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Kirk John Arcena

Dr. Meaghan Rand

UWRT 1103-005

14 February 2017

Critical Literacy Narrative

Most of us probably have a story about our first encounter with technology. Right now,

you might have started thinking about that first phone you received as a birthday present, that

console you never stopped asking your parents for or that first videogame you ever played of

which you spent countless hours on. Like most of you, growing up, I was surrounded by an

unfathomable number of gadgets and machines. In addition, I'm confident to say that it would

most likely take me eons to narrate all the funny, sad, traumatizing and shocking experiences I

had with technology. And although I will treasure all those memories and experiences forever no

matter how good or bad they are, I seldom cannot stop myself from asking if whether technology

was vital to my growth as an individual. Was technology necessary for my cognitive

development? Was it an educational stepping stone or a blockade?

At the age of six, I received a Nintendo Entertainment System or NES as a Christmas

present. I remember how the console came with a set of controllers and a collection of games,

one of which was Duck Hunt. I absolutely adored that game. Like any other child, I admired

guns. Guns just have something in them which appeals to most children. Duck Hunt was a game

which required a pistol shaped controller. The main objective of the game was to shoot the ducks

as they try to fly up the screen. I can still recall how much time I spent playing that game. I

remember how I would wake up as early as I could to play it. My parents would see me sitting in
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front of the television giggling and pretending to be a hunter. Eventually, the sound of gunshots

and ducks became a signal for everyone in the house that it is time to wake up.

I remember the day when my mother came home with an assemblage of boxes. I was, I

believe, around eight years old at that moment. In my mind, I thought the boxes contained home

furniture. I also considered the possibility of them containing exotic outdoor plants, since my

mother was an avid gardener. However, when the boxes were opened, I was astonished by their

contents. Their contents appeared to be something mechanical, something I saw before in

movies. The boxes contained the components of a desktop computer. I asked my mother why she

bought it, and she told me, its for my job. Also, I asked her if I could use it as well, and she

replied with a nod. A few days after, the desktop computer was finally set up in our living room.

Its massive monitor dwarfed the table lamp beside it. I remember turning it on for the first time.

It took ages for it to boot up, and I recall staring at the word Microsoft and wondered what it

meant. When the computer was finally ready for use, I began opening the preloaded programs it

had. The first program I opened was Paint. I was completely amazed by the number of different

artistic options the program had. I remember making different variety of shapes and filling them

in with different colors. I also discovered that I could save every piece I made, and I could

modify them whenever I want. By the time that desktop computer decided to retire, I most likely

had hundreds of what I call abstract masterpieces, saved in the hard drive and all of which, in

my opinion, were equally superb and undeniably comparable to Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa.

Another program I spent hours on was a game called 3D Pinball Space Cadet. There was

something mystic and addictive about that game. I ended up burning an entire day the first time I

played it.
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Back when I was still living in the Philippines, my parents decided to enroll me to a

private school ran by nuns. Although it was about thirty minutes away from our house and

although we were not Catholics, they decided to send me there, since they believed it was the

best school a child at my age could attend. In addition, although it meant I would have to wake

up at five in the morning every day, I did not object, since the school was located right in the

middle of the city. Admit it. You most likely only dreamt of roaming a city everyday with your

friends when you were at that age. For me, I viewed my middle school years as if it was an epic.

I remember the times when my friends and I would skip classes. We would climb the high walls

of the school, and we would run as fast as we can to the nearest internet caf where we would

spend the entire day playing videogames. You might be wondering what internet cafes are. Well,

in the Philippines, not everyone has the luxury to purchase or own a computer capable of running

high graphic games. So, young teens like my friends and I would have to rely on internet cafes

when it comes to playing videogames. Also, I remember the times when my friends and I would

use the short time we had for lunch on playing videogames. We would take a bite on the packed

lunch we had whenever we can scavenge a second or two which was usually whenever a game

ends or whenever our avatar dies.

Thinking about it now, I believe technology was more of a devil than an angel on my

education. Like the devil, technology lured me and skewed me away from the right path.

Technology prevented me from achieving the goals I should have achieved. Technology stole the

time I could have spent on studying. Instead of learning the multiplication table, I was shooting

two-dimensional ducks. Instead of reading works of literature, I was busy making pathetic virtual

artworks. And, instead of being present in class, I was present in the internet caf. I view

technology as an inescapable addiction which, even today, I still have yet to escape. I know
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technology might not have affected you more than it affected me; however, Im certain that

technology has caused some negative effects to all the individuals in our generation. For me, the

dark side of technology came in the form of videogames, but, for some of you, it might have

been social media. I know many of us simply cannot resist the urge of posting that beautiful

grilled chicken Caesar salad we had for lunch or the ability of being able to know what

celebrities are doing with their lavish lives. Like I said, technology negatively affects all of us.

Right now, it might be serving you like a faithful dog. You might be using technology right now

to expand your knowledge. However, sometime today, it will bite your hand, grab a hold of you

and pull you down to the ground. It will prevent you from accomplishing tasks and marking off

that to-do list you wrote. Again, technology is an addiction which is prevalent to the members of

our generation.

Although videogames and social media allow you to escape reality for a moment, you

cannot deny the fact that what you thought you escaped will still be there even after you forgot

about it for a brief time. Right now, there is only one thing I wish to tell you. Use technology

wisely. Make an effort on avoiding using it for entertainment. Use it to expand your knowledge.

Use it to reach other people not to talk about the latest Games of Thrones episode but to

collaborate on scientific or entrepreneurial ideas. I am not suggesting that you should never use

technology for entertainment. Im merely stating the fact that technology will always be there.

Dont let it prevent you from achieving what you want to achieve. Once youve achieved your

dreams, then you can play all the videogames you desire to play or stalk on social media the

innumerable employees you have.


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Writers Reflection

I believe the most successful part of my paper was the introduction. I think my

introduction served its main purpose which was to grab my audiences attention and make them

want to read more. In addition, my introduction was able to give my audience an idea of the topic

and the purpose of my paper. Also, by reading the introduction, my readers will be able to know

who my targeted audience are and will feel as though I am someone who they can relate to due to

the conversational tone I utilized.

I am really proud of how I was able to justify why I think technology was a blockade on

my education. I really like how I placed an emphasis on how instead of doing this, I should

have done this. I think by doing so, I was able to really show how big of an impact technology

has done on my education. Also, I really liked how I was able to leave a take home message and

how I was able give my audience a suggestion. I think the suggestion and the take home message

helped me close and wrap up my paper and gave my audience a reason to think that it was worth

reading the entirety of my paper.

Even though we were given a great amount of time for this project, if I was given even

more time, I would try to improve the flow of my paper. I am not the best at creating seamless

transitions from one paragraph to another, which is why it would have been splendid if I was

able make a number of my peers read the entirety of my paper. I could ask them about what they

think of the flow and a few ways I could improve it.

I want my reader to focus on the main on the main message of the paper which is why I

think technology was a blockade on my education. I know they have their own opinion on the

advantages and/or disadvantages of technology; however, I want them to focus on my opinion.

Also, I want my audience to focus on the similarities of my experiences and theirs and not the
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differences. I believe if they focus on the similarities, they will be able to relate more and my

paper would be an easy read to them. However, if they focus on the differences, they would

surely lose interest very easily and, Im guessing most of them would not even finish reading the

entire paper.

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