Please leave a comment to this post in which you write one paragraph describing HOW you brainstormed for the Personal “Literacies” Narrative Essay and a second paragraph describing YOUR SPECIFIC APPROACH/FOCUS for this essay.
Regarding HOW you brainstorm: Did you write a letter? Do some reading and free writing? Draw a concept map? Record yourself talking? Take a walk? Some combination of all of the above? There are many different ways of brainstorming, and I and your classmates are interested in knowing what your process consists of.
Your second paragraph will describe the RESULTS of your brainstorming. Do you now have a sense of what will be the FOCUS of your personal narrative essay? If so, please write a paragraph describing what you plan to write about. If not, that is also fine. Just describe the outstanding questions that you have as a result of the brainstorming process. You may be a writer who needs to start writing a draft before you know what the focus of your essay will be. In that case, drafting is part of your brainstorming process, so please make a note of this in one of your paragraphs about brainstorming!
My brainstorming is incredibly random or “pure” especially when I first start. I’m definitely a divergent thinker, seeing as I can go from actually thinking about the topic essay to looking up my hobbies ranging from philosophy and science to video games and religious texts. When I’m done “messing around” I usually start with anything I know well and try to connect it or relate it to what is being asked of me. Brainstorming for narrative essay has made me read about what “Tantra” is and someone’s in-depth book explaining it and somehow, it makes it easier to see what my goal is and how the means to achieve it. Brainstorming for is just trying and failing but not getting down when you fail, just go grab a glass of water than get back into it after. I find it to work for me!
I think starting my draft will really get me on the path to knowing what my essay will be about and in a way, help me feel out my topic to do it better. Brainstorming and thinking about the “Superman and Me” essay has made me feel that speaking on evolving technology and how it’s affected my reading. I feel it’s an interesting and important topic in our society today, and fun to write about since as a child(or man in some cultures) in todays age, I feel I have much to say on this topic as well as others in my class. Thinking of it now, from childhood to now, technology has changed much causing a change in ourselves as well in regards to everything around us basically. There are many different sides will go on when talking about technology and if it has done us good or have we been doing better but just bringing to light these changes may bring out different opinions and ideas on the subject.
this is really good , i like how you included your personal idea about how from your childhood and now technology has changed, and we as people change as well because of technology. This is such a true fact because we rely on technology a lot now then when we did as children.
Thanks, I really do think it talking about technology, reading and writing can bring out a very interesting essay especially since we’re are experiencing this change even right now.
Eddie,
This is a great post. Thanks for putting it up and for doing so so early so others in the class can both respond to it and use it for guidance. Just FYI: there is an essay by Toby Litt entitled “The Reader and Technology” that you may want to take a look at. It is half-literacy narrative and half-comment on the state of fiction writing and reading today, but I have a sense that you may find the essay interesting. Here is the link: http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/The-Reader-And-Technology
And just so you never, ever run out of things to read, here are two additional articles that may be of interest to you and others interested in this topic of literacy practices and technologies:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n16/rebecca-solnit/diary
Thank you professor, I actually was planning on asking for anymore articles or books about the subject, thanks again!
My way of brainstorming is a combination of jotting down main points that first come to mind, to taking a walk and elaborating on those ideas. After my walk I go back to my outline and simply make my adjustments to it and add on any other major points/ideas I want to include in my writing. My focus for this essay is going to be on my life, and things I went through that led to my passion for writing.
Once I have a general idea of my main topic, writing the essay would just flow and comes natural to me. When my pen hits the paper it just goes on from there.. From reading Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me,” personal narrative essay, it made me want to tell my own story. Writing was my escape that helped me overcome obtiscals; which is the reason why I chose this to be my main focus; it says a lot about my character.
Whose post is this?
I’ve just learned through the magic of e-mail that this is Nina’s post! Evidently, she was having problems with her OL account and, as a result, her posts are now showing up as Anonymous.
Like you (Nina/Anonymous), I also do a fair bit of writing and walking (usually not both at the same time) when I am brainstorming. However, unlike you, I’m not sure that outlining is part of my brainstorming process. For me, that definitely comes later, with/after some drafting.
