James 1 Rachel James

The purpose of this essay was to reevaluate how I came to be the writer I am and learn to appreciate how it happened. When it was assigned, I genuinely thought who cares?. I had never put much thought into the history of my literacy because I did not see the point. I believe greatly in the power of literacy, do not be mistaken about that, but I figured why was it important how I got to this point. I am here at this point, that is all that matters. As I started writing and looking back, I found the importance of my literacy. What would have happened if I had not experienced this situation? Would I still be the writer and person I am today? I do not believe I would have. I can say without a doubt that I have accomplished the goal of appreciating my literacy and the opportunities I have had to develop it. I have learned that explaining details is the best way to draw readers in. I think the truth of these events in my life made it even more enticing because they were real events. My opinions of literacy have changed to understand and appreciate the importance of how the way people speak came to be. If it was not for my family influence and Mrs. Gascho I would have never became the writer I am today.

James 2 Rachel James Professor Ludlow-Mattson Eng114 September 7, 2013 Learning to Speak Again Often you hear people talk about their wonderful, and usually humorous, experiences about learning how to read. Similarly to Alexie in the article Superman and Me, they browse through their childrens books trying to figure out the words or assume what the letters on the page mean by the pictures. For me, I do not remember a time I could not read. I know there must have been a time when I was not able to, but maybe I have repressed it. After all, all of my fears stem from being useless or helpless and not being able to do something that is so natural to me would absolutely mean being helpless. I remember when I understood a few words in bigger books like Alexie, and I also remember a time when I was older when I learned how to read and speak again. Mostly everyone learns to read eventually at a young age, but many people are not fortunate enough to be able to learn how to speak again as an adult. The Harry Potter phase had just arrived and everyone was reading it. Teachers, older siblings and parents, including my mother, were enveloped in this magical world. I was in kindergarten and wanted to join the experience. As my classmates sat in our little red chairs and looked through coloring books or books like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, I remember bringing the book to class during our reading time every day and not understanding the big words. To me, however, it did not matter all that mattered was that I was involved. I would sit in class and flip through the pages of small text and be thrilled when I finally reached the last page, knowing only a few details that the story illustrated. Like Alexie, I tried to read at a greater level

James 3 than I was capable of, but because I explored that one book, I was open to the entire world of phenomenal literature that would become a part of my daily life in the future. Not only did I go on to read the rest of the Harry Potter series, and actually understand them, but the older I got the more I enjoyed reading. For example, before school started I was already up here for about two weeks. The second day I was moved in I picked up all my books. There were two novels and one of them was by none other than Sherman Alexie. I had read this book and finished it before school even started. The love for reading that was cultivated as a child is ever-present in me today. Junior year is a pivotal year in high school, filled with SAT prep and the thought of beginning the college process breathing down your neck. It is also the year I learned to speak again. Junior year was my first year with the famous Mrs. Gascho, the Academy of Our Lady of Peaces best English teacher. I was expecting in-depth analysis of literature, enticing projects and the laugh heard around campus. All of these wonderful parts of her class were experienced, but the one part I did not expect was the one that would help and change me the most. Every class, we would start out with Word Wizardry. Word Wizardry was an exercise every morning that allowed us to expand our jargon by assigning five words and using them in a sentence. To most, it was something dreaded and monotonous, and honestly, sometimes I would not want to look up those words. However, I have gained much more from it than it would seem. This simple and repetitive game opened my eyes to a new form for speaking and writing. Like Alexie, I was learning something significant. I had learned to speak as a child, but now I was learning to communicate as an adult. I was discovering that the ability to speak and write is lost if we do not proactively challenge our abilities every day. Every day and every class we are in requires us to express ourselves. The use of words in a wider vocabulary can be the difference between vague

James 4 statements and strong convictions. Word Wizardry, along with copious reading, with Mrs. Gascho gave me the skills to write in an intelligent manner. Word Wizardry was not the only tool Mrs. Gascho utilized to teach us how to become bright young ladies. This specific example happened about half way through the school term. We were reading a war poem about the soldiers fighting for all human kinds. Mrs. Gascho pointed out that the poem was like a song, and because of this we gathered into groups and created a song to be performed in a later class. I always loved to sing, write and play music but I never believed in joining talent shows and did not show my talent for school plays. Now, however, I was forced into singing for a project. I wrote the song and sang, Anna played guitar, Katie played the horn, and Romina shook an egg shaker. Like Word Wizardry, writing a song for a class took creativity and knowledge of words. In this case, however, the confidence I gained from performing for even a small group of people was essential in improving my literacy. I understood higher-level vocabulary and could write well because of it, but literacy includes speaking. If a person cannot articulate ideas well or have to courage to say them out loud, the knowledge gained from a reading or in a point of view is lost in ourselves. We can grow our own intelligence endlessly by reading and thinking, but the moment we share our knowledge with other people is the time then we are doing something productive with it. Our song performance encouraged me to talk and express my ideas in class more often. Some may think that the skill to talk is gained through a speech class, but for me, the skill to speak was attained by finding something worth wild to say. Would I be a good writer and a good speaker now if none of these events happened? No, I do not think that I would have. Mrs. Gascho was a huge promoter in my literacy as an adult, however, I cannot help but wonder if my literacy would have been impaired if I did not have the

James 5 desire to read. That is what most skills come down to in my opinion. You can teach someone anything and everything, but if they do not care your lectures and lessons fall on empty ears. My desire to read stemmed from those long ago moments in childhood. Seeing my family members and people practically everywhere read the Harry Potter series gave me the desire to want to read. In this way, these people also had a role in my journey to literacy. At first it was only that series that I wanted to read, but then my wish grew as I got older. I was no longer looking to anyone for guidance on what I read though. Even though no one was openly directing me to read for enjoyment, I have to thank my parents for enrolling me in private Catholic schools. My experiences have shown me that these types of school, coupled with perseverance and effort from students, are the best schools to ensure success. I would not be the literate student I am if not for St. Didacus, my elementary school, and Academy of Our Lady of Peace, my high school. As I got older, my relationship with reading was cyclical. For a few months I would be reading endlessly and then it would screech to a stop for another few months. However, these were only for books I read on my own time. As a student, I am constantly reading for class. This fact shows the true importance of literacy in every individuals life. Our success in this world depends on literacy. I believe that everyone should start at a young age trying to read to help ensure that they will be able to understand bigger and better books as they get older. When people say they hate reading, I always find it amusing. As I stated before, reading is unavoidable in life. We read books, billboards, signs and everything in between so it is absolutely essential to be able to function. When you are young, you learn words and begin to understand what books are saying rather than guessing from the pictures. The same rules apply to reading as we get older, but with a wider and ever-growing vocabulary. This is why literacy is important to me, I would not be writing this paper, or be in this school, if I had not taken that first step in trying to

James 6 read Harry Potter. I absolutely would not have been here if Mrs. Gascho had not taught me how to speak again.