Melissa Demarest Professor Lynn Raymond UWRT 1103-E01 we September , 2015 My Literacy Narrative Creation Literacy narrative is something that is personally unique to everyone. Every person’s ability to read and write is defined from how they learned to read and write as a child and personal experiences that they have been through that affect their literacy. I have had many experiences throughout my lifetime, good and bad, that have affected my literacy narrative and helped me grow as a reader and writer. Ms literacy narrative story started when I was around the age of three or four, which is, around the time I started kindergarten. My mother showed me how to write my name so I would be able to make pictures and t-shirts for some of my family members. When I was little, I would read occasionally if I found a book or a series that sounded interesting to me. Some books and book series that were significant in my life were The Cat in the Hat and all the Dr. Seuss books, Winnie the Pooh, Charlotte's Web, Curious George, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. These books are sil relevant todays dren today stil read these books. In my opinion, books like these are the beginning stages of a child’s life. As I got older, I got into many book series. Some of these series are Junie B. Jones, The Magic Tree House, and The Clique. These series showed me the challenges that older kids go through in middle and high school and they helped me understand the real life problems that occur. In my family, I am the only child but I do have twoDemarest 2 stepsisters who would help me read a book or do projects if 1 was having trouble. By being an only child, this caused me to mature quicker so I didn’t have to depend on everyone else. Since I started kindergarten at an age earlier than most children do, I was and still am the youngest kid in my class. Since I am the youngest, I have had to mature quicker which has come with some challenges. I would read exactly what my classmates were reading even if I didn’t understand it completely but I learned how to handle these situations. I feel like I wasn’t behind in my reading and writing even though I was younger than all of my friends but there were some big words that I wasn’t able to understand that they knew. According to Pappas, children who center kindergarten at a younger age are 1-percent more likely to graduate high school than older kids because older kindergarteners reach the age to legally drop out of school earlier than the younger kindergarteners do (Kindergarten dilemma). In a study by the RAND Corporation in 2005, found that kids who delayed entry by a year scored 6 points higher than their classmates on standardized math tests and 5 points higher on reading tests which helped them succeed in later years (Kindergarten Dilemma). Older kids tend to do better on tests because they are more mature. There is no real answer to iffa child should go to school early or be held back a year, itis really the parents’ decision as to what they want to do with their child. Based on how the child acts, the parents can choose the best option for them. Since September 2009, my life has changed for the better and allowed me to grow as a reader and writer. My first encounter with NASCAR was at Dover Intemational Speedway in, Dover, Delaware when I was in the 7 grade. Before I was taken to this race, I had no idea what NASCAR was or what I was supposed to know about it. Affer this race, I became hooked on NASCAR and was able to choose my major, mechanical engineering with a concentration in ‘motorsports engineering which I have to wait till sophomore year to apply for, because I want toDemarest 3 build the cars or the engines for NASCAR. I am so into NASCAR that I can figure out most situations before they happen and can explain why something happened and how to fix the problem. NASCAR is a very difficult sport to comprehend and understanding the language used and the parts that go into NASCAR, have helped me become a better reader. NASCAR has affected my literacy learning by allowing me to read difficult things and do better research because of all the time and effort I have put into it. I am now able to think ahead in certain situations and choose what is right and wrong. NASCAR terminology is very hard to understand but once you understand what it means, NASCAR isn’t so boring anymore. For example, the groove is the best way to get around the racetrack, marbles are pieces of tire rubber that accumulate in the turns of the racetrack, and the track bar is a rear bar assembly that can be raised(to make the car wiggle and tum better in the track) or lowered(to make the cars stability in the tums better) during the race where the driver can raise or lower it and also the pit crew has access to the track bar through the rear window using an extended ratchet (USA TODAY). There are many more terms that you need to know in order to understand NASCAR but explaining all of them would be a lot to try to comprehend all at once. Some situations that I can think of in advance are if the racetrack is considered a fuel mileage track which means the race is going to come down to who has the most fuel left after the last pit stop. I can tell by the amount of rpm’s a delving is using if they will be able to finish the race or if they are going to run out of gas before the end of the race. Also, if'a driver drives straight into the wall and nothing is wrong with the car, it is most likely that they had a flat tire which caused them to drive straight instead of ‘turing in the turns like they are supposed to. NASCAR is very important to me asstsiaaswe_. _eommeemteretieespaee Nib‘Demarest 4 Technology has also played a very big role in my literacy narrative. There are many challenges that come with the use of technology dally, Social media networks such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat have affected how I read and write and sometimes it is for the worse. On Twitter, I am limited to writing whatever I want in one hundred and forty characters or less including spaces and punctuations. It is really hard for me to get my message across with a character limit which means that I am not able to use the correct spelling or grammar. On Instagram, I am able to post and describe pictures using the correct grammar and spelling because I do not have a character limit on Instagram. On Snapchat, after I take a picture or a ‘ideo, I usually use emoji’s to describe how I feel because