Regarding your essay, it sounds like you have a great start and also that you have a ton to write about and a lot of material to work with. The last sentence of this paragraph appears to be a whole story/narrative in miniature or compact form: “Writing was my escape that helped me overcome obtiscals; which is the reason why I chose this to be my main focus; it says a lot about my character.” I can’t wait to read the enlarged version!
Yes it is me (Nina) & I’m looking foward to writing it !
My narrative essay is going to be on how I learned how to read and write and now how technology as become a huge effect on reading and today. I have notice some changes in the way schools are now teaching how to read and write, technology is more involved. There are pro’s and con’s to the this, and I will explain more in my essay. The way I brainstormed for my narrative essay is that I wrote a web for reading and writing. Coming out of the web I have pro’s and con’s to the technology being used today for reading and writing.
Alexus, This sounds great! Will you take a look at my reply to Eddie’s post regarding some additional essays that you may want to read related to this general topic of literacy practices and technologies? Also, if you’d like to read a short introduction I wrote about this topic for the new textbook I’m working on, you can find that here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9gdCKLbfvIXzJjaXlxWGtJZlk/edit?usp=sharing
This may be an interesting document for you and others to look at because it clearly shows just how much editing and re-writing goes into preparing a publishable piece of writing, as well as a slight glimpse into just how many people in addition to the writer are involved with that process.
Finally, I’ve been looking at your paragraph and admiring its structure: You have a great topic sentence and then each following sentence follows very organically from the one prior. I’ve noticed also, though, that many of your sentences could be either edited or re-written to enable them to speak more clearly to your reader. Could you take a look at a few of those sentences from your reader’s perspective? As you do so, is there anything you would change or add?
I can’t wait to read your essay.
Alexus I like the your process of brainstorming. Separating your essay into pros and cons seems like a great way to form an outline. Wish you the best on this essay. You seem to have a clear idea of how you would like to lay out this personal narrative essay.
For this personal narrative essay, I will writing about how I used to read a lot but I stopped doing so as much. The way I brainstorm is by taking bullet points on what each part of my essay should include. It is a random process. So whatever comes to mind I will write it down and in the end I figure out if it is really necessary. I divided my essay into three major parts: early childhood, middle school and high school. For each category, I jot down a few notes to each bullet point I have. Brainstorming helps me organize my thoughts before I put a draft together.
After brainstorming, I have a better idea of how I would like to write this essay. Although it is not a complete thought I have basic parts to my essay. Before I went into middle school I loved reading but as I entered middle school it all changed. Books like The Hobbit and The Red Pony and the work load at school made me reconsider my love for reading. In high school it went downhill from there. Writing a draft will help me place my thoughts into complete sentences.
Interesting. When you write, “the way I brainstorm is by taking bullet points on what each part of my essay should include,” what do you mean? I’d like to more clearly understand this sentence and therefore your process. I’m also trying to figure out how and why this is a “random process.” Bullet points rarely seem “random” to me, but perhaps they are to you? The draft structure of your essay sounds like a great one for a narrative essay. You write, “Before I went into middle school I loved reading but as I entered middle school it all changed. Books like The Hobbit and The Red Pony and the work load at school made me reconsider my love for reading.” Reading this sentence, I sense that there is a lot to “unpack” in this “but” between elementary and middle school. I can’t wait to read more about what it contains and what changed between those two times and schools.
Professor Rodgers I’m sorry that I did not reply to your questions sooner. I have had some internet issues lately. As far as my statement about “random process” it probably not the best way to word it. What I meant to say is that for each section I divide my essay into a take notes in a bullet point format. My thoughts on that topic may not be in chronological order but it is related to the topic in some way. For that run on sentence that was the only thought I could put together at that moment. That sentence helped me to understand how I wanted to layout my draft. Hope this helps to clarify what I stated in my earlier post. I’ll make sure that my later posts are more lucid.
For brain storming it helps me better if I write to someone in a letter because “talking” to someone is when i’m at my most creative, or so I think. While other times if I don’t do that i’d keep talking and end up with nothing but “I don’t know what to write”. When that happens I just stare off somewhere in my room until I get an idea again. Personally, I don’t like brain storming at all because I don’t like not talking about a certain thing even though that does prove to be more challenging. When brain storming I mostly just put ideas on the page and most of the time don’t link together and is totally random.
