Grandma

by Dallas Lancenese
Thanks to you, the titanic was able to dodge the iceberg. The thrill of being able to
change major events by a flip of a page was the biggest excitement of my life at a young age.
That thrill was magnified when I was able to share it with my grandma. My grandma was the one
person I looked up to, the one person that I loved over everyone else. I still have immense love
for her, but living with my mom being the only caregiver in the household for 8 years straight
now made me love my mom more than my grandma. One specific thing my grandma always did
was feed me more food than I needed or even wanted, so being in the kitchen with her while I
read seemed fitting and a bit coincidental. I loved to read, especially around my grandma. Every
once in a while, my grandma would be in the kitchen preparing food or washing dishes and I
grab a chair at the table and start reading aloud. Never once was I told by her that I was being
annoying or there was just not enough time for her to stop what she was doing and listen to me
read. The glimmer in her eye and the smile on her face showed me how much she enjoyed
listening to me read to her. This bonding time I had with my grandma was very special to me and
still is to this very day.
As brothers get older, tensions rise, and they will start to fight almost all the time over
every little thing. This was no different with my brother. We were unable to go a day without
fighting and something being broken in the house. Obviously with my grandma being at an old
age, she just could not take the stress that came along with trying to control our fighting.
Eventually the stress was just too much and my grandma had no choice but to kick us out. My
mother was forced to buy her own house for us. Living without my grandma was tough at first,
especially because I would miss the time I spent with her reading. I still enjoyed the idea of
reading, but I was so used to reading with my grandma; reading with my mother was just not the
same. She did not even want to have me read to her because she was too busy. That broke my
heart. I tried to stay in my room in complete silence and read to myself, but the memories of
reading to my grandma and sharing the experience with her kept creeping back. Reading just did
not feel right without her. Our new house did not even have a kitchen I could read in, to at least
feel a bit like I was back with my grandma. I have never brought this up with my mom, but she
does sometimes wonder why I do not read like I used to.
Reading is never really an enjoyable process for me anymore, but I am able to do it better
than in the past. Thinking back on all the times I have spent with my grandma and my mother, I
feel that reading brought my grandma and me closer together, but pushed my mother and me
farther apart. Occasionally, I call my grandma to talk to her about what we have been reading in
school. Still to this day, my mother and I can not talk about reading in school because I am just
annoying her or because she is just not able to understand what I am talking about. Without my
grandma, I would not have been exposed to a love for reading and may have never been able to
be as close to her as I was and am now.
Feedback Guide
Name:_______________________________

Period:_________

The following guide to feedback rates the students demonstrated achievement for each of the standards of
the assignment. The following scale is used:

Level of Demonstrated Achievement

Descriptor

Excellent

Proficient

Adequate

Limited

Incomplete

Purpose (X 2.5): 4
Conveys a significant literacy event that considers the entire rhetorical situation
Genre (X2.5): 3.5
Captures the authors moment and demonstrates the significance of this moment by containing an
explicit or implicit thesis that unifies the piece, using vivid detail, and demonstrating sophisticated
reflection
Design/Layout:4
Effectively uses columns, font/spacing/size to make the reading experience enjoyable, and includes a
title and the authors name in the appropriate place
Audience (X2.5): 4
Uses vocabulary appropriate for a college audience, assumes a level of intelligence and sophistication
for the audience, adheres to the rules and conventions of mechanics, spelling, usage and grammar, and
uses a style that fits with the concept of a narrative so the audiences expectations are met
Stance(X2): 4
Uses the narrative to offer an argument about literacy, includes a consistent tone that presents the
authors take on the event, and takes risks in that it offers the reader some insight into the author
Summative Grade Conversion
Each 4 point scale for the rhetorical situation will totaled and averaged. The resulting score on the 4 point scale will
then be converted to a percentage using the following scale:

Scale Score

Percentage Score

100

3.5

95

3.0

88

2.5

80

2.0

75

1.5

67

1.0

60

Below 1.0

50