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Lauren Liner
Emilia Grant
UWRT 1101
9/3/14
Literacy and Culture: Three Vignettes
In order to become the literate person I am today I had to go through life reading
books, writing papers and even watching movies. Although it wasnt always fun to
stretch my vocabulary out or to study for exams it was all very necessary for me to have
reached the point that I am at today. Over the years my mom has been my biggest
motivator as she has wanted her children to become as educated as possible. Without her,
I dont think I would know nearly as many complicated words as I know today. Having
a broader vocabulary makes a person sound brighter and well educated.
I was five years old when I first learned to read and write. I didnt go away to
school like most children my age as I had a mom that insisted on homeschooling me. I
distinctly remember reading to my parents and younger brother as my mom helped me
with the words I wasnt quite sure of. One of the main reasons she wanted to homeschool
me, besides the fact that she just wanted me at home with her, was to help me at whatever
pace I was ready for. She didnt want to throw me out into the world without giving me
as much preparation as I could take from studying at home first. I grew up having a mom
as a school teacher, a Sunday school teacher, a play group leader and, last by not least, a
mother.
One of the first experiences dealing with reading and literacy that I can remember
is when my brother and I would go to the Mint Hill library and listen to story time during

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the day as the instructor would read a very fascinating story out loud while also showing
us pictures of what the characters were doing. I deeply enjoyed going to story time and
hated when it was time to leave. Some of my first childrens books that inspired me to
start reading were Green Eggs and Ham by Doctor Suess, Amelia Badelia, The Ugly
Duckling, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. I loved listening to stories as a young child and
having stories told to me by my parents and grandparents. In kindergarten I started
practicing writing my name and spelling simple words.
Another important year of my life that I can remember being a big deal when
developing my literacy skills was when I was in the third grade. I started attending a
small charter school in first grade and had been doing good until third grade came
around. Third grade was not a good year for me in many ways as I didnt have very many
friends and I felt out of place a good portion of the time. I remember it as being a terrible
time as I skipped school often pretending that I was sick and needed to come home. It
was one of the worst years I had ever experienced socially but as far as literacy went it
was a different story. Although I did not enjoy third grade for many reasons it was the
year that I received a reading buddy and moved up to the smart class in math.
Reading in third grade was a new step into completely different levels of reading.
I started getting into books like The Magic Tree House and Junie B Jones. I remember
my teacher, Mr.Howard, assigning our class many reading projects where we would read
any book that fit into our academic level of reading and would have to take tests and
quizzes online to show that we had really been reading and understanding like we were
supposed to. I remember trying to slack off by reading the easiest books possible and
earning points by reading ten super easy books instead of one hard chapter book. I found

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in the end that this did not always work out for the best and my teacher started getting
upset with me that I wouldnt read anything past a certain level. After his inspirational
push to get me to read harder material I started moving on to harder books but still
slacked off at times until the local library started holding contests for children who could
have 50 hours of reading under their belt for the summer. I started reading as much as I
possibly could in order to receive prizes such as Wendys Frostys and Pizza Hut coupons.
I remember going to friends houses who were doing the same reading challenges as me
and comparing our stamp marks to see who was farther along in the path to get our
prizes.
One of the biggest factors in literacy deals with speech and how to communicate
with other people. In third grade I was forced by my parents and teachers to start seeing
the school speech therapist. I had a very difficult time saying anything with the letter S.
Every week I went into a little room where I had to repeat words that my therapist would
say and every week my speech got better and better until I could finally talk without a
lisp. My parents made me repeat words with the letter S in them until I could say them
perfectly without a problem. Without my parents, my third grade teacher, and my speech
therapist who knows what I would sound like today.
The last year of my life that I can remember making a huge difference in my
literacy journal was seventh grade. I can honestly say that this was the year that I started
to absolutely love reading. Every year up until seventh grade I had to force myself to read
when I hardly ever actually wanted to. I absolutely loved my seventh grade English
teacher and her sense of humor about books made the class more enjoyable. The books
that changed my life, although Im partially ashamed to say it, was the Twilight series. To

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say I loved those books would be an understatement. I absolutely obsessed over the entire
series and they were basically all I could think about for many months. On my thirteenth
birthday I received my first cell phone and instead of spending the entire day obsessing
over it and playing with it I spent the day glued in bed reading Breaking Dawn, the fourth
book in the Twilight series. Although I enjoyed seeing the movies for this series they
were nothing compared to what reading the books was like. These books were what made
me realize how much more detail and imagery books can have then movies.
I was so upset when I was finished reading the series that I went to the library and
searched for any other book that Stephanie Myer wrote that could be anywhere near as
good as Twilight. I remember falling in love with The Host but being disappointed when
it was just one book by itself instead of being a series. In seventh grade I started writing
long stories about myself and things I had seen or experienced. It was the first year that I
had to start writing multiple pages at a time. I remember my friends calling each other
crying at night because they werent used to the heavy work load that we had been given
for the first time ever. I however was not as dramatic as them when it came to writing
papers and short stories. I didnt mind it and I almost even enjoyed it.
Because I was the cheerleading captain, it was my job to make up cheers and
chants for the entire team to do. In a way it was like writing poems about my school and
how our team was amazing. I was really disappointed at the end of seventh grade year
when I failed my reading EOG by getting a score of a two instead of a passing three. It
was a shock when I received the letter informing me of my failing grade after I had
received the highest score of a four up until this point on any state test I had ever taken. I
hated going to the review sessions after how much I had read the entire year before this

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dreadful test. I felt like a failure after getting the results and was embarrassed to talk to
anyone about what had happened. Although I wasnt happy I took the test again and
passed the second time around. I got through the disappointment and never thought about
it again until now that I am writing a paper about the experience. I moved on and spent
the entire summer after seventh grade reading books by authors like Nicholas Sparks.
Despite the unfortunate event of my failed EOG test, seventh grade was an inspirational
year that is the reason I started to love books and literature.
Looking back on middle school I am so glad that things turned out the way they
did as far as testing and reading are concerned. Although it was a confusing time in my
life I am so thankful that I had books and imagination to get me through them. I couldnt
be the person I am today without my mom, my teachers, and authors like Stephanie Myer
who showed me what loving to read was all about. They truly shaped me into being the
best me I could become.