From brainstorming I got a clearer understanding of what I wanted to do. Even though I have a clearer understanding I’m still not entirely sure about how I should go about doing it. When I write things I want them to be meaningful and have a certain point. Most of the time I’m pretty sure no one gets my point of view though. Whenever I write about something I’m really interested in it seems like it’s never enough and my feelings were just a self satisfied one.
Michelle,
Like you, I often find that writing letters is part of my brainstorming process. But when you write, “Personally, I don’t like brain storming at all because I don’t like not talking about a certain thing even though that does prove to be more challenging,” I find myself not quite understanding this sentence and wanting to. It seems like there is a lot being said in it. Could you expand and clarify your meaning here?
I’m also interested in knowing, from the second paragraph, if you now know what you want to do for this essay assignment since that is not discussed.
Finally, regarding the point about one not always being understood in one’s writing, that is often a part of written communication. However, I’m both surprised and a bit taken aback that it is when you are writing about things you are “really interested in” that this is most often the case. Is it a specific audience that gives you that feeling of it “never [being] enough” or of your feelings being “self satisfied”? If so, which audience and at what times?
For brainstorming, it took me a while to think of ideas. I try to think of ways I learned to read and write, what would make a good story, how I write, what I like to read and stuff like that. I usually tend to do things like lay down, listen to music or t=usually take showers when I brainstorm. Taking showers is really helpful. After I thought of some ideas, I tried to figure out which one is best suited for the particular essay. Then I try to find someway to apply that certain idea to the essay.
After two showers and a lot of brainstorming, I’ve decided to go with how I read the entire Harry Potter series in the fifth grade. I loved the third movie so much that I decided to start reading the books before the other movies came out. It took me about a month to finish the books, which at the time were only only six. Harry Potter was a big part of my childhood, and they led me to read other books like the Percy Jackson series. I don’t read as much anymore, but the nostalgia I’m getting from writing this is making me want to start reading again.
Rodrigo, Thank you for this. I really admire how you so succinctly describe the aims for this assignment, which should be about “[how I] learned to read and write” but which also must be concerned with “what would make a good story, how I write, what I like to read.” The specific details that you include in your description of your brainstorming process are also really amazing: “I usually tend to do things like lay down, listen to music or t=usually take showers when I brainstorm. Taking showers is really helpful.”
Regarding your second paragraph, it sounds like you have a lot to work with. Some questions that I had after reading what you have written include: 1/ What was the role and/or importance of the film version in this story? How and in what ways did it affect your reading of the books? 2/ What specific circumstances and issues led to your starting to read less? (This is a pressing question particularly in light of just how much you were reading. Six books in one month seems like a lot!)
In my form of brainstorming is usually connecting all my ideas and from there branching off to more ideas, to bringing my main points together. There is no special way in how I start brain storming, I usually draw out a concept map which as well helps me branch off to new ideas and keeps the ideas flowing in my head, but some of my best brainstorming skills is when I’m just thinking to myself of all the topics that I have to review for an assignment. One of the things that help me the most is when I stop in between to rest my mind then I’m flooded with ideas again, so it depends on what kind of state of mind I’m in. There many different ways in how I brain storm but these are just a few.
The results of my brainstorming, Is I will have a full sense of what I’m going to write about, in my narrative essay I will be writing about how I learned how to read, but first I will start off with writing out a draft because this way I will be able to revise and include more ideas that will come to mind throughout the way, starting with a draft it will help me create a good foundation to write my essay.
Berenis, Thanks for this. I love this point: “One of the things that help[s] me the most is when I stop in between to rest my mind then I’m flooded with ideas.” From your first paragraph, it sounds like you do some drawing or charting. Is that the case? I’d love to see some of these pages so if you might have some images of them available, perhaps you could post them?
My version of brainstorming involves a series of random thoughts, memories, or ideas all connecting to something. In regards to the personal narrative essay we will be writing, I brainstormed by jotting down the first thing that came to mind related to the topic of my essay. I decided that I would write about a time in the 4th grade when a book I read inspired me to write a novel of my own. Needless to say, I never completed the novel, however, I did write several chapters of it. In order to turn this memory into a proper personal narrative, I gave myself a 3 minute limit and wrote down everything that came to mind involving the book that inspired me and the actual “novel” I attempted to write. I created two lists, the first containing words, descriptions, and even summaries about the book; and the second containing everything I could remember about my original story. With this information, I highlighted the things I felt would be most useful for my essay so that I could easily refer back to it while writing.
