead called my Mom over to help me. I thought it was strange but I didn’t think anything of it. Eventually I learned that my Dad actually couldn’t read and he needed people’s help to read and explain things to him. when I was little he wasn’t actually reading the book he was just creating a story and pretending to read it from the book. when I asked my Dad why couldn’t he read he explained to me that his education back then wasn’t that great and that the teachers didn’t really care about him. He told me that the teachers wouldn’t help him that much because they believed that “negroes” wouldn’t make it that far and that they did bad compared to the white students. My Dad’s educational level (non-high school graduate) had an impact on my education because I would have to learn how to read sentences on my own and I would have to learn how to do homework on my own too. I didn’t have parental assistance when it came to doing homework and I was a bit behind in reading compared to the other students. After my Dad told me that story I took my education more serious and began reading books on my own so that I could help him, so in a way My education was influenced by his.