Literacy Narrative
It is hard to think of an earliest memory of reading or writing in my life. Even though reading and writing is the base of pretty much everything else I have learned. My life has been surrounded by some very influential writers who have acted as literary sponsors (Brandt) to help show me how to write and read. My literary skills have continued to build up over the years as well. Even today I believe these skills are continuing to grow through the most popular forms of reading and writing in email and even media. Many experiences have helped shape who I am as a writer and as a reader.
My entire life I have been surrounded by influential writers who I have lived with, and those I have studied. Growing up one of my biggest literary sponsors has been my mom. Before my mom goes to bed every night she writes in a journal about the day. She will write about the highlights, the funny parts, the worst parts, and anything that happened during the day. She can remember the exact date that anything crazy that happened in my life was on. Growing up she used to tell me and my brother stories of crazy things we used to do or say as little kids. For instance, One day my brother and I were joking around until all things went south. My brother and I were running circles around the couch chasing each other. My brother was really starting to bother me so I sprung off the back side of the couch and landed on him hard. Apparently, I had knocked out one of his teeth and given him a raging bloody nose all in one blow. She was so descriptive and someday I hope to do that with my kids. It is very fun to hear those stories and get those memories back. This has motivated me to start writing for fun.
I would not be able to write about these things though without the people who taught me and have guided me throughout my study. I have had two amazing English teachers over the course of my schooling so far. The first one I had was my fourth grade teacher named Mrs. Zimmerman. Every day at the beginning of class, she would have us open our writer’s journal and write about whatever topic we wanted for the first fifteen minutes of class. This really opened my mind to write about anything and to be creative. I remember writing about my day, and fishing, and my feelings, and even how to make a tree house. This technique is very similar to the technique illustrated by Ray Bradbury in his lecture aired on California Public Television. He uses a technique where he just opens his mind and starts writing. He has used this technique to write books, plays, and even scripts for movies, just because he opened his mind to write about anything(Bradbury). The other teacher I had that has helped sculpt my writing and reading is my fourth grade teacher Mrs. Dimaria. She offered two free pizzas to any student who recorded the most hours of reading during every other week of class. I have never spent so much time in my life reading. You know I was going to get that pizza. The amount of time I spent reading that year really improved my reading ability’s . These two teachers I believe have taught me the most and have built me the most as a reader and writer.
Another thing that has strongly influenced me as a writer and reader is the use of technology. Many people believe that the use of technology is depriving children of the use of writing but I think it is doing the opposite. Whether it is a post on Facebook, Instagram, or even snapchat you are using your literary skills. You are writing electronically about anything that comes to mind. Then once you have them written out, you use your literary skills to edit them and make them proper. And if you are a blog writer, then you would use an open mind to write about whatever comes to mind. And this is out there for anyone to read, and improve their reading ability.
My writing today has continued to improve while I’ve been in school at VMI. Since I have been away communication with the outside world is very hard. Without my phone I am not able to text or call my family. I have had to resort to writing letters and typing formal emails. This has helped improve my writing tremendously. Unlike texting and calling, with letters and emails you have to really think about what you are typing. You have to write in formal outlines and have correct grammar and spelling or you will look not very bright. My dad also bought me a writing journal to record all of my chemistry notes in. I have been keeping this up very well and am writing very organized neat notes. Brandt argues in the Writing about Writing book writes that these strategies are one of the greatest engines of profit in the 20th century with many different paths (40-75pgs). These skills will help me even after I graduate from VMI. Writing these letters and emails and in my notes at school has really helped me improve my literary skills and mold me in to the writer that I am today.
Even though in this essay I only have teachers, parents, and experiences improving my writing and reading skills, literally everything you do in some way adds to your writing. Anything that happens to you each and every day opens up experiences that you could write about. Writing is free and open to endless possibilities.
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Works Cited
Bradbury, Ray. “An Evening with Ray Bradbury 2001.” YouTube. UCtelevision, 01 May 2008. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Brandt Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.