WR115 essay one: literacy narrative guidelines assignment guidelines

As you begin this essay writing process, reflect on your experiences and attitudes about reading and writing. Some of us have negative early experiences with reading and writing that have affected the ways we feel about reading and writing as adults. For others of us, reading and writing are treasured skills that come out of a childhood fascination with language and self-expression. Some of us have experienced the strangeness of language in a foreign country, while others have sat in a writing classroom and felt it little different from a foreign country – a place unfamiliar and remote. Regardless of our backgrounds, our ideas of literacy often become deeply engrained as good or bad without much thought from us as to how those views came to be. As a result, many of us have definitions of literacy – of reading and writing – that could benefit from a thoughtful and honest close self-examination.

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  Narrate an early memory about writing or reading that you recall vividly. Then explain why this
  event is significant to you now.
  
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  Describe  someone  who taught  you  to  read or  write  and  explain  this  person’s
  

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  Identify a book or other text and explain its significance for you in your reading and writing.
  
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  Narrate an experience with a writing or reading task that you found (or still find) difficult or
  

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  Describe a memento and explain how it represents an important moment in your
  

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  A well-told story. Bring your narrative to life by using concrete and vivid details. Details can
  

smells, tastes, and textures of the world in which your story takes place.

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  Narrative’s significance. Make clear why the incident you narrate matters to you now by
  

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  Well organized. Whatever strategy you use (narrative or descriptive), make sure that your
  

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  Thesis Statement: State the main idea of your essay somewhere in your introduction in a Thesis
  

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  Use concrete, vivid descriptions and focus on a specific event.
  
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  Consider using dialogue between the characters in your narrative.
  
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  Demonstrate growth and improvement from the first drafts to the final revised draft.
  
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  Write a 750 – 800 word essay, word-processed, double-spaced, generally free of grammatical
  errors.