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Shernari Council 25 September 13 ENGL 1101 Dr. Rieman Oh How Time Flies: A Literacy Memoir It is amazing how things change over time. Technology is created, different interests are developed, your environment may change and these are all things that may affect your literacy. Well at least they affected mine. Over time my appreciation for reading and writing has fluctuated dramatically. Although reading is definitely not one of my favorite hobbies I enjoy the relaxation writing such as journals and diaries bring. I have learned that literacy is what you make it and varies from person to person.
Comment [JR2]: Read aloud. Comment [SC3]: Writing brings in things such as journals and diaries Comment [JR4]: This makes me wonder how you are defining literacy and would like your definition here. Comment [SC5]: I was trying to show how I have defined my literacy through each paragraph and make it work as the overall theme. So should I go back and include an exact definition? Comment [JR1]: Greta title! Please remember your self-assessment next time. It helps me know what to read for.

Early Child hood

My mother was just starting out as a teacher as I began preschool. She would often use me to help her figure out what she thought was the most effective and interesting teaching method for her students. That quickly turned into lots of writing and reading practice on top of my assigned school work. I would sit at the kitchen table with my mom staring over my shoulder watching the way I controlled my pencil seeing if the weeks of practice paid off. To also keep my mind engaged and help me explore my creativity she would give me different pictures to make up stories about. Although my writing had progressed extremely well I had the wildest imagination so she would write them down for me in her own words and I would have to practice reading it back to her.

Comment [SC6]: I think I know how to fix, but Im not exactly sure. Comment [JR7]: Read this aloud.

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As I grew older and time went by I became more and more fascinated with writing. I liked that you were in control of the outcome of the story and no one else. I enjoyed it more than coloring, more than nap time, I even enjoyed it more than dress up. Since I was very serious about my writing I only wrote in pencil. I felt that it was very unofficial to write in crayons or markers. I wouldnt even write in pen. I consider my mother to be my primary sponsor of literacy being that she spent countless hours making sure I understood the concept of reading and writing. It was also her that motivated me and kept me interested in what I was learning. In no time with the help of her and my teacher I was reading better than most of the children in my class.
Comment [JR8]: Where would you write? And would anyone read what you wrote? Im curious about knowing more here. This move to your mom as sponsor feels less connected to these previous ideas. Think about the way youve constructed your paragraphs here. It seems like it would fit better in previous paragraph. Comment [SC9]: I didnt realize that I tabbed the beginning of the line. Early childhood was intended to be one single section. Do you think the ideas will work together in one paragraph? Comment [SC10]: Im not sure of how to fix this

Wheel of Fortuneand Everything There After

When I was in the second grade, I believe the year was 2002, something came into my life and little did I know how it would affect the rest of it. That something was a computer. My father set up a game similar to the TV game show Wheel of Fortune, but rather than spinning a wheel to earn letters I had to read books. Easy childrens books didnt count for anything. The books had to be chapter books for the grade level three and up. This was probably the quickest Ive ever read in my entire life being that each book only equated to a single letter. I was so eager to figure out what the phrase said since it held the answer to what the surprise was, that I would find myself reading books all day and all night that it was hard for me to stay awake in class. After I finally figured out the phrase and got the computer everything seemed to change. I found myself obsessed with an object that I wasnt even sure of its exact purpose and functionality. We had

Comment [JR11]: Read aloudin all of these sentences highlighted so far, you have a similar pattern of neglecting any commas that might help your reader understand this sentence as you intend.

Comment [JR12]: What a clever game! Reading as incentive and reward.

Comment [SC13]: Include how the computer still effects my life presently??? Comment [JR14]: Read aloud.

