University of Central Florida It Must Be Spicy Literacy Narrative

  

Description

use the outline you did to write literacy narrative, which will be 750-1000 words long and will be about individual experiences with literature and the role it plays in lives. use MLA style.I gave you example of how the paper should be.

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Writing and Rhetoric
10 September 2018
Moisturize Twice Daily
I went to Ursuline Academy an all-girls private catholic high school in Cincinnati. The
school is known for its difficult academics and college-like environment. The school is full of
over achievers and Ivy league- aspiring students. I struggled to keep up with the tough academics
and pressure filled environment. Coming from a public grade school I had never been exposed to
a culture like this. Although I came from a very different background than many of my peers I
loved it there. The teachers expected a lot of their students and I grew as a person. I formed
many close bonds with the staff. However the main pressure was getting into college. My junior
year I worked harder than I ever have at school so that I could go to college.
Going into my senior year of high school I had no motivation. I imagined senior year as a
cake walk, just one last hoorah before leaving for college. That was until I got my schedule. My
senior year English teacher was Dr. Stall, an infamously difficult English IV teacher. She was
known for yelling at underclassman and expecting more from her students than any other English
teacher at my school.
On the first day of class instead of doing ice breakers and name games, like I was used
to, she passed out our five inch thick textbooks and we immediately began taking notes. I went
home that night and complained to my parents about this new ‘heartless’ teacher that I would
have to deal with in what was supposed to be the most fun year of high school. One of the
summer assignments she had given us was to write one of our college admission essays and turn
it in to her for a grade. After the first week of class she emailed me saying that she would like to
have a meeting about my personal essay. I was dreading the meeting, going in I fully expected
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her to rip my writing apart and I would start the year with a failing English grade. However,
when I entered her classroom for the meeting I was pleasantly surprised. Together we went
through my essay sentence by sentence as she gave me advice on how to improve it. Together,
we laughed as we improved my essay. When it came time to submit college applications I was so
thankful for the assignment, all my other friends were staying up late and staying home trying to
finish and edit their college essays. Mine was already exactly how I wanted it to be.
Although I was pleasantly surprised by my experience with Dr. Stall during the essay
assignment I was still skeptical about my feeling on her. Classes were still dry and she would
even scold us about how ‘senioritis’ was not real. Our class lectures would always somehow
relate back to how she was just trying to prepare us for college. But I didn’t want to prepare for
college I wanted to enjoy my senior year! At the end of every class as the bell would ring she
would yell after us “And always remember to moisturize twice daily” and every day I would roll
my eyes in frustration. This woman was RUINING the best year of my life.
At the end of our first unit I was barely hanging onto a C in the class. I had never
done so poorly in an English class in my life. My parents advised me to talk to her about it. I met
her during lunch the next day. I explained my frustrations about my grade to her. She looked at
me and smiled. She said “stop worrying so much about the score you get and your scores will
improve”. I was floored… was my teacher telling me that I should stop caring?! My face must
have shown my reaction clearly because she immediately started laughing. I smiled nervously as
I thought ‘this woman really is crazy’. She explained that my writing came off as too structured
and forced. She offered me an extra credit assignment for fall break. She told me to write her a
story about whatever I wanted, no rubric no length requirements no nothing. when I sat down
that weekend to type out the paper I stared at a word document containing two words, my first
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and last name, for twenty minutes. I quickly realized that I had never been given an assignment
with this much freedom before. I had always relied on rubrics and other guidelines to base my
papers off of.
My whole life I thought of myself as a good writer, when really I was just good at
following directions. I decided the story I would tell her was of the day I got my dog. I typed out
everything I remembered from that day. The weather, the drive to get her and how she jumped
one me when we first took her home. That was one of the happiest days of my life.
When I turned the paper into Dr. Stall that Monday I was nervous. The paper felt so
childish, like I had written it for no reason and with no structure. She emailed me again asking if
we could have a meeting. I thought for sure she wasn’t going to give me the extra credit. When I
sat down across from her she was smiling so big. She told me that she loved my paper and aside
from a few structural edits she would not change a thing.
