Allyson Bowers September 25, 2013 Dr.

Rieman ENGL 1101 Literacy Memoir Introducing my memoir of literacy I have included a semi-short YouTube video. It discusses how writing, something we almost take for granted, completely changed the world, with the start of written languages. It proceeds to express how writing and reading are basic forms of communication. When an author writes something it is written for the reader: to express an opinion to the reader, inform the reader, ect. (I think it is informational and quirky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSYw502dJNY)

Growing up the females in my family were my first and most influential literacy sponsors of my early life. My mother and grandmother both followed a pattern of teaching early childhood education, taking years off to be stay at home mothers, and then returning back to teaching. Having this background my mother and grandmother saw it essential for my sister and I to learn to read and write as soon as possible. My sister being my elder by two years and naturally studios always preceded me in acquiring literacy skills. Watching her first read incentivized me more than anything; to be as smart as her, to be able to

read, to achieve independence through knowledge, these goals are the first recollection I have of wanting to learn. My sister, in this early time period before I attended school, knew me only as her baby sister; weaker and more ignorant than herself. She wanted to be a teacher and I became her most convenient pulp. We played school for what seemed like hours every day; myself always being the student. She would read to me, explain the pictures in the books, help me create my first letters, and reiterate all the things she had learned in school to me. I profited from these experiences and so too did my sister. My mother and grandmother sponsored my literacy not just for my improvement but so that I could reflect their intelligence and parental skills. They also taught me with the underlying motivation to prepare me well enough so that I may succeed independently in the world. Towards the end of elementary school through middle school the most significant part of my literacy development took place at night. I lived with my family; an average, four person, middle class, small town, family. My mother, a 2nd grade teacher, attended the University at of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while my father, less attuned to academics worked at the local phone company. My sisters room and mine were side-by-side but in the evening her homework took hours every night leaving me lonely and bored. So during the period of time in which after I had gotten ready for bed but before going to sleep I would sit with the lamp beside me, pull out whichever cheap journal I was filling at the time and write. I would write about my day, my friends, school, gymnastics practice or whatever thoughts found their way to my pen. Writing this way was like having the most personal in-depth conversation without the worry of judgments or comments from the outside. I expressed myself this way for a span of time that I

remember having no distinct beginning or end. I do however remember feeling gratified, almost

relived at the opportunity to write my words- just for me. Technology has never been something that came naturally to me although that is not to say that it did not intrigue and excite my imagination. I have watched the home videos that capture the Christmas of 1998 when my grandparents gave my family our first computer repeatedly. However until my pre-teen years I had no real use for the computer. That quickly changed when my generation was introduced to AOL instant messenger. I struggled with typing for quite a while; the skills I had acquired through school in writing by hand had no effect of helping me find and strike keys. Although every message, conversation, and inside joke that resulted from my new on-line communications brought me into the future. Rapidly typing messages to multiple people allowed me to develop important literacy skills that have only

continued to grow and contribute to my life. The most challenging literacy task I faced in school was what our county called the graduation project. This project consisted of a six page research paper, an original interview, an up-to-date resume, a photo journal (or other physical product), and a two page reflection essay. (This is a link to the current Davidson County graduation project handbook) At the beginning of

my senior year this seemed a nearly impossible task to complete. Composing the research paper, the longest I had been assigned at the time, was overwhelming to say the least. I procrastinated, and in the two days that I started and finished my research paper I had looked up, emailed, and googled my way to an understanding of format and structure that had not previously existed within me. My ability, my intellect was challenged and I arose to the occasion. Unfortunately some of my classmates did not rise to complete the stipulations set forth by this county wide

policy and were denied graduation. Recently a new literacy sponsor has entered my life in the form of a smart-phone. I have read school assigned articles, Facebook updates, and investigated into the stock market on my iPhone 5. Having constant access to such a vast variety of information has supported my skills in reading, writing and composing. I read international news, along with national and local news daily. I compose and read emails, I contribute to social media, write texts, lists, and notes all on my phone. While scrolling through one of the various news apps I have I stumbled across an article about the literacy test the US government made World War 1 soldiers take. Here is a link to the test. It was a great resource to see how definitions of literacy change with time and context. The advantages I encounter by having this devise are hardly one-sided though. I am aware of the multitude of companies and hundreds maybe thousands of individuals whose work allows me to possess this iPhone. From the journalist, poets, and scholars works I read to the

software programmers, app inventors, and graphic designers: they all contribute and gain profit

as a result from their sponsorship. While I contemplated the ways that I view myself as literate I could not avoid a huge part of my life that I have grown to become literate in. Bodybuilding is tectonically a sport. However it is a lifestyle, a daily routine of learned self-discipline, but over a year ago I knew almost nothing about it. After my interest was sparked by my boyfriend, the only human that sponsored my literacy in this area, I began to collect data about the subject so I could apply what I learned to myself. I began to increase my knowledge by reading magazine articles on topics that range from the chemical process of protein synthesis to the difference in slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers. On-line I was introduced to a web site called Bodybuilding.com. (I have hyperlinked it here and suggest it as a resource to anyone who may be interested.) It contains training information, nutrition, and supplementation. With the knowledge I had acquired I apply to myself by constructing thought-out scientifically based training sessions, coupled with adequate nutrition specifically designed to help me reach my goals. This is a literacy skill that I took upon myself to learn and by acquiring it I have become healthier and more driven. From this experience I have found that when it is I who instigate and incentivize myself to develop new literacy skills they become more learned, practiced, and developed compared to when an

outside force incites the skill.

Literacy has meant many different things and held to many different standards through history. Different cultures and context require unique literacy skills. I previously thought of literacy in more limited terms than it truly encompasses. Literacy, according to the National Council of teachers of English, has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy.

Works Citied http://www.ncte.org/governance/literacies