Kaylee Elliott

English 134

20 January 2023

Professor Garcia

Literacy Narrative Commented [GMC1]: I would add a creative title hear

that lets us readers know where you will take us in your
narrative.
I believe that it is safe to say that literacy has been very impactful to today’s world. From reading

and writing to driving sustainable development and expanding life opportunities, literacy plays a

significant role in all of it. Literacy is used in everyday life and beyond the functional level, it

plays a vital role in shaping who you and I are as individuals. Good or bad, everyone has some

type of relationship and a certain attitude with literacy. Personally, I am thankful to have had Commented [GC2]: I like how you reflect on the
importance of literacy before you share your personal
experience with it!
experiences with writing that have ended up being the reason for who I am today. Language

contributes to one of the core purposes of my beliefs in literacy and its importance.

Growing up multicultural, my mom being Mexican and my dad being Caucasian; I knew what it

was like to have many different beliefs, traditions, and guidelines. Language was a large share

of my childhood. My mother’s side of the family all spoke Spanish. My grandparents on that side

immigrated from Mexico to America prior to my mother being born. My grandparents did their

best to learn English but trying to adapt to a new country and new language, you could imagine

that it was fairly difficult. My mom being the youngest of 6, grew up bilingual along with all her Commented [GMC3]: I would rephrase this sentence to:
With difficulty, my grandparents did their best to learn
English to adapt to a new country and language.
siblings. She would speak Spanish in the household and English everywhere else. She tells me

that it wasn’t a big deal, and she didn’t mind that her parents didn’t speak English, but

sometimes translating everything would get tiring. For me, growing up primarily speaking

English was suitable up until I really wanted to communicate clearly with my grandparents on
my mother’s side. I felt as if I didn’t have a close connection with my grandma and grandpa

since I couldn’t fluently converse with them when we would visit. Yes, I had the assistance of

my mother helping me and of course google translate, but I really craved the one on one, face to

face interactions. I think that the fact that a lot of my friends would hang out with their

grandparents often, facetime them, and go out with them would occasionally make me feel

despairing.
My mom would try to speak Spanish to my brothers and I here and there as we grew up. A lot of
the times it was in the kitchen as she was cooking. She would say things like, “Puedes cortar el
pollo por favor?” Meaning, “Can you cut the chicken please?’’ I would pick up on it some of the
Commented [GC4]: You would write this sentence as: My
mom would try to speak Spanish to me and my brother
here and there as we grew up. Because if you take out
brother, the sentence wouldn't make sense but if you take
our me in the new sentence, then the sentence still makes
sense.

times, but I never felt like I ever could have more than a few sentences with my grandma and

grandpa. In 8th grade my Junior Highschool had a Spanish 1 class that only a few people could

take. I was very interested, and I applied to take the class. I thought that this could be a start to

speaking Spanish, even if it was just the very basics of Spanish. I kept taking Spanish classes,

going up to Spanish 3 in high school by my junior year. At that point, my grandpa on my

mother’s side had passed during my sophomore year of high school. It was a really sad point in

my life because although I was able to communicate better with my grandpa and I loved him

very much. I still couldn’t just sit down and talk about whatever I wanted to with him. It was

limited. SoSo, by my junior year, I was motivated to continue to keep speaking spanishSpanish

and get better. I asked my mom if she could speak to me more around the house and out in

public. Eventually, I could converse back and forth, not great, but it was better than nothing. I

could talk to my grandma a little more everytimeevery time I saw her and it made me

appreciative everytimeevery time I got to speak with her.

I came to realize how language and communicating is so influential. If I didn’t have Commented [GC5]: Way to connect back to your intro!

Spanish speaking family members then I wouldn’t have been as persuaded to learn more about

the language. Actually attempting the learn the language modified the way that I viewed (insert

something)…. Although I am not biligualbilingual by all means, I still created an

oppurtunityopportunity for myself to try to learn more about a language in order to gain more of

a closeness to my family. I have learned that language connects us to one another and allows us

to express our ideas and feeling with others.

Looking back, I wasn’t as aware that it was the language that was inspiring me to change and

become more diverse in my speaking skills. As I have grown up listening to different languages,

I have gained a lot of knowledge and empathy for those adapting to new languages and their own

personal stories behind it. I am grateful to have had the experiences that I had and acquire a

sense of appreciation for language with it.

Commented [GC6]: Final Reflection:

I really like how this Narrative preposed a claim of the
importance of literacy and language in the introduction and
then had a defensive argument and great example to back
up the claim. All I would add is that you can think of a
creative title that will make your reader curious to continue
to read your narrative. Also bring your experiences between
you and your family come to life with more imagery!
Overall, you did a great job organizing this narrative