Literacy Narrative

It all started in middle school. I had my first “real” English class where we had to actually read, write, and do work ourselves. It was a rude awakening because I was never a fan of writing, especially on my own. I remember the countless nights of struggling to write even a single paragraph. I would sit at my desk staring at the computer screen, hoping sentences would somehow magically appear. I would always wonder why I had to write this because I thought it would not be relevant to any career I would have in the future. Ever since I was a kid I have always liked math and science more than English.

They seemed to come naturally to me, and I did much better in those types of classes. However, as time went by, my English and writing skills began to somewhat improve. In high school, my freshman and sophomore year English classes were not too bad. There was the occasional essay where we had to write maybe two pages. Because of this though, I became a better writer and thinker. I was never too worried when we would get assigned an essay because I could usually knock it out in a few hours the night before it was due, and still get a pretty good grade on it.

However, this all changed my junior year. When I discovered that my English teacher in my junior year was Mr. Kuhn, I began to get very worried. All I heard from his past students was that he was a very strict grader who only liked a certain style of writing; and if you did not write his way you suffered the consequences. Unfortunately, when I was assigned the first essay I did not take it as seriously as I should have. I procrastinated once again and wrote this haphazard essay in a mere hour and a half. When Mr.

Kuhn returned our graded essays to us, I was all but surprised to see that I got a C-, which was the lowest essay grade I had gotten. Out of disappointment in myself, I promised that I would do my best to not procrastinate and dedicate more time to this class. As my junior year went by, I felt as if I were going back to middle school. I would spend hours looking at a blank computer screen, trying to think of the perfect thing to write so I could get a good grade, even though that was unlikely.

Based on how the year was going, one could only imagine how distraught I was when my teacher assigned us an eight-page research paper. I kept thinking, “If I am having so much trouble writing three to four page essays, how could I possibly write an eight-page essay? ” On the bright side, however, the topic of this paper was to pick a side of a controversial or opinionated issue, and use sources to help explain why you think it is right. After several days of failed topics, as well as stress build-up, a light bulb finally lit up over my head. Ever since I was younger, I have always taken an interest to past wars and the leaders who fought in them.

I guess it was because several of my family members fought in wars. Nevertheless, I came up with the issue of how Robert E. Lee, general of the Confederate Army in the Civil War, should be considered an American hero. I felt that most people regarded him as a traitor who should be condemned, while I believed that he was a respected man who did not fight for slavery, but for honor and family. I finally found something I could write that I considered fascinating, and I was extremely excited about it.

After a few weeks of writing and revising, I eventually finished the essay, making it exactly the way I wanted it. This was one of the very few papers that I actually felt confident about as I handed it in to my teacher. When Mr. Kuhn returned the essays, I was astounded to see that I got a 97. It was the highest essay grade that I got in his class, and I could tell that he was fairly impressed. To this day, that research paper is my finest piece of work, but I am still eager to put my English skills to the test and become a better writer.

Essay about Literacy Narrative

Kyle Crifasi Richard English IV, 1B 31 August 2011 Literacy Narrative Typically, people think of reading when they see a novel or a short story, but I think of reading when I’m out on the baseball field. When I hear the word “reading”, unlike most people, I think of a green grassy baseball diamond at night, with the lights lighting it up, filled with fans in the stands. Believe it or not, I read all the time on the field. I read the ball coming off the bat when I’m playing in the field.

When I hear the “ding” of the metal bat and hard, rubber ball colliding, I know that there is a chance I could make a great play. I can see the ball getting bigger and bigger as in approaches me. I read the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand, picking up the spin as soon as I can so I can know when and where to swing to make solid contact with the ball. I even read people’s body language when I’m pitching. I can tell a lot about the batter by how he’s standing and the facial expression on his face. Learning how to read all of these things took lots of practice and discipline.

Throughout the years, all of my coaches have stressed how important it is to react to what I see through my “readings”. I learned to read these things when I was just a little four foot tall, 60-pound kid. A bit after I started to learn how to read words on paper, I was learning to read on the field, too. I find the reading that I do on the field much more fun than reading a book or story. I believe that my love for baseball grew because I felt a connection with the type of reading it involved rather than the kind of reading done with books.