I couldn’t believe it. This had to be the messiest paper I had ever turned into a teacher.
She told me that this should be my college essay. I laughed. She had to be kidding. She
explained that my other essay was good but it had no personality. The paper about the day I got
my dog showed who I really was, the details that were important to me and the people and
moments that made me happy.
Suddenly I realized that she didn’t give me the assignment to help me boost my grade she
gave it to me so I would realize why I wasn’t doing well in her class. She knew that everyone
knew how to follow a rubric but she wanted to see who wrote with their feelings. Overtime I
started doing well in her class and even began to enjoy writing. I have kept a daily journal where
I write down what I did that day and how I was feeling.
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Throughout the year I grew closer with Dr. Stall and even had her go over my college
applications. Her little comments at the end of class now made me smile now and her dry
lectures became more interesting. While getting to know her I learned that she had gotten Cs and
Ds in her high school English classes before getting her doctorate is writing and rhetoric. I
learned that she had depression after having her second child. I told her about my own struggles
with anxiety and depression. She told me about how she began to keep a journal. My journal has
become an outlet for me to express my feelings and frustrations. I still keep in touch with Dr.
Stall through email and hope to visit her over breaks Maybe I will even email this paper to her to
look over.
Over the course of my senior year I understood that her goal was not to bore us or fail us,
it was to teach us more about life than English. She taught me that life’s small moments can tell
us the most about ourselves and that asking for help or even receiving a C on a midterm is not
the end of the world. You should learn for life not just for the test. Even the seemingly driest
teachers want to help you and can sometimes even turn out to be your friend and teach you the
most important life lessons, like moisturize twice daily.
Introduction: the experience of literacy as a gateway into infinity and the impacts of access to this
gateway in an increasingly literate world.
Thesis statement: Besides lived experience, literacy brought me into my most vivid and hauntingly
suggestive contact with the seemingly infinite universal multiplicity. The effects this had on a receptive
child are doubtless significant both for me and for everyone else involved in an increasingly hieroglyphical
world.
While human lives have, since the dim past, been lightened by the vistas of story telling, our current
systems of widespread literacy, literature collection and transmission and literature production, all
combine to provide the modern human mind with more worlds of words than ever before.
Main body: a look at the increasingly hieroglyphical nature of our world.
– The experience of growing up in that environment of massive knowledge transmission.
– Glimpsed instances of the impacts of this globally connected literacy. The resulting strain on
humanity
– The reason for this increasing biological strain and the emerging enlarging patterns in
information flow.
“The future is all hieroglyphics” a sailor was reported to remark, in a late 19th century travel diary.
It seems there may have been some truth in what he said, for my earliest memories are of audiobook
tales of nightmarish alien scenes and of books of adventure that led onto the later readings of my
teenage and young adult life, those bizarre ‘tomes’ detailing the multitude of human situations and the
incredible possibilities that lay within and beyond them.
Its no wonder that I’ve always possessed incredible, indeed ridiculous ambitions beyond my birth and
ability. When one is fed on the exploits of hongis khan and heroes of troy it is difficult to ask your parents
for advice on how to move out of their basement.
I am certainly not alone in having these unrealistic ambitions. In the small Nepali Village, I lived in the old
men were content with their field and house but the young men tore their hair out and sat on their
mobile phones drinking red bull and dreaming of being movie star kung fu fighting rock stars.
The point is that contact, through literacy, with the multiplicity of possibility in the universe can put an
incredible strain on the mind of those who come into contact with it. One does not simply read the
words, one takes a meaning, and to take a meaning is to live and experience in some way.
Therefor this historically unprecedented exposure to literature in my life has left me dismayed at the
banality and poverty of my situation and often confused as to how to act in it. Confused because often
literature does not offer the whole story.
One can read something and take great meaning from it, not knowing the relative nature of the events
concerned. This can lead to errors.
However one is always tempted back into the dangerous, muddied waters of recorded human
experience, for great potential power lurks their also. Often an uncomfortable power that sears or strains
the mind as it is acquired, never the less one watching for advantage will feel the sweet thrill of its scent
when reading. Too many open secrets lie buried for one to avert their eyes.
