Literacy Narrative
Karic Cecutti
My earliest memories of writing are not of events, but rather feelings. Feelings of
confusion, boredom, anguish, hate. As for back as I can remember I have always dreaded the act
of writing. I would sit in class, eagerly awaiting recess, art class, gym class; I wanted nothing to
do with school work. Education was meaningless to me, all I desired was fun. Fun to me meant
playing outside, playing with toys, playing video games, playing sports. I’d rather play than
write, then again what kid wants to sit indoors and write? With writing one must be able to read
and understand text. My reading skills were poor. I would sit in class and notice how the other
kids were able to read and write with ease. I felt different from the others, I felt alone. During
my younger school years I had always been a loner. During recess while the other kids were
playing, I stood alone, in silence and in solitude. I was content with loneliness; I enjoyed recess
despite never joining in with the other kids. I would walk around and play on the playground by
myself. Too further alienate me from my peers the teacher placed me in a special reading
recovery program at school. I began the program in 1st grade. I would met one on one with a
teacher and read simple books. The visual images of the books got my attention way more than
the text. I had always been drawn towards pictures. Books were chosen based on the cover
rather than the content. During library class I found myself drawn towards books such as
Goosebumps, Scary Stories, and Where’s Waldo. Although I could not read the books, I enjoyed
the pictures.
Over time my reading and writing began to improve. Despite my efforts to repress the
knowledge learned in school, the knowledge became ingrained into my brain. Like a cancer it
began to build and build. By 3rd grade I no longer had to attend reading recovery classes. Our
teacher Mrs. Jones had us write a journal entry every Monday about what we did over the
weekend. Those journals are the earliest form of writing I can remember completing. We also
had to write an autobiography in the 3rd grade, on our very short lived lives. By 5th grade my
literacy skills had drastically improved. I was reading full novels and writing reports on them.
Over the course of elementary school I had gone from a kid who couldn’t read, to a kid who
could read 300 page novels.
When middle school began reading and writing became routine. Nighty readings along
with homework were given. I found that academically and socially I fit in with the kids far
better than in my elementary days. During recess I no longer stood and watched the other kids. I
now joined them. In class felt I was at the same academic level as everyone else. I was no
longer a loner or an outcast.
During middle school I was introduced to poetry. My English class had a poetry project.
It was there I learned how to write poetry. For the project we had to write several poems and
form a poetry scrap book. Each poem we wrote had to be a different style of poem. I have long
forgotten the many forms of poetry, and as a college student I couldn’t name a single type of
poem if asked. That knowledge has long been forgotten, and the only memory is that of the
project, the content is unclear.
It was there in middle school that I discovered my love for fiction. “We do best at things
we have a genuine interest in, not those that we are spoon-fed to us” (Devoss, 2011). I enjoyed
writing my own stories. No rules, no grading scale, no rubric, no prompt, just me and my
thoughts. I could write whatever I wanted. I didn’t have to conform to the teachers rules. The
stories could be violent and foul, there were no limits to my stories. I didn’t have to turn my
paper in, only I would be a witness to my stories. The stories didn’t need to make sense, nor did
they need to have a purpose. I made the rules, I wrote the stories, I was free.
I was now in high school and the once foreign act of studying became more prevalent in
my life. Tests and quizzes were given more frequently and grades were of greater importance.
My reading was predominantly that out of text books. I had text books for science, history, math,
and English. I would read not for enjoyment, but in order to pass a test or write a paper. My
goal was to get a good grade, and in order to get the grade I needed to read the text books. I read
with a purpose, and wrote down information. Malcolm X had a similar method in his learning
when he copied all the pages of the dictionary. “I copied the dictionary’s next page. And the
same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people
and places and events from history” (Malcolm X, 2011). Reading and writing down information
would continue all through high school and into college. When reading text books I stop after
every paragraph and analyze what I had just read. This helps me retain the knowledge, but also
makes the reading a much longer task. Reading ten pages out of a science book may take me an
hour to read. I am a slow reader to begin with, and when I write down information and analyze
what I just read, a very simple reading may take me hours. However, I have found this method
works for me, and although I may have to sacrifice time it’s a price I am willing to pay for my
grades.
I hadn’t always cared about grades. My freshmen and sophomore year of high school I
was very apathetic towards school work. I put minimal effort into all my work. I put minimal
effort into anything did besides computer games. I was content with getting c’s and I was
content with 19-19 win loss record in wrestling. After my sophomore wrestling season came to
an end, I made a change. No longer would I be content with being average, I made plans to be
the best person I could be. I dropped my computer game habit, started wrestling year round, and
put an effort into my school work. My life began to improve. My grades slowly went up and my
wrestling skills improved. By senior year of high school I was getting all A’s and B’s, and even
made honor roll. In wrestling I qualified for districts and went into the tournament with a 24-9
record. I was motived; I gave my best in anything I did. The success of my efforts fueled my
motivation.
I had two very important projects my senior year. The first being a college essay and the
second being a capstone project. The college essay could be on anything we wanted. I wrote
about how my attitude on life changed over the course of high school. I received an A for the
paper and even sent the paper into colleges I applied for. The capstone involved community
service and three long papers along with a video. I really enjoyed my capstone project because I
did my capstone on wrestling. For my community service I coached kids in wrestling, and was a
referee at youth tournaments. The writing was easy because I wrote about something I was very
passionate about. When writing about something I am passionate about, I can produce some of
my best writing. Overall I feel the writing we did senior year really had a purpose compared the
writings I had done in the past. The college essay for getting into college, the capstone in
helping the community, and the resume for getting a job. Senior year was my favorite year in
high school, and I feel I improved my literacy a great deal over the course of the year.
I began my college career at Ohio University, majoring criminology. In high school we
worked on papers in class and had to complete several drafts. In college we have no drafts, and
no class time to write our papers. I found myself writing all my papers the night before they
were due. Procrastination became routine for any paper. Most of my papers in college have
been research papers, and required incorporation of many sources. It was here were I learned
how to properly cite my papers. I also learned the correct way of providing a reference page for
my work. My English 151 class was centered on film. We would watch movies in class then
write about them. We made blog posts about the movies. I really enjoyed posting on a blog
because it was a change from the writing I had done in the past. My favorite writing piece of my
college career thus far has been my final paper in English 151. I got to watch a movie of my
choice and then write about it. I wrote about the camera angles/shots and incorporated quotes
from critics. I ended up writing a ten page paper on “The Way of the Gun” and enjoyed every
bit of it. I started the paper a week in advance as opposed to the night before like I had done on
several papers in the past. I was able to produce a great piece of work with the time and effort I
put into the paper. I received an A on the paper.
Today my writing is still improving. My English 308 course is a great tool in enhancing
my literacy knowledge. My future literacy goals are to widen my vocabulary when writing. I
would also like to start reading more novels. Rarely have I ever read books for pleasure. To
accomplish these goals I must but in the time and effort. Nothing in life will ever come easy for
me, and in order to reach success all I need is some self motivation.
Works Cited
Devoss, D. (2011). The Future of Literacy. In D. D. Elizabeth Wardle, Writing About Writing (p. 737).
Boston : Bedford/St Martin's.
X, M. (2011). Learning to Read. In D. D. Elizabeth Wardle, Writing About Writing (p. 747). Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's.