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computers at school, but being that I was only in the second grade they would barely let us touch them. While I did have internet access I found myself always typing silly messages on the notepad or trying to create stories rather than playing online games. At times I would even go to the extent of playing teacher, by myself, and create worksheets on things that I learned in school and I would print them out and answer the questions. I thought it was so exciting to have my own computer. While I was using it to do a lot of writing I completely abandoned reading. I began to really dislike it and things have remained the same every since. A couple of years passed and in the fourth grade I got my own cell phone. Although majority of my friends didnt have one, my parents did so I would text them every chance I could. I would even text my friends parents. It was something like I never experienced. Now that I had a computer and a phone my interest completely began to change. I went from writing down meaningful stories, to sending text messages like, wats up mom? Ily! Since there werent many things to do on the cell phone at the time I would just constantly change my ringtones, screensavers, and wallpaper. I had internet access on my phone but the screen was so tiny that I could barely see anything. I was primarily writing through my electronics so I saw my hand writing starting to become very sloppy and unappealing. As a girl I thought my handwriting had to be perfect so this motivated me to start writing again. I figured if I wrote about things I was interested in I wouldnt mind writing and would maybe fall in love with it like I once did. I began to write long letter to my friends and family. This quickly became something I really enjoyed to do because
Comment [SC17]: I guess I was trying to inform the readers that since the screen was so small I wasnt using it for anything that we do presently such as read online journals or articles. However, I dont really think its needed. Comment [JR18]: What idea do you want your reader to take away here? Comment [JR19]: Did you mail them/deliver them? Or were they just for you? Comment [SC20]: I really mailed them off even if the person lived on the same street. It was something about the idea of going to the mail box and raising the flag. I definitely enjoyed receiving mail in return. Comment [SC16]: Its because I was more focused on doing creating things rather than exploring items that were already made such as readings. I would use paint creating my own work and notepad to create my own stories. This began to consume much of my time. Therefore reading became Comment [JR15]: HmmmWhy do you think? Did you read things on-line?

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the thought of receiving mail in return made me so excited. Another thing that motivated me to work on my penmanship was that Ive always thought that papers with better handwriting keep the reader more engaged and helps in persuading them to keep reading. (The Wall Street Journal published an article about how handwriting boosts the brain. The article also includes some research theyve done to support their theories. If you are interested in learning more about how handwriting may be beneficial to your brain click here. )

Comment [JR21]: Did people write back?

Teenager TimesTeenager Troubles

As I grew older technology became even more fascinating to me. It began to take all of my time. I definitely didnt enjoy reading and I seldom wrote. Much of my time was consumed by all the social media sites that had suddenly become so popular such as Myspace and Facebook. At the time social networks didnt promote good grammar, well at least the people I was friends with. I often found myself writing in short hand or using different slang, words. There was even a point that I was writing a paper in class and failed to realize I was writing as if I was on one of these social media websites. That resulted in a really bad grade! Being quite honest that didnt change much of anythi ng besides the fact that I would make sure I reread the paper before turning it in. Because typing on the computer was so quick and on social media even quicker I soon began to despise all in class, hand written papers. To me they seemed so old fashione d and I didnt see the importance of them. It wasnt until my high school writing test that I remember why it was important. I became to be very frantic about the test because I know you needed to pass it to graduate. Although I knew I once was a very good writer it troubled me because I had gotten use to

Comment [SC22]: I believe it has. One specific time where Im sure it has was on my Economics final exam. I didnt know much of the information, but what I did know I made sure to write out neatly and align my graphs in such a nice way. The instructor specifically told me everyone else seems to have been rushing so the writing was really hard to understand and that she appreciated me taking time to neatly construct my paper. It earned me a few extra points. Comment [JR23]: Nice inclusion! And I want to know if this work on your handwriting paid off for you. Comment [SC24]: I meant reading educational text and writing, but yes I was posting on these social media sites. Comment [JR25]: You say you didnt write or read, but you were obviously reading these sites. Were you also posting/writing?

Comment [JR26]: Good strategy!

Comment [JR27]: Ah---great idea to explore more. I see a theme of a wide division between what you saw as school writing and non-school writing.