So my mind and the mind of all humanity has had to adapt itself, both throughout my lifetime and the
existence of our race, to the presence and increasing proliferation of these meaning conveying symbols;
these movers and shakers of human thought and destiny; the echoes of our past; the over-mind of the
species which one may dip into from ones mobile device.
Why this system of coding has sprung up between us and now fills our eyes, ears and minds like never in
earths history is broadly an easy question to answer: patterns repeat. The information passing ever faster
between human minds and eyes is another incarnation of the tendency for matter to organise itself in
ever greater structures.
As with previous great reorganisations of matter there are incredible pressures being put upon those
organisms caught in it. The cyclopean dreams of literature twisted youths are far from the weirdest of
symptoms from this incredible pressure.
Our social and mental structures are being massively remapped to favour information transmitting
symbols and those literate in them. One can see this trend both throughout history and in our own short
lives.
This is why at the beginning I said that literature is the most vivid and far reaching glimpse into infinity
that the human experience has offered me. It is a piece of the largest information distributing structure
ever discovered and so we the components are privy to data streams coming from further away than
they have ever come from before.
Conclusion: Situating the experience of literacy in a personal, historical, global and indeed universal
context
A thought on the current and future implications of the literacy phenomenon, both on an individual
level and socially.
It is a treacherous new ocean of recorded thought that now stands a long way from the placid lakes of
tribal discourse. Yet with that terrible new expanse comes incredible new opportunities. I look forward
with anticipation and trepidation to the (currently) unspeakable things that will become a part of the
human experience, both in my lifetime and humanities, as a result of our foray into this unprecedented
form of matter organisation called literature and literacy.
1. What is and isn’t a summary?
A summary is an account of something that is based on the thing itself. It is meant to tell
a shorter version of the story or the account and thus should include key elements of
the story so that the main points of the story are relayed. A summary is NOT a retelling
with opinions of the reader. It is essentially a fact based account.
2. How did you annotate this content reading, and how did you annotate the short
reading on the creatures?
I annotated this reading by reading closely, reading the reading twice and taking notes on a
separate piece of paper since I was reading it digitally. Typically, I prefer hard copies for
annotations because I can draw arrows and make small notes to myself. I find this to be tedious
on a digital copy. In addition, I try to note contradictions and I write down critical questions on
the same piece of paper in list form going from top to bottom.
The story on the creatures was also annotated in a similar way but I did not write much about it
because I found the story to be straightforward and easy to understand. I just wrote down my
conclusions which I will add to the summary.
3. Write a one-paragraph summary of the short reading on the creatures.
The story begins with a village of creatures at the bottom of a river with the creatures
clinging on to the environment so that they would not be swept up by the current of the
river. The creatures have simply been doing this from birth, thinking it was the right thing
to do. One creature decided to “trust that the current knows where it is going” and
decided to let go and be swept by the current. He or she was chastised by the rest of
the creatures who warned of danger but the heroic creature nonetheless let go. Though
he or she was damaged by tumbling onto rocks, they refused to cling on and were
swept by the current. Other creatures downstream saw the heroic creature seemingly fly
above them and assumed the creature was a messiah. The other creatures realize the
benefits of letting go but yet still cling on until the heroic creature is gone. They then
make legends of this Savior.
Think of a piece of fiction you read that had an impact on you, and write a oneparagraph summary of the text. Then write a one-sentence summary of the situation in
which you read the text (the context).
The Iliad:
After Queen Helen is taken/leaves Greece with Paris, the Prince of Troy, the Greeks
declare war on the Trojans. Achilles refuses to partake in the war, considering the war
to be petty and irrelevant to him. After a battle, Hector kills Patroclus, a close friend of
Achilles who had taken Achilles’ armor and thus was mistaken as being Achilles.
Achilles eventually kills Hector in battle and desecrates his body until the Trojan King,
and Hector’s father begs for his son’s body back. The Greeks devise the Trojan Horse
and invade Troy from within. Paris slays Achilles with an arrow to Achilles’ heel while
some Trojans escape their falling city. The Greeks win the war and the scene is set for
the Odyssey.
