Literacy Narrative Essays - American Writers, Writers, Free Essays

Literacy Narrative Essays - American Writers, Writers, Free Essays Kennedy Sims @02839811 Literacy Narrative Growing up, reading and literature was always something that was subtly but definitely emphasized in my household. Although this was the case, I don't ever recall being that interested later on in my educational career, but I was always great at it. When it comes to writing and literacy the clearest picture that comes to mind is my experiences before high school. This is the stage in my life when I knew that it was something that I had a distant love for, but the individuals set to teach me this material weren't adequately informed on the subject themselves. My most significant memories of reading always bring me back to the summer time. Every Tuesday and Thursday all I can remember is walking into my local library with my mom and picking out as many books as I could carry, hoping they would be enough for the top prize that week. My library had a summer reading program that I would always participate in and these books would be what would carry on my love for literature and readin g for many years, it became tradition. Although I don't remember specific details or stories about these interactions, I do know the feeling that it gave me: to win that iPad in 6th grade for reading the most books, to win those prizes after turning in dozens and dozens of books I had read and wrote about over the summer, to be the student picked out of the crowd to read the school announcements over the speakers because I was just that good at it. It made me feel great to know that I was actually good at something I loved to do. Not until recently did I realize that all these experiences helped shaped my current mindset about literature and its conditions. Everything began in junior high school. I would come into my 6th grade homeroom every day, ecstatic to see my teacher Mrs.Tonad, and ready to learn whatever she was going to teach that day. Mrs. Tonad was the first and only teacher that I had that made me feel great about reading and literature because it was obviously something that she loved to do. Her love for the subject made teaching it to her students, that much easier. She made the comparison with other teachers who taught the subject that much harder. Being in her class was the primary reason I won the reading competition for that year because she was the person who motivated me to do so. That's when I knew that the things that I was being introduced to in the classroom didn't have to stay there, I didn't need a teacher to learn; and that's when books really became my best friend. This new-found discovery of reading for my own enjoyment soon dwindled down as I transitioned from junior high to high school. Throughout high school, I often felt disconnected from the material that was being taught because it had no real meaning in my life. It didn'tmatter to me if I understood it or not because I didn't see why or how it was important.The standard curriculum in literature that was taught in my school never really matched the African American demographic that it was being taught to, and as a result left many kids feeling the way I did. One of the things that made me confirm this notion was the testimony of one of the focal writers in the article Mahiri Sablo: "Writing For Their Lives", Keisha. Keisha let researchers know that the main inspiration for her piecescame from the things around her, things that she experienced in her everyday life. I believe that this is very important in determining what matters to children being taught in school. How much of the curriculum actuallyrelates to us? Voluntary writing should be just that, voluntary, but the subjects discussed in school are not alwa ys interesting because they don'trelate to children learning it. Another example that comes to mind when discussing perspective and subjectivity in the class room is Jacqueline Royster's essay in "Visons and Cyphers". After reading Royster's essay in David E. Green Jr's "Visons and Cyphers", I realized that the things