Your Name: Jordan Russ Course #: 1101-017 Date: September 1, 2011

Project #1: Multi-Modal Literacy Narrative Part 2: Cultural Domain Analysis EXPANDED

Instructions (Part 1 Domain Analysis Chart): When introducing the Multi-Modal Literacy Narrative project, we established that your mind is influenced by different cultural/social systems that work both separately and together to shape your ideas, beliefs, and practices as a reader and writer. To analyze these systems, your first task is to complete the domain analysis chart in which you must reflect on each of the four domains listed below and identify as many practices, ideas/values/beliefs, objects, or significant details from each cultural/social system that you think has influenced your literacy and composition skills.

Home My grandparents always pushed me to be able to read. My grandmother bought all sorts of books during my childhood to spark my interest in reading and writing. My mother collected a myriad of different genres of books and collections; although I could not read many of them because of their high reading level as a child, I was always interested in making myself a better reader in hopes of one day being able to read my mothers books. My lack of having the ability to read (reading glasses) pushed me to want to read more. My brother was in high school during the time I was learning to read, so the sibling rivalry of him always being ahead of me pushed me to want to read more. My grandfather and grandmother always brought books along on family trips and read to me and taught me to read at bedtime. School I have a very competitive nature and all throughout school I had to be the very best at everything. This included reading and writing. Being in the Accelerated Readers program in elementary school made me enjoy reading even more. This

Work The little work experience I have was when I was at the age of 17 already. On my job I worked in concessions, so I learned how to read a cash register and all of the signs and symbols used on one. I learned an understanding for other peoples handwriting (my bosss). I had to write reports on my daily activities or anything that had gone wrong during the workday. These were not usually long, but they had to be very detailed in order for my boss and my superior advisors to understand the circumstances that my employees and I were placed in during any given day.

Neighborhood / Community / Peers I was always in the group of kids who read for fun, not always the popular bunch, but a very rewarding crowd My next door neighbor was the same age as me growing up, born on the very same day so I always had someone to compete with. He was

program introduced fun and new genres of books to children my age. I have been very lucky with the teachers that I have been placed with in the years past. These English teachers have always pushed me to my full potential. Without my parents making me think that Honors classes are the only option, I would have never taken Honors English classes. Honors English classes really brought out the writer in me.

always providing me with a challenge and our mothers also used us to compete against one another. Although sometimes it was not the most popular thing to talk about in a lunchroom setting, I enjoyed talking about the recent books I had read during lunch, and sometimes even recess on those rainy days.

Instructions (Part 2 Domain Analysis Narrative): Now that you have completed the chart and generated some ideas about the cultural/social systems you engage with, it is time to flesh out those ideas, and analyze/explain how you think each domain has influenced your literacy and composition. For each of the systems listed below, write between 75 and 100 words to explain the major details of each cultural/social system and how the qualities of each system have influenced your literacy and composition (this means you will compose four short analyses total). You may complete your essays below. Simply type your essay next to each of the headers.

1. Home: As a child I was always urged to read by my family. My grandparents, my brother and my mother always pushed me to be a better reader and to challenge myself. I always felt as if learning a new word, or writing an essay in which they were proud of, gave them a sense of pride in who I was. Giving my family this sense of pride was one of the most fulfilling feelings I have experienced. The desire to feel this on an everyday basis has almost indefinitely influenced my literacy and composition progression as a student. 2. Work: Although my working environment did not require much reading and writing; working as a cashier at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord definitely helped my progress in literacy. I learned that not all people, even in a professional environment, write legibly and clear enough for others to read. I also learned that Cashiers use their own language when using a cash register. The knowledge of the location of all of the important buttons and the speed at which a cashier can enter these buttons is a form of literacy in its own. Being able to consistently give detailed notes on a workday was also something that helped my advancements in composition. My bosses required very detailed notes on a daily basis of that days work. This helped me be able to produce details and specific information in my writing. 3. School: Being in a school environment obviously has its benefits to ones advancement as a reader and a writer. But my sheer luck in being placed in very skilled teachers classes has advanced me the most. I have always had English teachers that push me to my limits, expanding my knowledge grammatically and helping me use the correct words in the most ideal places. Also, my competitive

nature has also shaped me as a reader and a writer. My want and need to be the best at everything that I do has made me work towards always pushing myself towards challenging goals. 4. Neighborhood / Community / Peers: To discuss literature and to involve others in the readings that I currently myself was involved in was a very enjoyable part of my development in literacy and composition. I believe the key to my development in literacy and composition was in the competition that I had with my next door neighbor. Born on the same day, on the same year, we always had very similar assignments as each other the thrill of being better than him always pushed me to be a better reader and writer. The competitive nature within my moms heart also pushed me for the same reasons. She always wanted me to be better than my next door neighbor at almost everything that I did. And this made me want it even more.