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typing quickly on the computer and not having to check for grammar errors because Microsoft Word would automatically help me correct them. If I was not able to write my thoughts down neatly and in the allotted time I was sure there was no way I was going to pass the test. Also I slacked off on spelling simply because with the modern technology it was easier to use words that you didnt necessarily know how to spell because of functions such as autocorrect. I had never been that nervous in my entire life. I would have been devastated if I had completed almost all the years of grade school but not be able to walk across the stage on graduation day because of a writing test. I began to do practice timed writing almost every day for a month before the test actually came. In this span of time I learned how to brainstorm pretty quickly and efficiently and how to develop my thoughts and ideas into an order that would make sense. Apparently all my hard work paid off because I made a perfect score on the test all though I did have a few spelling errors.
Comment [SC29]: This seems a little weird. Should I take out the do? Comment [JR30]: Where would you get these practice tests? Was anyone at school helping you prepare? Comment [SC31]: Since its a state wide exam there was a website sponsored through the Georgia School system that gave you topics and would generate a score for you after a certain amount of days. Comment [SC32]: Yes my teachers helped us prepare for them everyday. Comment [JR28]: Slacked off?

**These are just sample pieces and not my actual writing** At this point I realized that I would never want to be put under that much stress and pressure again and that writing would always matter. It definitely was important at this stage in my

Comment [SC33]: More so social connection. I was trying to say that writing is incorporated in almost everything. I gave examples after this sentence. Should I include something else? Comment [JR34]: Matter in what way? As a gatekeeper (like potentially keeping you from graduating? As a source of social connection?)

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life. I made sure that I wouldnt be in the same situation when it came time for me to take me standardized test such as the SAT and ACT, fill out college applications and essays, or even when applying for jobs and internships by writing a little summary of my day, every day even if it was only a few words. In this I found that writing was very relaxing for me. In high school things can get a bit rough whether its the work or just teenage drama. I found writing as an outlet to say any and everything I wanted without being judged. Whenever I got frustrated with something I would find myself writing pages full of deep and detailed thought. I never expected myself to enjoy writing the same way as I did when I was a child. (On a radio show hosted by Jeremy Hobson, Paige Kimble, director of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and Simon Horobin, a professor of English language and literature at Oxford University talk about if spelling still matters in a generation like todays. If youd liked to hear what these two professionals had to say just click here.)
Looking back over how youve grown and developed as a reader and writer can bring back some pretty shocking findings. I did not realize how much they were involved in my life. I often think of texting, tweeting, or emailing as just that, not as an actual piece of writing. Technology has heavily influenced me and while I still dont write with pen and paper as often as I use to I continue to remember it is important and make sure to utilize the true art every once in a while. It will take a lot for me to grow to like reading books again! Most of the reading I do is from social media and magazines. If I am reading a text book or novel it is very likely that is a required reading from school. My literacy has changed as I have changed.
Comment [JR38]: This aside seems out of place here. Comment [SC36]: When I am writing things that are slightly emotional to me I always tend to write by hand. Comment [JR37]: Where would you write this? By hand? IN a journal? In a word processing doc/ Comment [JR35]: Wow! Great idea.

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Shernari, Nicely done! What I see as the overall struggle you present here is that of a person who reads and writes in multiple contexts but then sees that only school writing is valued. I wonder two things as you revise: one, how can you look more closely at your attitudes between school and non-school writing. Is there this true disconnect between the two? Two, you obviously have computer literacy that was fostered and developedcan you address that in this narrative more directly? You note all the different technologies you have used, but not so much about what thay kind of literacy has gotten you (like internships at Google, which I suspect you had to write something to get). Once youve read through my comments, please respond to them using the comment function to ask /answer questions, post your own comments, and think through any revision ideas you have. I dont want you to DO any of the revision in your Talk Back. I just want to give us a place to dialogue about your writing. Youll do the revision work separately.
Comment [SC39]: Do you have any ideas about how I should include this? My paper is in sort of a sequential order so I felt it would be out of place to bring up Google internships in the sub heading about when I first got a computer in 2002.