Read and Compare: Literacy Narratives
2/14/16, 10:16 PMLiteracy Autobiography - Home
Page 1 of 3http://eharr.weebly.com/
Introduction In my opinion, literacy is one of the most important skills that people learn throughout their lives. Not only
does it provide unlimited enjoyment, learning and communication, but it also can shape the way a person lives
his or her everyday life. I know that my own literacy history has had a huge effect on the way I live, learn and
communicate. From the humble first days of “Goodnight Moon” and writing my name, to reading a novel a day
and blogging today, my literacy history has spanned a huge gap of time and numerous changes in technology. It
is interesting to see exactly how the literacy learning I had during the early years of my life affects choices I
make even now. The connection between my childhood poetry to my love of photography and journalism is
hardly a direct one, but somehow my personal literacy history has bridged this gap and many others.
Just Another One of Her Students From a very early age, I knew that reading and writing
would be a very important part of my life. My parents
were constantly reading newspapers, novels, and
encouraging my interest in them over and
. Also, my mom was an early
elementary school teacher. My parents are probably
two of the most prominent sponsors in my literacy
learning. Sponsors, as defined by Deborah Brandt in
her article are "figures who
[turn] up most typically in people's memories of
literacy learning" (Wardle and Downs, 335) and who
"lend their resources or credibility to the sponsored"
(Wardle and Downs, 335). In some ways, I think my
mom treated me like just another one of her students
while trying to teach me to read and write. She used some of her already proven methods to help me in my
literacy learning. She and my dad would read to me every night until I was able to start sounding out words on
my own. By the time I was three, I had most of the storybooks they read to me on a daily basis memorized,
correcting them when they made mistakes and keeping them constantly searching for new material. My mom
drew dotted line letters on very wide-ruled lined paper for me to trace to help me learn the letters of the
alphabet. She helped me practice writing my name tirelessly until I finally learned every letter perfectly. Pretty
soon, however, I asserted my reading and writing independence. At the age of 4, I proudly read my first
storybook: “Goodnight Moon” and continued to read it, every night, for years following. Then when I turned 5, I
wrote my first letter. The note was to my Grandfather and it read (almost):” Dear Granddaddy, I miss you. Love,
your Princess.” Almost none of the words were spelled correctly and most of the letters were drawn inaccurately
or backwards, but he still keeps it in his wallet today. This is one of my first encounters with the importance of
literacy in communication. It was my initial exploration into the world of interaction through writing, which
eventually leads to the constant text messaging, emailing, and posting on social networking sites that consumes
my life today.
My Early Education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry One of the first true novels I read would consume much of my literacy life over the next 10 years. I started the
Harry Potter novels when I was in the second grade and continued to follow the series, both books and movies,
until the final installment was made in the summer of 2011. As Harry and the gang were learning the ropes of
magic, I was continuing to learn the ropes of reading and writing. The first installment of the series, "Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone", took me months and months to read. By the end of the series, I was reading about a
book a day. My family worked together to read these novels in the beginning. It was definitely a collaborative
Literacy Autobiography Home (/index.html)
Barney
Sesame Street
Sponsors of Literacy,
2/14/16, 10:16 PMLiteracy Autobiography - Home
Page 2 of 3http://eharr.weebly.com/
effort. I slowly read them first. Then my Dad would reread the
books to my younger brother, Hunter. I would sit and listen,
correcting him when he would sensor the books for his young ears.
This is an event that would define my family’s combined literacy
for many years to follow. It helped to solidify my love of reading
and taught me how important literacy is to my entire family.
The "Poetry Corner" Later in elementary school, my love of reading stories and
novels really sparked my interest in personal and fiction
writing. I started to write my own stories and poetry about
things that interested me. One of the first poems I wrote was
about the tragic events of September 11th, which occurred
during my fourth grade year. I titled it "American Glory." I
continued to write poetry during my last few years of
elementary school, copying my favorite of my poems in a small,
black leather-bound book and accompanying them with small
illustrations. I wrote these poems as a kind of therapy,
commenting on the events, people, and thoughts that affected
me on a daily basis. After showing my poems to my 5th grade
teacher, she helped me further my love of writing by providing
a “Poetry Corner” in my classroom that taught me more about
the formal aspects of poetry and let me write more and more. She was one of the first teachers that expressed an
individualized interest in my learning. This definitely helped me learn to be a better writer. Sadly, I lost most of
my interest in poetry during my first years of middle school, but I think that my love of writing and especially
personal journals was sparked during this time in my literacy history.