The context under which this was read was simply for fun as a recommendation from a
family member.
1. In 3.1, you read and summarized the short piece about the creatures (Question
3). Now write a one-paragraph response to that same piece.
I enjoyed the story of the creatures and the general message that it seems to convey.
The creatures cling on to the river and assume that the current will inherently be
destructive. I enjoyed this part because it serves as a parallel to society and how many
people do what they are taught and what they are told. The brave creature that decides
to ride the current can be seen as a non-conformist or a trailblazer who goes against the
status quo. I enjoyed how the story had the creature be somewhat deified by other
creatures who then refused to take the same action that they admired in the protagonist
creature.
2. You also summarized a piece of fiction that had an impact on you (Question 4).
Now write a one-paragraph response to the fiction text and context you
summarized.
I really love the Illiad because it is a classic tale of heroics but where, in my opinion, the
central hero is not that admirable. I did not particularly enjoy the fact that Achilles kills
Hector who I believe to be the real hero of the story and a pillar of morality. Hector is the
much more likeable character, forced to go to war out of familial duty and duty to
country. Hector’s death serves to give him importance in the story but I find it to also
give some moral upper hand to the Greeks.
3. Finally, write a one-paragraph explanation of the difference between summary
and response.
Summaries and responses are relatively different in the sense that a summary is supposed to be
an unbiased retelling of the story in a shorter format. A response, on the other hand, is meant
to serve as a reaction to the text or to the summary. A response also can and should include
opinions of the individual who is writing the response. A response is meant to invoke feelings
and interpretations that are personal while a summary is something that is meant to convey the
feeling and points of the story.
1. Write a one-paragraph summary of “Salvation.”
This story was not provided.
2. Write a one-paragraph summary of “My Relationship with Literacy (Links to an external site.)” from
the DALN.( I attach word doc)
The story begins with the narrator explaining how they loved to read. Eventually, as the narrator’s form of
reading goes from pleasure to education, they see to enjoy it much less due to the structure that is imposed in
breaking down and analyzing text. The narrator then explains that they used reading to learn about nutrition
and health and that they made positive life changes based on these readings. They also learned about politics
and improved their debate skills. The change happened positively and progressively for them as they
rediscovered literacy and its benefits anew.
3. Write a one-paragraph summary of “Moisturize Twice Daily (Links to an external site.),” from the
DALN.
Thist story is about a young woman who gets a teacher that she feels is a difficult teacher to work with. The
student fancies herself a good writer but does not want to work as hard being that she is in her senior year of
high school. The student starts getting inferior grades in her classes and goes to talk to the teacher who asks her
to write a story about anything. The student does so and the teacher encourages her to use this as her college
admissions essay because it is honest and written with feeling. The student realizes that anyone can follow a
rubric but that great writing comes from the heart. She has newfound appreciation for her teacher.
4. How do the sample narratives compare to our Literacy Narrative assignment?
This relates to a past assignment that is not brought up here so you should consult this past assignment.
5. Write a one-paragraph summary of a personal literacy event.
This is a personal account and obviously I do not know what personal literacy events you’ve had
in your life.
1. Write a one-paragraph response to “Salvation.”
Again, this was not provided.
2. Write a one-paragraph response to “My Relationship with Literacy (Links to an external
site.).” ( I attach word doc)
This story was quite interesting and honest. I think it is safe to say that most people that liked reading as a
child have some issues with it when it becomes technical. Oftentimes, we feel robbed of our hobby and forced
to read for other reasons. As time goes on, many of us learn the importance of reading beyond education and
entertainment. For some of us this takes the form of reading things we are curious about and getting our own
eduction. I believe this story captures these stages very well.
3. Write a one-paragraph response to “Moisturize Twice Daily (Links to an external site.).”
This story was fantastic in telling the journey of the student learning to appreciate the teacher that they thought
was dry and ineffective. I believe that most people have a memorable teacher or two in high school that shapes
them more than they realize at the moment. A teacher that one looks back at and realizes the benefits the
teacher provided years before is, in my opinion, the most effective type of teacher that one can have,
especiallyl in high school.
