Literacy Narrative Process Memo

Alexandra Hatala
Mrs. Rinke
WRT 150
10/12/12

Literacy Narrative Process Memo

As I started to think about what I had wanted to write about for my timeline, the most logical place for me to start was how I developed my literacy ability. It came easy to me because I have a very strong visual memory of what I had to endure in order for me to get where I am today. As I was composing my timeline, I made sure to include key points along the way making sure that I included when I read my first book and how I started writing, to learning how to write in cursive. I had no problem remembering specific details. I felt like I had so much that I could have included in my timeline but had to leave a few things out to keep it simple and to the point.

What was interesting about making my timeline on my literacy development is just how much I actually enjoyed reading and writing when I got a hold of things. I loved to write my own books as well as writing passages in journals about my day. I also realized how I became an avid reader at a fairly young age and how I always yearned to read more books. I feel that my most central theme that I followed throughout my timeline was on books. Picking books to be my theme wasn’t difficult to pick because books have always been a big part of my life and I can relate to a lot of instances in my life where books have come into play. Creating this timeline has helped bring forth those memories that I had forgotten about. It made me realize just how big of a part reading has played in my life and how I wouldn’t be where I am today without my ability and love for books.

When working on my literacy narrative choosing an area of focus wasn’t difficult. I thought about how I came to acquire the skills that I have today and the struggles that I went through in order to be able to read and write. I found the literacy narrative easy to jump into because I had a clear idea of what I wanted to take from completing my timeline. Since I didn’t have any music or movies to relate to, I thought that I could spin books and my reading development into my narrative. I was able to organize my narrative in a chronological order that best represented how the years followed after I had finally mastered reading and writing and what I was able to accomplish. I did not need the use of any pre-writing strategies. It was very easy for me to just sit at my computer and let my thoughts flow and I was able to effectively organize my thoughts in a structured manner. After composing my rough draft and going through the peer review process, there weren’t many issues that I had to fix. I added more details and clarified a few things to make it easier to understand. It was very helpful to have another person look over my work.

 I got helpful constructive criticism that greatly benefited the overall outcome of my essay. It’s important to always have someone else read over your work to see if you have any mistakes that you missed and also to give you hints as to how you can make it better so that in turn, you get a good grade on it and will learn things that you can use on your future essays. As I was finishing up the final edits to my literacy narrative, I knew that I wanted to take my struggles of my reading development the main focus of my narrative and turn that into my video. It altered the way that I would have normally written a story in the sense that I had to write about specific details and memories that I had vaguely forgotten about and make sure that the story flowed well together. It was important to keep it to the point and without extra details that didn’t need to be in the story.

While thinking about how I wanted to compose my Animoto slideshow, my partner was very helpful because she had highlighted more than what was asked which helped out immensely. They were well written sentences that helped make the story fit together and made it easy to understand without having to read my narrative. I had chosen seventeen passages for my slideshow because they captured my main points as well as some of the advice I had to offer. With a 52-character limit on each slide, I found it very difficult. I always want to clarify what I’m talking about and add details so that people are able to understand what I am trying to convey in my writing. I had to make sure that the slides were straight and to the point by using short sentences with shorter words.

When using images throughout the slideshow, I made sure to choose pictures that best represented my feelings as a child, complimentary to my text. I made sure to include the books that I’ve learned to read over the years that helped in shaping my overall ability and pictures of young girls who conveyed those feelings well. They were all images that I had found online because I was unable to find any personal photos that best represented my main focus. They truly helped to shape my story because of the sadness and the frustrated emotions that were depicted in my photos. I chose the happy song that I did because even though everyone has their ups and downs in life, it’s always important to look at the positive aspects of things. I thought that it fit nicely with the theme of my video as well. It showed that through my struggles, I was able to persevere and come out on top while moving forward and not becoming a quitter. With the strong dedication that my parents have shown me, it was easy to get back on my feet and finish achieving things at my best.

            While looking back at my video, I wish that I had used personal photos of mine so that I could give a better inside glimpse to my readers as to what it was like if they were actually in my shoes. I feel that it could have made my video more personal to me because of the addition of my own photos. Reading the comments on my video made me feel confident and strong in myself because I know that overcoming any struggle in life is a great accomplishment. It was a great experience to be able to go back in time and touch base on something that has greatly impacted who you are in life today. It made me appreciate my parents even more because they never gave up on me and never will. Love and dedication is a powerful thing and I wouldn’t be where I am today without my parents.