Ballet Journal During my seventh grade year, I auditioned for the Kansas Regional Ballet and was invited to join their
apprentice company. It was one of the most exciting accomplishments of my life so far, but they had pretty
strenuous guidelines to follow once you were a member of the company. One of the many requirements for their
new members was to keep a ballet journal. I bought another small leather-bound book and continually added
journal entries. Every time a new choreographer would set a piece, I would write down my choreography (in very
broken and misspelled French.) I even bought a ballet dictionary so that I could learn how to correctly spell each
of the words. Also, I remembered any corrections I received in class and would write them down in my journal.
During long weekend rehearsals, I would draw pictures and make notes relating to the ballet when I wasn’t
dancing. Because this writing was not done by choice, I normally felt like it was more of a chore than for
enjoyment. Even so, I always took pride in my journal entries and enjoyed making them as good as they could be.
Every week, my company director would collect all of our journals and read what we wrote, almost like another
homework assignment. This type of journal really benefited me as a dancer and, I believe, a writer. I really liked
this type of journalism, and continued to keep a ballet journal for the rest of my dance career, even after I
graduated to the soloist levels of the company. This journal was a gradual step up from my days of couplet
poetry and it continued my interest in the journalistic aspects of writing.
My Artistic Side I continued my love of journaling in high school through a new type of journal entry: blogging. In my high school
art and design classes, I learned how to use a lot of new computer programs like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator
and Blogger. My teachers in the art program in high school were very technologically savvy compared to many of
the other teachers in the high school. They understood that they "must be ready to meet the needs of students
who compose meaning not only with words, but also with digitized bits of video, sound, photographs" (Wardle
and Downs, 397) and other online and technical elements. Devoss, Hawisher, Jackson, Johansen, Moraski, and
Selfe explain the importance of these advancements in literacy in their article "The Future of Literacy." I loved
working with these different programs, especially the image manipulation software that helped me edit my
2/14/16, 10:16 PMLiteracy Autobiography - Home
Page 3 of 3http://eharr.weebly.com/
photographs. These first explorations into this type of
program and art-making helped me decide to pursue
my love of photography in college. I started to post my
artwork onto a blog and talk about what inspires me on
a daily basis. This offered me a chance to combine my
love for photography and journaling. After joining the
popular networking site Facebook, I started to post
some of my photography on this page as well. This was
one of my first exposures to computer programs other
than the basic Microsoft Office programs that I started
to learn and use in elementary school. This type of
technical literacy brought me to my love of
photography and journalism and helped me decide what career path to explore and study in college at the
University of Kansas.
I actually continue to blog weekly as a student at KU. Some of my design professors require a classroom blog,
others do not, but I still enjoy posting my favorite assignments, photos, and inspirations to my art and design
blog. I think that posting my art and design work on this type of blog helped to solidify my choice to become a
photographer and, as my Photomedia professor so poetically placed it earlier this semester, a "professional
blogger." This may not cover the entirety of what I aspire to do, but my early literacy learning definitely helped
me narrow in on this career choice and helped me get a head start on the learning of new literacies that will help
me in this field.
These seemingly small events in my literacy history have helped form some of my biggest aspirations today. The
small ideas instilled in my head during my literacy learning have helped to form the person, communicator,
reader, and writer I am today. With the help of my parents, teachers, and my favorite novel growing up, I have
learned the importance of literacy in life and have made a huge step on the path towards (hopefully) my future
career.
CREATE A FREE WEBSITE (HTTP://WWW.WEEBLY.COM/?UTM_SOURCE=INTERNAL&UTM_MEDIUM=FOOTER&UTM_CAMPAIGN=3) POWERED BY (HTTP://WWW.WEEBLY.COM/? UTM_SOURCE=INTERNAL&UTM_MEDIUM=FOOTER&UTM_CAMPAIGN=3)