I am only allowed so much room to write what ex] want to say so I have to not use the correct grammar and spelling sotheypersen- . Social media will always play a role in my literacy narrative since I use it on a daily basis. Other technological advancements that have affected my literacy narrative are the computer, e-mail and texting. By using the computer and e-mail, I have gaitf“valuable experience in writing a professional e-mail to my professors, family and friends. When I write an e-mail, I always use complete sentences and I make sure that what I have written makes sense so the person receiving it understands what I want them to know. When I use the e-mail, I am able to connect with family and friends that live far away. When I was younger the only source of ‘communication that I had with my friends was using the e-mail if we didn’t see each other in person. The computer has also helped me gain experience writing in different styles and being able to research things. My cell phone and texting has played a really big role in my ited usually will use full sentences when I text unless I am texting my best friend, I can abbreviate things and she will know what I mean. Text messaging has helped me to learn to write a littleDemarest 5 better but it has also made my writing become worse. Text messaging is a much quicker means of communication to someone who lives far away and is much easier to use. Technology has played a big role in my life and I expect it to play and even bigger role in the future. [believe that technology plays a big role in the Icarning environment in schools. According to Wolpert, schools should find a balanced media diet so that students get the benefits and skills that each medium offers and that schools should test students using visual media such as PowerPoint presentations (UCLA Newsroom). To me, this means that schools need to incorporate technology into their learning curriculum so that the students are just looking at paper but they also get to use computer so that they can learn the valuable uses of a computer for their future. Technology needs to be used in schools so when the students get older they have skills that many jobs in this era require employees to have and know how to use correetly. From the readings that I have read in class, | feel like I can relate to the quote, “I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate who was known to read a lot could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books. I preferred reading in the total isolation of my own room,” from Malcolm X’s “Leaming to Read” (2). This relates to my literacy narrative because when I read books, I like to read alone and to be isolated so I’m not distracted by anything or anyone. I like to be in my own little world like Malcolm X is when he reads in his jail cell. I also feel that I cannot connect to Malcolm X because I was never in prison to learn how to read. I also ‘would never be able to check more books than I was allowed to from anywhere. I would never read a lot unless I was really into the series 1 was reading and I would read the level of books I could understand, not books that were way over my head. My literacy narrative differs a lot from Malcolm X’s and I feel that technology had something to do with that.Demarest 6 In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, | feel that I can relate to the character of Lily Owens and the quote: ‘The seeret of a good lie is don’t overly explain, and throw in one good detail. “Well, Miss Williams, you can start work tomorrow,” she said. I stood there wondering who she was talking to, who was Miss Wi ums, then I remembered / was Lily Williams now. That's the other secret to Iying---you have to keep your stories straight. (76) ‘The connection I feel I have with her is that I was reading books that were beyond my age because I have always been the youngest. I had to mature quickly just like Lily did because she didn’t have a mother even though I have a mother. I also fee! that when Lily lied about her story when she got to the Boatwright house that it was for the better so they didn’t suspect anything that T-Ray was going to do to Lily if her found her and I can relate to this because I have lied when I shouldn't have but it was for the better so that more trouble wouldn’t happen. Lily is @ strong girl and can stand up for herself like I can and keep her story straight when she lies to August. A quote from my tenth grade global history teacher, Mr. Miazga, is “Three words, choices.” This relates to my literacy narrative because Mr. Miazga gave us a speech about how one choice we make leads to another choice so if we make a wrong choice it will affect every other choice we will every make in our life. It is just like my literacy narrative because the choices I make to read and write affect the rest of my life and how I will be able to read and write in the future. One thing my literacy narrative can be compared to in day to day life is NASCAR because I get angry and happy because NASCAR is difficult to understand and because NASCAR is a part of my everyday life. I use the skills NASCAR has given me every day which helps create my literacy narrative further.Demarest 7 My literacy narrative has many parts to it and was created through my past experiences Literacy narrative is very unique and I consider mine to be unique and special. Just because | am the youngest doesn’t mean that I can’t understand what older kids can. My literacy narrative has helped shaped me into the person today and I am proud of that.poe Works Citied \SesBue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees [ji 76). New York: Penguin, Print 2002 » \Kezydym, Stephanie. "NASCAR 101: Most Likely Terms You'll Hear at the Daytona 500." Cees | USATODAY.COM. USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 19 Sept. 2015. | http 0 com/sports/motor/nasear/story/2012-02-2/Li las - 211062/1 ‘ J bcon X "Learning to Read" Smecd.net. Web. 21 September 2015. Aarres, Stephanie. "Kindergarten Dilemma: Hold Kids Back to Get Ahead?" Msnbe.com. LiveScience.com, 6 Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2015. ss) hitp://www.nbenews.comv/id/38993761 /ns/health-chil health/vkindergarten-dilemma-hold- | kids-back-get-ahead/#t.Vf3DystRG; Wolpert, Stuart. "Is technology producing a decline in Critical Thinking And analysis?" UCLA \.| Newsroom. UCLA, 27 Jan. 2009. Web. 19 Sept. 2015, hitp://news leases/is- technology-producing-a-decline-79127 Loiend