English 101-In-Class Lab:  Literacy Narrative

1) “…the water pressure was so strong that water spurted out of the kitchen sink like a fountain.”(page 130, paragraph 1)

2)”’How can I get A’s in all my English classes but fail the writing part of the proficiency test twice?’” (4^th paragraph in example essay from packet.)

3) “Entering the large VFW hall, we were struck by the chemical odor of a cleaning solution so strong that it seemed toxic.  The hall had no windows only fluorescent lighting illuminated the large space.  Coming from the hot, humid weather outdoors, we found the inside uncomfortably cold from air conditioning.  The cackle of a television set was the only sound.” (page 128, paragraph 2)

4)

  The summer the last Harry Potter book came out I was “bit by the book bug” I started reading them over my mother’s shoulder passed her place in the books and haven’t stopped reading since.

    Mercedes Lackeys Tarma and Kethry books, are role models for me.

    Essays clicked in 9^th grade.

     5)    Purpose:  It was a major pivot point in my academic writing experience.

     6)    Audience:  Some of my audience may understand better than others so I should be somewhat in-depth on just what this meant for me.  I don’t particularly want to expose myself but really there is no good reason not to and the time I spent 5 hours on an essay and ended in tears is an excellent anecdote for this experience.

    7)    Stance:  I wish to give readers a glimpse into the hardships one can come across even in the field in which one is most talented.  I believe that an earnest, serious attitude is called for.

    8)    Media/Design:  I will portray this story in print.  Perhaps a font change from something a bit more artistic to a more practical / clear-cut font.

    9)    What do you see?

I spent a lot of time staring at the soft gray pencil lead marks on the lined paper trying to arrange the words into the appropriate form.  I would look out the window at the golden sunlight on the green of the tree boughs while I contemplated my topic.  The classroom had bright, headache inducing, lights , not helped at all by the off-white walls, though I oft stared at the posters and bookshelves, and a window looking out on the playground.  The dark ink of my teachers corrections.

10) What do you hear?

Children shouting on the playground.  The hum of the computer and purr of the cat. 

11) What do you smell?

Wood-smoke and cats.  Perfume at school.

12) How and what do you feel?  The reassuring weight of my history textbook.

13) What do you taste?  Not applicable.

14) Describe each person

Jan, a seemingly cheerful, short gray-haired glasses wearing woman, with a somewhat shallow sounding laugh, she introduced me to the 5-paragraph essay form.

My mother, a hobbit like gardener, wise and kind, always has time to listen to my essays.

Nancy, good posture, short blond hair, friendly.  The first real English teacher I had (Jan doesn’t count) my essays developed under her eye, losing the rhymes that I was squeezing them into and gaining clarity and fluidity.

15) Recall (or imagine) some characteristic dialogue.

“I like your story but the rhymes make it hard to understand what you are trying to communicate.” Nancy said.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that I have been writing poetry for so long.” Me.

“Well then it is time to branch out again wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, but, I am afraid I will lose the ease with which I rhyme now.”

“Then don’t stop, but you can write in more than one style in a day, rather like walking and bicycling, just because you walk every day doesn’t mean you forget how to bicycle.”

“You're right, I will try as best I can.”

16) Summarize the action
I crashed, low blood sugar levels and homework have never gone well together.  Tears, sniffles...  I considered the revisions I should make to my essay writing, long I pondered and deep I thought.  Somehow I separated my poetry from my essays.  I broke the barriers of the 5-paragraph essay form as a flood will break a dam and wrote more fluidly in a manner more suited to communication.  Finally with the graphic organizers of my World History class (describe) I broke through the rest of the way and started writing essays in a manner more likely to be attributed to reflex than loathing. 

17) Consider the significance of the narrative
This narrative is the key to my current skill at essay writing.  If I hadn't undergone that breakthrough in essay writing in 9th grade I would still hold my loathing of essays, I cursed them to the depths of Mt. Beerenberg (the northernmost subaerial volcano) once.  Today however I consider them a useful format tool for academic writing, rather like the quadratic formula except exponentially simpler.  My high-school English teacher, Nancy Gurnee, was crucial to this development in my writing skill.  I am very glad I underwent that change, it contributed greatly to the range of writing skills I have today.  With out that experience I might very well have been writing everything (or thereabouts) in rhyme until college, and who knows how that would have turned out.  This story matters to me partially because it proves that I can change for the better, and it is a good reminder that even in my field of talent I am not invincible or omniscient.  It is a tale of triumph and proof that you should always keep learning new ways to do things and new styles.  It was a major turning point, one that I am grateful to have had.