These readings are important to me so I can do my job and be the best player I can be on the field. When I’m at bat, I have to read the spin on the ball as it comes out of the pitcher’s hand as fast as I can so I can react with the perfect swing at the best time in the right location. If I don’t read it correctly or if a pitch fools me, I swing and miss. I’ll have to deal with striking out for the rest of the game until I get my next chance to show what I can do. When I’m in the outfield, my job is to catch anything that’s hit into my area.

I have to be able to read the ball right when it makes a connection with the opposing batter’s bat. I have to know how high its going, how hard its hit, which way it’s spinning, and which way the wind will blow it. If I read one of these things wrong, it could turn out to be bad for the team and embarrassing for me if I miss it. Coach Broussard would always tell me to look into the opposing batter’s eyes when I pitch. That intimidating look that a pitcher can give will really get in the batter’s head. He will be wondering hundreds of different thoughts before I throw the ball exactly where I want it.

I’m the one in control and he is just going through his mind trying to figure out, or guess, which pitch I’m about to throw him. After a couple pitches, when I have him right where I want him, I can play around with his mind even more. I can throw anything I want and I can even waste a couple bad pitches hoping he’ll swing and miss, just to make him look stupid. When I can read all of these things correctly, that’s when I can play the best and it’s because of my coaches and what they have taught me that have made me so great at “reading”.

Reading is important in my life not only on the field but in the classroom as well. Without learning how to truly read and write, I would not be able to accomplish anything in life. I remember when I first learned to read. I was about three years old and my mom would read books to me and I would follow along with her. She would read the books with the gold spines and they were always books that made me happy and I was always happy to read them.

I always enjoyed reading back then more than I do now. The books that I read now, I’m usually forced to read and they usually aren’t interesting to me. To me, reading means many things, not only the reading of text on a page but actions of others and myself as well. Most other people may not say that they will think of baseball games when thinking of how they read in real life, but I view the game of baseball that way and I like to share about how I can read in many different ways in life.

Reading books is definitely not one of my favorite hobbies to do, but every once in a while I will find a good book that will catch my interest for the next couple of months. My learning experience from reading on the field has taught me another meaning of literacy that I would not have realized if I had not thought about what reading really meant to me. I can now understand how I use reading in all different aspects of my life better, and not just in the classroom but throughout my everyday activities, like baseball. Words: 1000

Military Language: Through My Eyes Literacy Narrative

Jaron Dowell Professor Benjamin Smith ENGL 1113 20120930 Military Language: Through My Eyes My drill instructor TSgt Huggins proudly stated to my flight of sixty other high school kids from around the U. S. , “Well boys we just got some breaking news from the commander, the state of Texas’s elevation has increased by four inches and it’s your all’s responsibility to right this wrong and the only way to do that is to push, so get on your face and keep pushing till I say stop. When most people overhear military personnel conversing with one other, I’m sure their first thought would be that the English language is being butchered because all they hear are acronyms. Examples are abound everywhere: if you overheard me saying that it’s time to go chow at the DFAC, most civilians would just stare at me with a puzzling look, but if other military personnel or someone familiar with the terminology overheard me, they wouldn’t question what had just been said at all; on the contrary, they would just know that it was time to go eat at the dining facility.

The first time military language was introduced to me was the unforgettable day of June 29th, 2009 in the unforgivable heat of southern Texas at Lackland AFB. While 99% of my senior class was off having a last hoorah before they went off to college, I was getting told to get on my face and do pushups till my arms fall off by a man so huge, the earth shook beneath his feet. I was hundreds of miles away from home, and it suddenly hit me for what I had gotten myself into. Over the next two months I would have my views on life be changed almost on a weekly basis by what was going on around me.

If I had known on my first day of what I should have said to Huggins question, I wouldn’t have had a problem, but instead I did the most idiotic thing you could do: I let out a small chuckle. With a blink of an eye, sergeant Huggins was in my face and letting me know if I thought something was funny, to which my response was “Sir trainee Dowell reports as ordered, sir I do not find you a funny man at all. ” I thought that was the proper answer, but I was very wrong. Huggins was all-knowing and had an answer to everything.

