Language, Literacy Narrative, Early Challenges, Deep Conversations

Essay Instructions:

Literacy Narrative Assignment
Our first academic essay this semester will be a literacy narrative. As described in class, a literacy narrative is a specific type of expository or narrative essay that describes our personal relationship with language (our experiences reading, writing, speaking, and/or learning certain languages) and explains how these experiences have influenced us.
In other words, a literacy narrative answers the question: How has language influenced you, as a person and/or as a writer?
To answer this question, we will be describing specific memories, stories, and experiences about the languages that have influenced us, as well as explaining the lessons learned from each of these languages. This topic requires no research, only personal reflection and exposition (description + explanation).
Assignment Requirements ✓ Academic essay structure: introduction, body, and conclusion ✓ Academic essay formatting: title, 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, 1inch margins, etc. ✓ Minimum of 3 pages ✓ First draft + revision after receiving instructor and peer feedback to produce final (graded) draft
What to Include
Introduction Background information for your readers: - biographical information (a short description of “who you are” or how you see yourself; where you're from/where you have lived) - the languages you'll be writing about in your narrative
Introduce the main idea/purpose of your narrative: - explaining how language has influenced your life and/or your writing
Body
Descriptions of specific memories or experiences you had with these languages that impacted you in some way
Specific examples of things you learned about/from these languages, and/or what you realized about yourself by using them
Explanations why the memories/experiences/examples you share are important so that readers can understand how each of these moments has influenced you
Conclusion
A final reflection on how language has influenced you, as a person and/or as a writer
(Questions to consider as you reflect: Do the languages you know shape the way you think? Do the languages you know give you a sense of identity? What importance does each of the languages included in your narrative have to you and to your life?)
Grading Criteria
This assignment will be worth a total of 100 points, contributing 15% of your final course grade.
The first draft of your literacy narrative will count for 20 points of the assignment grade. This draft will primarily be graded for completion; therefore, you will receive full credit if you submit your first draft on time and meet the basic requirements of the assignment in terms of topic, formatting, and length.
The rest of your assignment grade will come from your revised final draft, which you will submit after receiving feedback from the instructor and several classmates. This draft will be graded for content (45 points), cohesion and organization (20 points), and language use (15 points). I will provide a detailed grading rubric before you submit your final draft so that you understand specifically what each of these categories will be graded for.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Language
Name:
Institution:
Course:
Date:
Language
Introduction
As a young and aspiring student, I have come to appreciate the level with which I am able to communicate with those around me. I come from a large family with some of my great grandparents having ties to Africa. However, I rarely feel the element of origin having any impact on my ability to express myself. This is relative to the fact that over the course of learning language skills, I have developed a strong sense of self as I am able to express myself to others regardless of their origin or even opinion. This is a skill that has also given me the element of identity. Without the ability to express oneself, it becomes hard to bring out the ideas that one has and more importantly to be in a position to form the ultimate identity when one is interacting with others in whatever setting they find themselves (Kao, 2014). As such, language is a pivotal part of personal identity. Growing up, I had a myriad of experiences interacting with people from different backgrounds: economical, religious and even racial. It is the ability to use language to my advantage that I have formed thanks to interaction with people from all walks of life.
Early Challenges
When I was growing up my neighborhood was formed of the most complex and diverse community. Interacting with the other families and children my age always seemed like a complicated affair. To start with I was a shy person and as such, whenever anyone would come up to me, I would have a hard time mastering a conversation. I would in most cases stammer a few words before making a coherent statement. This was a difficult experience as I would always feel like the other children were smarter than me. For some time it bothered me, but as I was growing older and our interaction became frequent and unavoidable, I would find the words and the sentence structures became more coherent. I was now comfortable opening a conversation and that boosted my confidence and desire to communicate more. It was a relief, when I would meet a new child at the park and immediately get into a conversation and enjoy their company. At the same time, when we would visit other families for dinners or birthdays, I found the ability to be understood even by the adults very fascinating.
Deep Conversations
From a young age, having learnt to have basic conversations, I developed a passion for debates. It was the ability to get people to understand and even agree with my point of view. General conversations did not fascinate me anymore. I wanted more from basic conversations. I wanted to gain the insight of other people on certain topics and give them my opinion on the same subjects. Whenever among discussing various topics such as a music artiste, I wanted to know their values, their life experiences and character outside the music to get to know them and understand better their context. This felt empowering, having the ability to abandon their thought system on a given topic and support mine, or simply get a deeper understanding of the subject. Even when we were discussing the...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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Language, Literacy Narrative, Early Challenges, Deep Conversations

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