Project 1: Literacy Narrative
Assignment Sheet
Description
For this first project of the semester, you are to write an organized essay describing your experiences with
literacy and learning. With the beginning of this semester, you embark on a new journey in your life as a
student. Your travels will contain twists and turns, but you decide which paths to pursue. Your past learning
experiences function as a sort of roadmap for you, allowing you to chart your course to academic success, for
you have undoubtedly had both positive and negative experiences in the past, and they combine to make you a
seasoned traveler on the road to knowledge.
This project requires that you recall those past experiences with learning, both the good and the bad. You are to
recreate them in writing, describe in detail both what happened and the emotions you associate with the events.
This serves two purposes that will help us meet our semester goals; it demands that you reflect on your past
learning experiences so that you can be more mindful of how you want to shape your future learning
experiences, and it encourages you to explore the possibilities writing offers. So that you may adequately
describe and reflect on each experience, you will likely want to limit your discussion to 2-3 experiences.
Questions for Consideration
 What learning experiences stand out in your memory? What contributed to these experiences to make
them positive or negative—in short, why are they memorable, and how do they inform your current
views of learning?
 What is your first memory of school? Of course, while learning doesn’t just take place in school, it is
certainly a place where it should, and thinking of school might help you recall specific lessons you’ve
learned.
 When have you helped someone else learn an important lesson or gain a new skill? How did it feel to be
in the position of teacher, and how might this influence your opinion of teaching or learning?
 Who are the people who come to mind when you think of learning? Consider the role these people
played or continue to play in your acquisition of knowledge, experience, and wisdom.
 How have past learning experiences influenced your expectations for learning in college? What do you
hope to gain from your current classes, and how might this knowledge help you in the future?
 How do you plan to make the most of future learning experiences? What role do you—in addition to
others—play in ensuring that you have positive learning experiences?
 What can you and/or others learn from looking back and reflecting on your past learning experiences?
Audience
Your audience is an academic reader who does not know you and has no past knowledge of the events you describe. As
with any writing situation, your reader will be looking for an answer to the “so what” question; s/he will want to know
why they are reading about these experiences, so be sure to explain why the events you describe are important to you or
what others can learn from reading about them.
Physical and Source Requirements
Your essay should also include direct references to information you gather in a personal interview with
someone knowledgeable about your learning experiences, whether a sibling, a parent, a former teacher, or a
fellow classmate. You should use your source’s ideas to illustrate or support the points you wish to make about
your learning experiences or about learning as a concept.
Physical Requirements
Your essay should follow MLA formatting guidelines, including an assignment block, in-text citations, and a
Works Cited page, and it must be between four to five double-spaced pages in Times New Roman font with
one-inch margins. (To avoid unnecessary spacing between paragraphs, be sure you set the paragraph spacing
option to 0 points in the “After” box.)
Criteria for Evaluation
Discusses experiences that are
relevant to the assignment and
describes them in vivid detail,
bringing them to life for the reader.
Excellent
Very Good
20
18
16
Good
14
Poor
12
Very Poor
10
Effectively introduces the personal interview
source with descriptive lead-in and follow-up
statements that illustrate how it adds to or
elaborates on your own thoughts on the
described experiences.
Excellent
Very Good
20
18
16
Good
14
Poor
12
Very Poor
10
Comments on the significance of each
experience, both to you and in terms
of what they say about the nature of
learning more generally.
Excellent
Very Good
20
18
16
Good
14
Poor
12
Very Poor
10
Guides readers with a meaningful and
original title, thesis statement, topic sentences,
and transitions.
Excellent
Very Good
20
18
16
Good
14
Poor
12
Very Poor
10
Is clearly written and easy to understand,
with minimal grammatical/copyediting errors.
Excellent
Very Good
20
18
16
Good
14
Poor
12
Very Poor
10
English 1010 Essay Assignment: Analysis of a Magazine Advertisement
Find a magazine advertisement from the month and year of your birth or from any time before
that. Analyze how and why it would have worked. (Don’t choose an ad that you think would
have failed.) Take into account the following variables as relevant: audience (for example: age,
race, income-level, and gender), content (including images, layout, and colors), what the ad
promises, and historical context. Be as specific as possible in your analysis.
Based on the advertisement, what generalizations might you make about the world, or at least
the advertisement’s target audience, at the time of its publication? You need to come up with a
thesis statement in answer to this question, and support it throughout your essay. You may
conduct informal research with people who remember the time period in order to test or
support your theories. Quote those people in your essay if their comments are relevant.
Another way to research the time period of your ad is to read portions of the magazine in which
your ad appears.
If you choose an ad for a product that still exists today, you might compare the ad with an ad
from today. If you choose an ad for a product that no longer exists, you might discuss why the
product no longer exists.
Scan or make a color copy of your ad, and turn it in with your essay–but your essay should be
able to stand alone without your telling your reader to look at the ad. In your introduction, be
sure to mention the title and date of the magazine. Use a popular magazine, not an academic
periodical or trade publication. Do not use microfilm, microfiche, or online versions of
magazines.
Consider this assignment relatively formal. Do not use contractions or colloquial/slang
expressions (unless you are quoting someone). Do not use the pronoun I.
List the works you cite according to MLA style. On a separate sheet at the end of your essay,
type the words Works Cited at the top of the page (not italicized or underlined), centered.
Double space consistently, with the first line of each entry starting at the left margin and the
subsequent lines indented half an inch (the opposite of traditional paragraphs.) List entries in
alphabetical order.
Sample entries: (See next page).
(For books and newspaper/magazine articles, consult Research Matters at MTSU for MLA style.)
Works Cited
“In a Cluttered Mediaverse, Some Ads Stand Out.” Narr. Elizabeth Blair. All Things Considered.
Natl. Public Radio. 22 May 2007. WPLN, Nashville. 11 Sept. 2007
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10309440. Transcript.
Parsons, William. Personal interview. 5 Oct. 2010.
Quarrels, Natalie. Telephone interview. 13 Oct. 2010.
Solomon, Jack. “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising.” Signs of Life in the
U.S.A.: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon. 3rd
ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 137-148.
Toyota Tercel. Advertisement. Newsweek April 1992: 111.