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Jessica Bunce
Weaver
Rhetoric I
15 November 2013
Literacy Narrative
As a child, I was never really a great reader nor did I enjoy reading. Throughout
school, I hated when teachers forced us to have reading time or assigned the class a
specific book to read. When I was forced to read, I would always find ways to get around
it or make up the assignment. Growing up, I was always the kid that wanted to be outside
on my bike, scooter, pogo stick, or just playing with soccer balls, basketballs, tennis balls,
and so on. My brother was always the one building some incredible structure with Legos
or keeping up with anything going on in the athletic world. Together, we made a great
team of kids who didn’t like reading.
My third and fourth grade teachers, Mrs. Griffin and Mr. Brown, played the most
important roles in shaping my literary identity as a child. All throughout elementary and
middle school, we had a computer program called AR (Accelerated Reader). Students
were placed into groups based on how well of readers we were. For an hour out of each
day, all of the classes in your grade level were sent to an assigned classroom with your
group. We would all read books together and then discuss what we read with our group at
the end of our session. Once we finished the books, we would all take a computergenerated test through AR. Depending on how well you did on the test, you would
receive a certain amount of points for the book. Each of the groups had to reach a specific
amount of points by the end of the year. If you had achieved all of the points required for
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your group, you would get rewarded for it at the end of the year with an ice cream party
or a slip-n-slide party in the bus parking lot.
My third and fourth grade years were extremely stressful years for me. In third
grade, I got strep throat 4 times and pneumonia once which then led to the decision of me
getting my tonsils removed. I missed weeks of school at a time; therefore, I was unable to
meet with my group and take all of the AR tests that would give me the points that I
needed for the year. My teacher was so understanding of everything, and when I was
healthy towards the end of the year, she helped me get all of the points I needed so that I
could still get a reward. In fourth grade, my parents had a nasty divorce that really
affected my brother and I. My brother had just started high school and began losing his
focus. Being the younger sister, I looked up to him so much and began following his
footsteps. I saw how angry my brother was at the situation and I didn’t really know how
to react at such a young age. Mr. Brown, my fourth grade teacher, knew about everything
going on at the time and would do anything for me. He acted like a father figure to me
through these hard times, which took the stress off of my back. Instead of having to read
in my groups and not being able to focus, Mr. Brown would sit down with me for an hour
or so during the day and would read with me. He would help me comprehend and
understand what I was reading and without giving me the answers, would help me take
the AR tests. Immediately after I took the test, we would begin working on another book
together.
Not only did Mr. Brown help me become a stronger reader, but he also played an
important role in improving my writing skills. Growing up, I never liked to write and still
struggle with it to this day. My fourth grade year was the first year we had to take the
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writing test. At the beginning of the year, we took a practice writing test to prepare us for
what we would see later on. Once my practice test was graded, we knew something
needed to be done before I had to take the real thing. Because Mr. Brown helped me
tremendously with my reading and comprehending skills, my mom wanted him to help
me with my writing skills as well. Every time we sat down together to work on my
writing, he would ask me about something I enjoyed or something that I would have to
think about in my future. We would talk about it for a little bit and then he would have
me write about everything we talked about for 10 minutes. After each time we met and I
began improving from all of the practice, he would then give me a legitimate prompt to
write about for longer periods of time. When I was done writing, we would read over
what I wrote and correct any mistakes that I made so that I wouldn’t make them again.
When it came time for all of the fourth graders to take the writing test that year,
everything that Mr. Brown had taught me was put to great use and I did unbelievingly
well on it.
Not only did I shape my own literary identity through reading and writing, but
also through my love for soccer and basketball. Soccer and basketball have been a huge
part of who I am ever since I was a little girl. Growing up in a sports oriented household,
not only did we love to play sports, we loved watching and talking about them every
moment we had. My mom would pick me up from school, take me to soccer practice and
then immediately after, would drive me back over to my school for basketball practice
every day. Jordan, my brother, would get picked up from school with friends and go
immediately to baseball practice. Family dinners were never until late at night when
everyone was home and cleaned up. The majority of our family dinners were about how
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practice was and what was expected in upcoming games. Being able to read the game and
understand the sports world is it’s own form of literacy.
Throughout high school, I took all of the skills that my third and fourth grade
teachers taught me, as well as all of the other skills that helped me along the way, and
shaped my own literary identity. My passion for all sports played such an important role
in shaping the literate individual I am today. Even though I still do not absolutely love to
read, I enjoy it more and more as I grow older.