Because of my brainstorming, I decided that my personal narrative essay would be specifically about how the book I read in the 4th grade aroused my desire to become a writer (at the time). Although I already had a general idea of what I wanted my essay to be about, this brainstorm allowed me to visualize exactly what would be going into each of the paragraphs and made my ideas a lot clearer.
Questions:
1. For the topic of my essay, can I relate it to the overall theme of this assignment by stating how attempting to create my own novel helped to make me a better write?
2. Are you collecting/checking our brainstorm?
1. Yes. 2. Yes. (I’m responding to these on OL). In terms of handing in a paper copy of your brainstorming, if you feel it is useful to keep that, you can hand that in at the end of the semester with your writing portfolio.
Cordelia,
This sounds like a fascinating essay. I’m looking forward to reading it!
Cordelia,
This sounds like a fascinating essay. I’m looking forward to reading it!
My brain storming process consisted of randomly jotting down notes and comparing it to the questions referring to each topic. I did ask my mother for everything she remembers about me learning to read. I havent yet decided on a specific focus. I actually thinking about using a little bit of everything.
Thanks, Natalia. As you start drafting the essay, please make sure that you keep an eye on how “a little bit of everything” may relate to a central focus for your essay.
I actually decided to focus on two things. Is that okay?
My brain storming consists of researching on the web of the topic, going through notes and using my own thought process of what i’m going to write about and then breaking down each paragraph focusing on one point at the time, i brainstorm by focusing on the most critical/persuasive or interesting point that would catch instant attention and from there just keep the flow going.
For my essay i’m going to write about how i fell in love with photography and persuade it as a profession for a certain amount of time, and then kinda just set apart from it, and how i went from having such passion of photography to barely touching my cameras.
i just noticed my mistake, its about “literacy” specifically, and to correct myself, ill be writing about the poetry writings and different poets background books that i grew interest in, because of my brainstorm, i decided to write about the recent book i just got of khalil Gibran about love and poetry and write and how it inspires me.
I decided that i wanted to write about how i basically got into reading and writing and what inspired me to do so. Growing up we are all forced to read and write about something in school, but i decided to take it another step and do my own reading and writing outside of school. Im not going to write too much because i already have it written in my essay. But I’m planning to write mostly about the beginning of how i got interested to read and write. Im putting my own experiences in this essay and the audience that i want to get this essay across to is people my age and younger. I feel like this would be a good time to connect with people my age.
When it comes to Brainstorming i try to keep my mind as open as possible and free to roam and explore the unlimited that i can write about. Back in High School when it came to doing a project i was for most of the time or all of the time selected as the team captain. For each project i like to think outside of the box. Some of my teachers use to tell me to me “there is no box”. I was creative with my projects and i did what no one else would do. So brainstorming is a wide range of varieties for me. For this narrative essay i didn’t draw or record myself talking but rather asked my friends what it was like for them learning to read and write. Everyone’s stories from them are either the same or similar, very much different from mine.
From there stories i have come to derive my main source of focus for this essay. I myself struggled to learn to read and write much like many of my peers, however they took the conventional road to learning it, i took a slightly different path. They learned from the bottom to the top going about it in the natural process and levels. It wasn’t so for me. I began school in the fifth grade so my task was much more difficult.
Brainstorming is probably the most helpful tool I have learned to write not only essays but anything in which creativity comes to play. For this essay I started with two words: 1)reading and 2)writing. Based on these two words I started listing things that came to mind. I quickly started to develop, sort of, a story line that my essay would follow based on the words that I wrote down. I scratched out the words that did not fit into the basic visual of the essay and that is when I started drafting. My first draft, purely based on the words I had brainstormed, was about two paragraphs long. So I brainstormed some more, until eventually I had enough to fill up the acquired space and so that I could say everything I wanted to say.
Brainstorming really helped forming a basic draft of the essay in my mind. The words I wrote down were scrambled and unclear, but after some puzzling I tried to find a nice story line that fitted with what I wanted to say. If I had not brainstormed I would have probably gotten stuck on what I wanted to say, have too little, or too much on my paper. But writing down words really helped me to take out all the unimportant things and stay with a nice clean list that I could base my essay on.