In-Class Lab: Literacy Narrative

1.       “When the water receded to about five feet, it was five days later. She was finally able to come down from her perch. The water was up to her chin.” ( pg.130, paragraph 3)

2.       “How can I get all A’s in my English classes but fail the writing part of the proficiency test twice?” (“Proficiency”, paragraph 4)

3.       “Entering the large VFW hall, we were struck by the chemical odor of a cleaning solution so strong that it seemed toxic.” (pg.128, paragraph 2)

“Terrified of drowning, she kept reminding herself to think clearly.” (pg.130, paragraph 1)

“Greater by far than the responsibility to comrades in arms is to friends, family and self, responsibility to the one life each of us gets to live.” (pg. 121, paragraph 2)

Topic Brainstorm:

Ninth grade literacy portfolio, creative writing class (25 page piece), history research paper, elementary school AR points, college application essays/personal statements, Dr. Mackinnon’s class

Consider your Rhetorical Situation:

5.       Purpose: My purpose is to share a story with others about an experience I had with writing that influenced the way I approach and look at writing.

6.       Audience: Since I will be posting this to my blog, my readers will be my classmates and my professor. I think that my classmates will have had similar experiences since we all went through or are going through high school English classes and had similar assignments.

7.       Stance: I want to be sincere and reflective in telling this story.

8.       Media/Design: My narrative will be presented in print on my blog. I don’t think I have any pictures that could go along with it.

Generating Ideas and Text:

9.       I am in a classroom, white walls with college pendants hanging on them, light brown desks, notebooks and papers piled up. In the library I see shelves and shelves of books, my computer open to the assignment, rain outside the window, students bustling to class

10.   I hear people rustling their papers, whispers being exchanged, and the scratch of pencil on paper. I hear people typing, snack wrappers opening, the hum of the radiator, and the rain outside

11.   I smell the strong smell of hand sanitizer from the student across from me and my coffee

12.   I feel nervous and overwhelmed, worrying about how I am going to come up with something to write about and how I will finish it in time.

13.   I have the lingering taste of coffee in my mouth

Key People:

14.   Ms. Boss-short woman with short brown hair, sitting at her desk behind a computer, friendly, familiar. She speaks quickly, but not too fast. She’s always making jokes

Mr. Beda- tall, black hair, tattoos and piercings, loud, booming voice, funny, nice, very approachable for a college professor.

15.   The teacher explaining the assignment to the class, brief expressions of shock from the students, due date,

16.   I was assigned a 25 page piece of writing that would be the final for my creative writing class senior year of high school. I took the class to fill a whole in my schedule, expecting it to be an easy A. I was shocked at the enormity of this assignment and it took me awhile to decide what I was going to write about. But once I decided, the story flowed and I came to enjoy writing fiction.

I was assigned a 10-15 page research paper on any West Coast contemporary problem in my history class freshman year at college. I was overwhelmed because I was overwhelmed in general just being a student at UW. The amount of freedom on this assignment scared me because I wasn't used to it. I ended up picking the Hanford Site and it was my favorite assignment at college. I really enjoyed working on it and it got me interested in different West Coast issues. 
17. These assignments were both significant to me because they both impacted the way I view writing and what it means to me. As I said before, I took the creative writing class for an easy A. I was never into writing fiction or writing for fun. All of the writing I had done was for school-research paper, literary analyses, etc. I came into the class with my mind up about disliking writing, or so I thought. During the process of writing this, I realized that I really did enjoy writing fiction. I had so much fun doing it and it turned out to be one of my favorite assignments from senior year and it went into my senior portfolio. 
My research paper was quite challenging, but also very rewarding. Like I said, I had so much freedom in the assignment, which I wasn't used to, and frankly, made it harder for me. It took me awhile to come up with my topic. But when I did, I ran it by my professor and he said he liked the idea and was looking forward to reading the finished piece. I worked the hardest I had ever worked on ay assignment on that paper. I spent countless late nights in the library working on it. I finished on time and got 100% on it. I was so proud. It gave me a lot of confidence in my writing and showed me that I could succeed at a high level, like UW.