He just stared at me with a blank expression and said “That hurts trainee, here I was letting you see my talent and you go and do this to me, well since I’m obviously not the funny one how about you tell me a joke, so that way I can learn from a professional. ” That moment I started to open my mouth and before a word was spoken an explosion went off, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING, YOU WILL NOT SPEAK, YOU ARE NOT FUNNY, YOU ARE GOOD FOR ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY, YOU WILL BE MY LATRINE QUEEN AND YOU WILL HAVE MY BATHROOM CLEAN ENOUGH TO EAT OFF, DO YOU UNDERSTAND! To which I responded “Yes sir. ” It was at that moment I understood exactly the beauty of just saying two words and nothing else, “yes sir” was my dearest companion and would serve me well for the next couple months. Military culture was infusing itself with me more and more each day that I was at basic training. It was always adapting and helping me to understand the world around me and its intentions were obvious since very first day of basic training: to break me down, just to build me up.

The act of being yelled at was literacy in its purest form. To me it was a means of communicating the disciplines I would have to endure in order for me to be a contributing force in the United States Air Force. Although I was not a fan of being yelled at on a regular basis, it began to dawn on me that in order for me to progress; I would have to learn the language that was presented in front of me. As simple as the language may have appeared to me at first, I learned that it was actually quite intricate.

Not only did it combine language being spoken, but it utilized body language as well. The body language was the hardest aspect for me to grasp at the beginning; although I may have not intended to disrespect any MTI; my body language seemed to always be saying something completely opposite of what I had just spoken. But through persistent “behavioral modifications,” or as I like to say “getting my head chewed off,” I was able to overcome that obstacle in no time at all.

I had learned the art of being a big guy that could be tinier and quieter than a field mouse. I had learned my lesson and now began the practice of listening before speaking and it was worked wonderfully in my favor because I hadn’t received the wrath of any of my drill instructors. I started to realize that the military was teaching me valuable tools that would help me throughout my life, not just a means for me to survive basic training.

At times the language and environment was harsh but I came to the conclusion that I needed to take a step back and allow someone to help me progress myself as an adult. For me, graduating basic training was one of the proudest moments of my life and whenever I look back at that day, I know that if I hadn’t of been put through that stress, I wouldn’t have the skills I do today to deal with that. The military was a great thing for me to experience, and I will always be thankful for that.

Personal Literacy Narrative

To Learn Is to Change Life is full of risks, and that is what makes it so much more exciting. I took a risk in life when I switched from homeschooling to “real school. ” This risk required me to walk through an unknown door. I quickly learned that in order to take a risk, I had to step outside of my comfort zone. If I had not taken that step to go out and try something new, I would not have learned how to survive in a new environment. We learn things in life by doing, and if we do not try things, there will be no growth.

In the end I found joy in the journey of risk-taking. If I went back to the day I had the thought of going to “real school for the first time, I would have told myself the same thing: “Go for it. ” When I walked through the school building’s doors for the first time, I was very nervous. I wondered how I would make new friends. What if the school work was difficult? I was homeschooled until the third grade, and when I began “real school” I surprisingly thrived in my new environment.

At times I was bored at the slow pace my peers learned, and I made many new friends. The glory days of high school were some of my absolute favorite times. I was able to get into some challenging academic and musical programs that fully engaged my mind and prepared me for college. I had several teachers say they could tell I loved to learn by the amount of hard work that I put into my school assignments. What could I say? Homeschooling gave me a desire to learn. I enjoyed how much information I would reel in every single day.

Frederick Douglass had a life full of chances to grow. For example, he learned to read and write as a slave. In his autobiography he states, “I wished to learn how to write, as I might have occasion to write my own pass. I consoled myself with the hope that I should one day find a good chance. Meanwhile, I would learn to write. ” His soothing hope illustrates that we must be motivated from the inside. Douglass had confidence and acted for himself. He faced the truth that extraordinary things happen when we take a chance and open doors that life before us.

Unless we do the things we fear and take a chance in life, we will never know the outcome. Homeschooling has shown me that education is a process that changes the learner. I truly am thankful for the experience of public school, and I treasure the years that I spent learning at home, especially. I am thankful that I had faith to explore the unknown. Homeschooling taught me that I can confidently open up new doors in the future that will have so much to offer. There is always more mystery.

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Literacy Narrative. (2016, Aug 07). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/literacy-narrative/

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