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Sarah McNeill Raymond Literacy Narrative September 10, 2013 A World of New Possibilities: A Literacy Narrative Literacy is one of the few things in the world that will forever be needed. As I go through college, I realize how true it is, that your whole life can be changed from a book. Malcolm X said, People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book. which is so true. People, even things, change and shape the person you are today, and it is constantly changing. I am the literate person today because of my family, my way of life, and the technology that was given to me to use over the years. As a child I didnt realize this, but I am very thankful for my parents making me read, and I am also very thankful for my older brother, who loved to read and encouraged me to read as well. In many cultures, siblings play an important role within this supportive web, mediating children's learning and syncretizing literacies and languages drawn from home, school, and community contexts as well as from popular culture with impressive skill (Gregory 22). As a kid, my grandparents and parents would call me, me too because I would always want to everything that my brother did. If he was reading, I was reading; or at least pretending too. He was reading chapter books by the second grade, while I was still stuck on Olivia: The Pig, and Dr. Seuss. I have always wanted to be better than my brother, nothing like some sibling rivalry, and in terms of literacy, I highly doubt Ill ever win that battle. Another thing he does is: he makes fun of my dyslexia, and calls me lysdexic, which isnt terrible, but it makes me remember

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and realize that I am dyslexic. Speaking of dyslexia, I didnt realize that I was dyslexic until about the third grade. My mom had assumed that I was, and I did go to a speech class for a while, but it never was that big of a deal. I realized it when I continued to misspell simple words. To this day, I still do, and it bothers me a whole like more than it used too. I feel really stupid when I make a simple mistake. Most parents do read to their children, and I am glad both sets of my grandparents would read to me, as well. My grandma on my mothers side would read to us, those little golden books and other children's books. My nana on my fathers side would encourage me to write and spell more. I think that they both encouraged me to the degree that they did because they grew up in a time when reading and writing werent as important as they are now. I know that my nana didnt have much of an education but she was still a very literate and intelligent woman. I even realized this before she passed away, which was when I was four. My nana grew up in the same place that I did, rural Harnett County, about two hours away. T. Ray and I lived just outside of Sylvan, SC, population 3,100. Peach stands and Baptist churches, that sums it up (Kidd 8). Harnett county is the absolute bane of my existence. There is not a thing to do, and there are crops, which is it. As a rural county, not much money is spent on the school system and what is, didnt come to my school. Western Harnett High equalled the poorest high school in my county, and of course I went there. During the course of all of my education, up until now, I have been in Harnett county, not learning much of anything so what I wanted to learn, I had to do myself. I think that made it a lot harder for me, especially since I knew every single one of my teachers in middle and elementary school so I could talk my way out of something if I didnt want to do it. I definitely think that really had a big effect on me. No

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one really challenged me to learn. Harnett county, being as rural as it is, especially back in the 1960s like when Lily grew up, school wasnt important. When crops came in, you best believe that all the able bodied boys, and even girls, went to help. My own dad, who was born in 1963, didnt go to college until later on in his life after he met my mom. Education just hasnt been an important part of life in the country, literally. Although I wasnt really challenged in my beginning years of school, I realized that if I didnt decide to learn on my own, that I would be stuck in Harnett County for the rest of my life, and I sure as hell didnt want that to happen. I began to read to learn and realized that I actually enjoyed it. I read all the time now, well not since school started, but over the summer I would read like crazy. I can sit down and read a three hundred plus page book in a day. I am not quite as excited about writing as I am about reading, but I do enjoy writing, much like this paper. Probably the most influential thing that has made me the literate person that I am today is: technology. I say this because it is ever changing and it one of the most useful resources out there. Technology is also one of the worst things to hit the education world. It truly is a double sided sword. As a teenager, I know how to do a lot, thanks to technology. I love that I have spell check, but at the same time it is a crutch to me actually being a decent speller. I rely on technology way too much. I was never one of those kids who used texting lingo, so that never really effected me, except when reading others texts. When I was a little tike, I would watch a lot of PBS and I am sure those shows did help me learn, but I didnt realize it at the time. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Sesame Street, Barney, Between the Lions, and all of the Disney movies. I watched a ton of television, but honestly it helped me. If I was sick at home, even in high school I would watch childrens shows. It is

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amazing how much they have changed since I was a kid. Also once we got our first computer, probably when I was about eight, I would do some serious gaming. I played a ton of different games, but honestly I cant remember any of the except Barbie: Pet Vet and a spy game. Did they help me learn, sure, reading and writing, not so much. I learned how to do other things, like use a computer, and simple typing skills. As I got older, I would use the internet to research things and I know that helped me. I will just search the internet reading articles, learning this and that. The internet taught me how to braid like five different ways, and has taught me how to cook, and make things. It has also taught me how to use a search engine and find good resources. As I continue to grow and learn, my literacy will also grow, for the rest of my life. To be a literate person and to be an educated one, you have to be open to the growth and change that takes place. Some of the most influential literary moments have happened in my life so far and I can thank my family, my way of life and the technology to me being the literate person I am.

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Gregory, Eva, and Dinah Volk. Many Pathways to Literacy. New York, NY: RoutledgeFalmer, 2004. eBook

! Malcolm X quote: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/literacy. Web. September 16, 2013. !

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2002. Print.