4. What do the sample narratives do well in relation to our academic assignment?
2. Sample narratives serve the important purpose of being great examples of effective writing and of
showing us how good writing can be used to tell a story. They also have an important substantive
purpose of reminding us the struggles of literacy and education and how overall positive it is.
1. Write a one-paragraph response to your own summary.
Again, this has to be your own summary and I cannot write it for you because I do not know you 😊
My Path to Literacy
Est. 1998
At the age of four I began to write using the alphabet as a basis of structure. Mrs.
Stedding, my stern yet very memorable teacher used our keen sense of sight to successfully teach
us how to properly write. The walls of the classroom were tastefully decorated with bright letters
that undoubtedly caught the attention of our impressionable minds. In addition, our individual
desks were rimmed with a miniature banner that began with A and ended with Z. With that in
mind, each day those letters were subliminally instilled into my brain as vital components of
everyday life. Soon thereafter, once my classmates and I were acquainted with our academic
environment, Mrs. Stedding steadfastly submerged us into a written-based routine.
Putting Pencil to Paper
Mrs. Stedding dedicated 30 minutes each day to learning the alphabet. She distributed
perfectly aligned paper with a light sketch of both upper and lower case letters. I quizzically
grasped my No. 2 pencil in my sweaty palm and stroked the foreign letters with the help of my
teacher. Starting with A, I hesitantly moved along struggling with letters such as G then later Q.
Eventually, with the guidance of my optimistic instructor, I sloppily conquered each component
of the alphabet. In fact, for every five letters that I mastered came a gold star. This positive
reinforcement motivated me to achieve complete perfection within the writing realm. All in all, I
will forever remember Mrs. Stedding as the person who patiently taught me how to form the
English language in an aesthetic manner. While Mrs. Stedding proved to be a crucial member in
shaping my literacy skills, there was obviously more to reading and writing than simply
perfecting the letters that make up the language – enter Mr. Fedell.
THE English Teacher
The years following preschool appeared challenging in regards to reading and writing.
Yet, perhaps my senior English class is where my literate ability had to grow the most. Notorious
for his genius I.Q. and tough assignments, Mr. Fedell proved a stickler for proper literacy.
Specifically passionate about poetry, Mr. Fedell often had us interpret pieces of work from a
book of poems. This difficult interpretation tactic that he required of his class all began with
Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”.
As I slowly underlined the tricky sentences with my shaky finger, the unknown confused
feeling I had felt at the age of four came rushing back. The words weaved together in a brilliant
fashion, but my brain felt like it had turned to mush. Acknowledging symbolic references and
digging deep for meanings was the foundation for understanding poems –or so Mr. Fedell
believed. Therefore, I had to rewire my brain in a manner that strayed away from my
conventional way of reading and writing. Originally I was taught to sound out words and define
their individual meaning. Now, merit was necessary in defining previously defined words that
now held more profound substance. While I never fully found my knack for inferring poems, I
certainly made strides. Actually, it’s a struggle I face even to this day. However, despite this selfproclaimed deficiency, I’ve learned valuable lessons in establishing adequate literacy dexterity
such as viewing each standpoint.
Perspective
Relating to and understanding the audience is essential in both reading and writing. For
example, in order to draft a comprehendible paper, the writer must speak in a manner that is
appropriate for the specified readers. If the topic states that you should recount the hard times
during the recession, you likely wouldn’t choose to appeal to the wealthier spectrum of society.
Instead, you would cling to the terrifyingly poor in the hopes of tugging on their emotions; or in
other words, capturing their attention. In addition, this proficiency proves beneficial while
reading as well.
For instance, while reading an article on Malcolm X I initially can’t identify with his
tribulations at all. Due to the fact that he received no formal education after 8th grade and spent
time incarcerated, it’s evident that our lives are hardly mirror images of each other. With that
said, it was important that I adjusted my mindset in order to understand Malcolm X’s stance.
Furthermore, keeping an open mind as a reader and specifying as a writer tie back to the
relativity of an audience. Essentially, identifying the significance of an audience is an approach I
will continue to use based on its relevance in expanding my literate aptitude.

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