Month: January 2022

“So.,” named for the first word of Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, is the abridged story of my odyssey as a reader and writer. It addresses seven key chapters over ten years and discusses maturation, uncertainty, and late-night clandestine reading operations. I revisited many of these chapters for the first time while writing So. Being able to consider them from a distance helped me summon a fresh perspective and craft a comprehensive narrative regarding my progression (and, perhaps regression) as a reader and a writer. I did not end up addressing many of the moments I thought I would though. For example, I ended up excluding the memory that I did my pre-writing about. Although it was rich with subtle details, it was not vested with the same meaning as many of the moments I wrote about were. Through writing So., I have forced myself to acknowledge that learning is not a linear process. Many of life’s most important lessons reveal themselves to you when you expect them the least. I have also learned that I should probably be reading more.

Read So.

When first seeing the prompt for our first literacy narrative, I was glad. This was because our pre-writing exercise focused on one memory that I associate with reading and writing but what I wanted was like our prompt where I get to talk about the process of how I shaped the way I read and write now.

After reading the prompt, I definitely wanted to include my story of myself stepping up as a student during the last 18 months of high school. This was when I was motivated the most to achieve my goals as a student and human being. During this period, I focused on developing various skills, one of which was my reading and writing skills. When writing this literacy narrative, I made sure to show the process of how I read and write since I was a child.

While writing this narrative, I learned how to jot down remarkable memories of mine in a narrative way. The clarification by professor Morgen that there is no structure that he wants and that it is okay to use “I” in the essay helped me talk about my story spontaneously. This assignment was interesting because I never got the opportunity to think about who and what influenced the way I read and write as it was instead of who and what influenced the way I talk, think, act, and play like (in sports).

This is the link for my essay

https://kylemooncom.wordpress.com/how-i-pulled-my-socks-up-and-was-able-to-step-up/

The prompt asks for a narrative of key events that shaped the way we read and write. I wanted to include my mother in this narrative piece because she is largely the cause of me getting anywhere near literature in the first place. It was with great fondness that I memorialized those moments we spent together gushing over insignificant details of novels I had read prior to that day which later increased my interest in reading and helped improve my writing skills. I also wanted to include Mrs. Rojas, my fourth-grade teacher who gave me much confidence in my writing one school afternoon. Throughout the writing process, I was able to understand the importance of brainstorming beforehand and compartmentalizing my focus in each stage of the writing process. The X-pages exercise was an assignment unlike any I have had that helped organize my narrative essay. I was unsure of how many events I was supposed to write and in how much detail. I settled on these two key events with many motivators included within them. With regret, I learned that I do not remember much about other key events that helped push me in the specific direction regarding the English language I am at present. As for the image, it was the easiest and least time-consuming part of the assignment. An illustration created by me was included in the page in the way I remember her looking at me during those precious moments we had together.

Link to published page: Two Grains of Rice

Throughout the process of writing my essay, there was a mixture of feelings that were ranging when writing- most of it being stressed. Reason being is because on the pre-writing exercise my professor made us do, I had an entirely different prompt that was not incorporated into the essay. Originally, the concept was going to be me writing poetry in my room and detailing the many things I was writing. Although it is a good prompt to use, I didn’t know where to begin, or how to follow through with it. So, that prompt was scrapped and thus the high school essay story was brought to life.

When I first had my original draft, I didn’t like it at first. Mainly because I focused more on the story aspect rather on the reflection aspect of the essay. In my head I was thinking “does this follow through with what is being asked ?” I answered “no” and began to find ways to have a reflection ending piece. It took time and I finally did after removing words and phrases as well as adding new ones.

Overall, I really enjoyed writing this narrative. It helps detail a point in my life in where writing became the point of interest in my life. Although I enjoyed a sense of writing before the high school essay, what happens next helps shape my interest in writing, and allows me to explore new components of writing !

If you guys want to read my essay, the link will be provided down below ! I hope you guys enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed writing it and have an amazing day ! – Luigic14

Link Here: https://luigic14.wordpress.com/how-one-essay-shaped-my-ways-of-writing/

For many people, reading and writing are activities that are typically enjoyed alone, but throughout my life, I have been taught to appreciate them with the people that I care about most. In my literacy narrative, I explored the many ways that my family and friends have influenced my development as a student, reader, and person. While writing this narrative I learned how to describe pivotal events in my reading and writing career and I described the ways it has impacted me as a young adult. The writing process for this narrative was filled with several drafts and failed ideas. The free writing activity helped draw out small details from memories that I had previously forgotten and although not everything from the free writing activity made it into my paper, it was still very helpful. Before this essay, I had never really considered the number of people who have influenced my reading and writing and how important they have been in not only my school work but also my recreational time as well.

My literary narrative essay was about my rise, fall, and resurgence in reading, which was in conjunction with my visually wired brain, personal goals and technology use, which distracted me from reading; and how a summer with a forced technology reset showed me to love it again. In the process of writing this essay, the freewriting exercise laid a strong and immediate foundation for my first draft. While I was doing the free writing, I was consciously aware of how what I wrote would all have a piece in my ultimate “final” draft. I now know how important leading with strong guiding questions is to really getting the fruit out of my writing, and the importance of the “how”s and “why”s. When I reflect on writing this essay and I zoom out on what I wrote, I am surprised by how much of a severe impact the use of certain technologies truly had on affecting my attention span and overall interest in pursuing interests. Interestingly, I only know that this was one of the root causes due to its overwhelming effect on so many other students my age, especially during quarantine. I am interested in seeing the way some kids are now aware of its detriment, and how they now are changing their habits. Additionally, as I am now more aware that it is not uncommon for many visual learner kids to step away from reading, I now blame myself less for my struggle, and also see how much of a benefit it is to be different, as it means my other areas of interest are naturally stronger than others. It was also interesting for me to see how much my early childhood truly was related to expressing my visual side, never before seeing reading as another testament to it. 

My essay discusses the significance of one day during the summer of 2008 when I found myself struggling to progress through a new comic series. The lessons I learned from that seemingly insignificant memory would be crucial in my later development as a writer.

While writing this essay, I was able to put into words what I had known since my junior year of high school. It was refreshing looking back at those memories and reminds me that I can still use the lessons that I learned all those years ago here at university and beyond.

The freewriting aspect of this assignment was something I thoroughly enjoyed. The absence of structure and very minimal guidelines allowed for me to tell my experience the way I wanted to tell it. This level of freedom, I believe, helps me produce some of my best writing.