Shaquail Wall

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Midterm Reflection
I actually liked radically revising my personal narrative. I have to admit that at first I was
having a hard time with it. I had no clue what so ever what I wanted to do. Then after a while of
debating about it with myself I chose to do a slideshow. I really didnt want to do a slideshow
because I thought it was kind of typical. I thought maybe thats what you would be expecting to
see. I dont know why but I thought that more people would do that. Time was running out and I
really couldnt think of anything else to do. Other than me not being able to think of anything
else I chose a slideshow because the pictures captured moments of my high school basketball
career that I cherish. The pictures I chose showed my happy moments on and off the court
instead of my frustrated moments when I was ready to quit. In a way it disconnects and connects
with my personal narrative. It connects because it shows that you can overcome adversity and
that you should never give up which connects with my transitioning from one level to the next.
On the other hand it disconnects because it doesnt show the emotions I was feeling and how I
was close to my breaking point and thats something that someone reading my narrative to see.
Putting the slide show with my narrative makes the story come alive. I think that composing in
one genre is different from composing a narrative essay because its way easier. You dont have
to worry about the format or just the fact that its an academic writing. I struggle with writers and
I have a hard time putting words together. Its like I know what I want to say I just have a really
hard time saying it. When it came to writing my personal narrative my process was to put
everything into a sequence a timeline if you will. I wanted you to tell you about most memorable
moments so you would be able to paint a picture in your head of how I was feeling. I wrote my
whole essay in one day because I didnt want to stop until I was completely finished with my
draft. I didnt care how long it took I just knew that I wasnt going to stop. Having to actually sit

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there and reflect on those memories is what really made the process longer than what it
shouldve been. Just sitting there and reminiscing I started to think what things wouldve been
like today if I wouldve quit. I dont know if it wouldve truly made a difference in my life or
not. My process for my radical revision was easy once I figured out what I was going to do. I
made sure to choose the right pictures and the perfect song to go along with it.

I included this picture in my slideshow because it

shows how happy I was to still be playing my senior year. The boy in the picture is my cousin
and he was in a grade under me and were both playing on varsity. We cheered each other on at

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every game and I loved it. The song I chose for my slideshow is called Im in love by flawless
tracks. The reason I chose this song is because at one point in time I was in love with basketball
and it will always be my first love.

Both my personal narrative and my radical revision show that Im a

simple writer. If you look at both of them you can tell that I get straight to the point. I dont really
use big words so Im just simple. I honestly dont think that theyre that really different in terms
of audience, how they communicate and what they do to the reader. I wrote just like I was having
a conversation with someone to me it was very formal. My message was as clear as day, I dont
think anyone would have trouble understanding what I was trying to say. I think that my
narrative and radical revision could be motivation for the readers. Anything that theyre thinking
about giving up on after reading my narrative and watching my sideshow they would know that
of you put in the work youll eventually be rewarded. She put me in the game during the second
quarter and I stayed in until the end of the game. I scored 16 points off the bench and my team
got the win. I didnt move into the starting line up immediately after that. Why? I dont know may
be she thought it was a fluke or something but after the first five games she knew that I didnt
belong on the bench. That season I led the team in scoring and I made the All-Conference team.
This wouldve never happened if I wouldve given in and quit like I started to. Thank God I
didnt. I couldve gave up but I stuck with it and they can too.

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Part 2 I think that sponsors effects someones literacys the most. Having someone like a coach,
teacher or even a parent there to guide you and help you along the way is very important when
youre learning. "Throughout their lives, affluent people from high-caste racial groups
have multiple and redundant contacts with powerful literacy sponsors as a routine part of their
economic and political privileges. Poor people and those from low-caste racial groups have less
consistent, less politically secured access to literacy sponsors This is a quote from Deborah
Brandts sponsors of literacys. Sponsors help develop you as a person. When youre growing up
theres always someone that you look up to and admire without them even know it they can
become your sponsor. Theyre teaching you and they probably wont even notice it. My sponsors
of literacys help mold me into the person that I am today. They help instill the values and morals
that I have today. My coaches taught me how to play a game that I fell in love with me and even
helped me when I was falling out of love with it. When we read the story about Malcolm X and
him learning how to read was a great learning experience and something that I will always
remember about this class. Malcolm X had more determination than anybody I have ever known
or read about. At one-hour intervals at night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard
the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard
passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for
another fifty-eight minutes until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four
every morning. Three or four hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the
streets I had slept less than that. As you can see in the text, Malcolm X gave up sleep just so he

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can read. He wanted to quench his thirst for knowledge he gave up a very important thing that all
humans need. I know that he didnt give up sleeping altogether but can you imagine only getting
3 or 4 hours of sleep every night? I know I cant! But his determination fueled a fire in him that
wouldnt go out until he reached his goal. Mr. Muhammad became his sponsor of literacy
without even knowing it. Malcolm wanted to express his thoughts with Mr. Muhammad but he
couldnt because he wasnt good at reading nor writing.