Branson Greer

February 19, 2014

English 1101

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Literacy Narrative
I dont read much. Never have. It isnt because I dont like to read, but there are a lot of
things competing for my attention. Take music for example. I listen to it, I play it; However, I
cant read while listening to music. But what is reading? We were taught as little children that
one reads books; Books contain text and text is what is read. But lets look at reading from a
different perspective by first understanding what a text is. When reading books, characters that
are strung together in just the right way are perceived to the brain as words, and understanding
occurs. If we then take books away from the equation and insert music, the brain is still
receiving information and generating a form of understanding. The ears, in this case, are
collecting the data whereas the eyes did the work when reading. So, if texts can be anything that
can be perceived, then reading is just a form of perception. I may not read very often, but I can
proudly say that I perceive texts all day, every day. This leads to the more personal question:
what texts do I regularly perceive, and how did I acquire literacy in these texts? My day to day
life is consistently faced with the textual analysis of literature, music, and my faith.
Books and writing were a substantial part of my early education. When I was roughly
three or four years old, I used to see my parents write and run to my room to scribble on a piece
of paper. I suppose that supports the idea that people desire to be literate. In elementary school I
learned how to write words. I remember my mom being a very influential part of this. She
would make me go to my room and meticulously transcribe the alphabet. I hated it. Which is
probably why I remember it so well.
As I progressed to the second and third grades, I started reading at higher and higher
levels. This was due to the reading program that the school used. Accelerated Reader was a

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computer program that tested us kids on every book we read. It had a vast number of books in
its database and assigned reading levels to insure that we were challenging ourselves. After
moving to North Carolina during third grade, I finished up the school year at a different school.
Fortunately for me, this school used the same reading software. I was able to keep challenging
myself and even got a medal for having a high number of points.
During the sixth grade I learned how to write essays. I was in an advanced English
course so my teacher was extra hard on the class about writing. When she was teaching us the
structure of a five paragraph essay, she gave us a very bland topic that we had to spice up. It
isnt easy to write an interesting essay on French fries, but I managed. That teacher was very
influential to my literacy, even though I didnt appreciate her at the time. What she really taught
me, besides the structure of a paper, was how to make observations and write about something
that seemingly has nothing to show.
I found high school literature courses to be very interesting. I had to write throughout all
of high school but I remember writing most of my papers during my later years. My tenth grade
teacher was also hard on the class. We students were well aware of how to structure an essay, so
what the teacher taught us was how to structure a paper with a lot of paragraphs, and how to
structure the paragraphs themselves. This made my junior year research paper much easier, and
helped me get a perfect score on my senior paper. As important as all this was, my literacy up to
this point was growing in more than one way.
Music was a text that has intrigued me for a long time. When I was young, I would
dance and sing to all kinds of songs. Back then I listened to what mommy listened to, which was
contemporary Christian on the radio. As I went into elementary and early middle school I lost
interest. Im not sure why, but I just stopped listening to music. Then I got a Bon Jovi album.

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Listening to catchy songs like You Give Love a Bad Name and Bad Medicine pumped me
up. From there I found my way to Christian artists that I loved to listen to. Now, I listen to
everything from classical music to Pink Floyd, and Christian music to Rock and Roll.
My dynamic musical interests over the years have very much changed the way I see
literacy itself. When I was not interested in music, my textual influences were more limited.
Now I can listen to a song and see things from the writers perspective. It has allowed me to see
that the world consists of more than what we see, do, and hear. Personally, I believe that God
created everything, including music. Thanks to music, I feel closer to God when I sing and
praise Him.
My faith is a text of sorts as well. Sure, the Bible falls under the category of literature
and the music written to praise God falls under music. But what is faith? It is a perception as
well, is it not? Do not misunderstand me, though. I do believe in absolute truth. Some things in
this world are the way they are. But one still must perceive what is true if truth is to have any
purpose in and of itself. The fact that God exists and loves me like his own son just amazes me.
The fact that God died and resurrected to save me, that humbles me. Because of these things, I
live for God. I do my best to follow His commandments, and when I fail I am still saved by
grace. But if this text that is my faith was not present, I would be a totally different person.
Literacy is the knowledge and perception of texts. There are an infinite number of texts,
and not all of them affect everyone. I listed a few areas in which I have become literate.
Literature, music, and my faith have are all texts that I have come to understand and have
influenced me. There are others. Film is one, my habitat is another. But the ones I have listed
are the ones that have the greatest impact on my own life. These texts created memories I will
never forget.