Characteristics of literacy narratives:

- Literacy narratives dont necessarily have to be about reading and writing

- Literacy can be defined as fluent in any area
- An author of a literacy narrative will typically describe his or her journey in
a specific literacy
- Provide a story which contains a conflict
- Theyll discuss the new insight and understanding gained
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 7
Examples of
characteristics of
literacy narratives

Conflict: He talks
about his conflicts.
For example he
didnt have a
regular teacher

Conflict: He was a
slave

Insight: In the end

he learned how to
write.

My favorite parts

Nothing seemed to
make her more
angry than to see
me with a
newspaper

I always took my
book with me, and
by going one part of
my errand quickly, I
found time to get a
lesson before my
return

I continued to do
this until I could
write a hand very
similar to that of
Master Thomas.
Thus, after a long,
tedious effort for
years, I finally
succeeded in
learning how to
write

Why they are my

favorite

I liked this quote

because it shows
that the author
persevered even
though his owner
did not want him to
read and write
anymore. This
shows that his
mistress found him
with a newspaper
multiple times.

I like this quote

because it makes
me feel more
appreciative of the
fact that Im able to
get an education
without jumping
through so many
hoops. If I were in
his position
chances are I
wouldn't be as
proactive about my
education as he is.

This is one of my
favorite quotes from
the entire reading
because it shows
that you dont have
to depend on any
single person to
reach your goal,
and I like happy
endings so the fact
that he finally
learned how to
write made me
really happy.

Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan

Examples of
characteristics of
literacy narratives

Conflict: She was

ashamed of her
mom and where
she came from.

Conflict: Her
mothers English
effected her from
performing better
on achievement
tests.

Insight: The author

realised that the
opinions of others
didnt really matter
and what mattered
most was what her
mother thought of
her book.

My favorite parts

English limited my
perception of her, I
was ashamed of
her English. I
believed that her
English reflected
the quality of what
she had to say That
is, because she
expressed them
imperfectly her
thoughts were
imperfect.

Why are there few

Asian Americans
enrolled in creative
writing programs?
Why do so many
Chinese students
go into
engineering!

Apart from what

any critic had to say
about my writing, I
knew I had
succeeded where it
counted when my
mother finished
reading my book
and gave me her
verdict: So easy to
read

Why they are my

favorite

I have found myself

feeling this way
before. I always
catch myself and
think about all the
accomplishments
my parents made in
their home country.

I like this quote

because Ive
noticed a similar
pattern with
Armenians. Very
few Armenians will
major in English or
any other major that
is outside of STEM.
I think that what the
author is
experiencing is true
for many
immigrants.

I like this quote

because I can
relate to it. I think
most of us can.
With the rise of
social media a lot of
people have
become self
proclaimed critics
and state their
opinions on
anything and
everything. I think
we all need to learn
to filter the opinions
of people that dont
matter to us and
thats what the
author learned.

Literacy Narrative: How I Came to Enjoy Math and Science

Examples of

Conflict: He was

Conflict: Wouldnt

Insight/

characteristics of
literacy narratives

better with numbers read but instead

than with words
would study pi.

Understanding
Gained: A passion
for math and
science which
resulted him to
become a CS
major.

My favorite parts

Mr.Sigler was my
calculus teacher,
He provided real
world application to
calculus and go me
interested in
pursuing
engineering in
college

Here I am, in
college, pursuing a
degree in Computer
Science! I owe all of
my success to my
parents and
teachers for never
letting me quit.

Its truly amazing

how being
surrounded by a
specific can affect
your entire life ...

Why they are my

favorite

I like this part

because my
calculus teacher
Ms. Morrison
exactly like that.
She taught me the
beauty of math and
how everything
interrelated..

I like this part

because Im also a
CS major and I owe
to my parents and
teachers as well.

I like this quote

because Ive
witnessed this
being true first
hand. The people
who surround us
have more of an
affect on our lives
than we think.
Depending on who I
was friends with
and what crowd I
was hanging with
affected what I was
interested in.

Conflict: He was
told that he should
have stayed back a

Insight/
Understanding
Gained: He realised

Books to Computers , Joshua Holley

Examples of
characteristics of
literacy narratives

Conflict: He was
behind from other
children because

he did not attend

preschool and was
unprofessionally
taught by his
parents.

year because he
was less literate
than the other
children

that literacy is not

just knowing how to
spell. Its more than
that, there exists
multiple types of
literacy.

My favorite parts

I love the part

where he talks
about the internet.
He describes the
feeling, The world
then truly became
at my fingertips.

I believe that my
literacy was made
possible by
everything my
parents have done
for me.

Literacy is not
limited to just
reading and writing,
but expanding
through technology
in forms like
computer literacy,
texting literacy, and
internet literacy.

Why they are my

favorite

This is exactly how

I feel about the
internet.

I love the fact the

he recognises that
his parents are
deserving of the
credit to his literacy.
By supporting him
on his journey and
by providing
resources such as
a computer and
dial-up internet.

I agree with this

greatly. People can
be talented in
different forms and
all types of literacy
are uniquely crucial.

Conflict: He tried to
speak in his
basketball lingo
with his mom and
realised that his

Insight/
Understanding
Gained: That
literacy can be in
different forms

Ball Is Life, Tyler Collins

Examples of
characteristics of
literacy narratives

Conflict: By playing
basketball from a
young age he
picked up on the
slang without

knowing about it.

mom cant
understand him.

My favorite parts

I believe this
unspoken language
builds great team
chemistry and
proves that your
team has great
synergy.

Languages vary
across the whole
entire world. Then
there is slang inside
of any language. I
believe everyone
uses some slang
when they talk to
certain people. It
could be as deep
as my secret
basketball
language. Or as
simple as a inside
joke you have with
someone.

This proves to me
that there is literacy
in almost every
aspect of our
human life.

Why they are my

favorite

I like this part

because when I
worked at starbucks
we partners had
our lingo, so I could
relate to the author.

I like this part

because it reminds
me of how my
roommate and I
have certain words
that mean certain
things based on
what we
experienced. We
are speaking in
English, but no one
can understand
what we actually
are saying.

Talents and literacy

comes in all sorts of
different forms. I
like how this essay
conveys just that.