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Izabella Clarke

Dr. Smith

ENGL 101 D15a

9/20/19

Whimsical Words

I could remember aniticipaitng in the night as my mother walked up the steps with an ease, holding a

book to tell me a story. I layed in my bed with the dim light on one side of the room. My mother would start

reading. I would come to the attention when my mother would say “enchanted” or “mesmerized”. The

sounds of the word felt foreign to me. I wanted to understand these words. I wanted more clarity. So I asked

her every time a word confused me. I would give a chuckle and say “What does that mean?”. Then she

would say “This means that....”. I thought it is was impossible to read or even write. My path of

understanding literacy was rocky. Yet, as I matured, I understood how crucial it is to be literate.

I learned to read in school, which differed to Andi, a student from my English 101 class

who learned language at home from her mother writing on the board. I though would read each

line in my books slowly as the teacher watched. Suddenly, the image of the word would pop

right into my little head. Andi, like me had many books in her home from shiny magazines to

children’s books. Each shelf was filled. Reading at that time was recreational to me, but

transitioning to first grade reading was a struggle.

First grade was difficult. One day my vision blurred. I desperately tried to focus my eyes

at one word and it felt persistent. Eye testing came along at school. I sat down in at my small-

wooden desk, anxiously waiting for my answer as I was being tested. They came to the

conclusion that I needed eye glasses. Wearing glasses hurted. Those clear words that brought me

images, instead gave me endless aches. I couldn’t read long. Yes, I was determined to push my
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reading abilities. I practiced line by line, reading in short times. My reading time soon

progressed. One day after continuing my practice, I was able to read longer than I ever had.

Since I advanced in my reading, I wanted to try my skills in writing stories.

As a tween, writing a story took much time. I wrote my own story on a website called

Wattpad. My success was seen by the amount of postive comments. My parents had influenced

me to continue writing. However, I stopped writing stories since then. I have been reading more

frequently than writing stories.

Even though I wrote stories, my writing although was not uniformed as well as I wanted

it to be. Malcom X story is similar to mine, he wrote in his autobiography The Autobiography of

Malcom X, in his early life he was not “…articulate” (Malcom X and Haley 1). Although

Malcom X was not skillful in writing at that moment, he had the gift of speech and

“…commanded attention…” (Malcom X and Haley 1). He expanded his writing and reading

abilities by self-teachings in prison. He felt a door of knowledge had opened up to him, just like

how I felt when I was taught to work on my own writing.

I remember in middle school that my teacher in English class would give me back work

as I sat at my desk. She had already passed the person in front of me. My palms clammy. Worry

was definetly on mind. As I looked up to her with my hands crossed and poised. With a flick of

her hand, she gave the graded paper. It would say in bold, neon orange color “Some parts of your

writing needs to be clearer”. I was puzzled. I was disappointed in myself.

Writing essays was not my best suit because I wanted to expand, not summarize. Writing for

Susan Madera was the polar opposite from me. She wrote in her personal literacy essay called

One Voice that she “… could indeed, write in proper English” (Madera 2). She struggled though

with her speech because her birth language was “neighborhood” (Madera 1). Madera’s Speech
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101 professor, unlike my teacher who helped improved my writing, initially judged her based on

how she spoke. She wrote “He…proceeded to demean me, my heritage and my education”

(Madera 2). Still, she didn’t let the professor define her life. Similar to how I did not discourage

myself in improving my writing. She learned that her speech did not define her capabilities.

Since I was determined to educate myself, I asked my teacher “What am I missing?.” She

advised me to be concise. I convinced myself to practice at home and at school. My writing had

improved and my grades were higher. My teachers were impressed at this change. I felt an

overflowing feeling of accomplishment. It gave me recognition and motivated me to improve my

writing skills. Today, the lessons that I learned brought me to my current destination: college. I

am now challenged to write in my own voice as I take my English course. I continue to expand

my reading whenever I get the chance to.

Intially, my relationship with literacy was ignorant. Throughout my life I had to learn to read

and write at my own pace. Yet, everyone has their own connections with literacy. My challenge

that I faced when learning to write was being clear. Just like Susan Madera and Malcom X, I was

perisitant. I wanted to learn because I knew now that there is power in words. Literacy opens

many opportunities. Throughout my life I learned to appreciate reading and writing. I cherish the

lessons that I learned when I started learning how to read behind my eye glasses and to better my

writing skills.

Haley, Alex and Malcom X. The Autobiography of Malcom X: Learning to Read. Grove Press,

1965

Madera, Susan G. One Voice. Across Cultures: A Reader for Writers. 5th Edtion, Ally & Bacon

2001.