Activities for Chapter 1
As you examine your past and consider your prior knowledge about reading and writing, you can begin the exciting, frustrating, complicated, creative, and rewarding task of acquiring new knowledge and practices for writing in context. As assigned by your instructor, complete the following activities to review the concepts discussed in this chapter.
Activity 1A
Consider the kinds of bad advice about writing you have acquired by choosing to read some of the selections in the eBook linked to in the chapter called Bad Ideas About Writing. How did you come to learn each “bad idea”? Why is it “bad” or what’s flawed with it? For each idea you identified as bad, what’s a better idea or theory about writing? Why?
Activity 1B
After reading the published literacy narratives listed in this chapter as assigned by your instructor, choose one and write a brief summary and analysis of it drawing on the prompting questions below:
Summary (including context)
Who is the author and what is necessary to know about him or her (credibility—why should we care what he or she has to say)? What is the title (in quotation marks) and when and where did the narrative originally appear (for example, when the author writes “today,” does he or she really mean today)? What is the story, what is it about, what happens (the plot)? What is the author’s point about literacy as shown throughout the narrative?
Analysis/Response
Review the strategies/techniques for narrative writing discussed in the chapter. Identify/name one of these strategies/techniques the author uses and provide specific examples from the narrative/reading (feel free to quote). How does he or she use that specific strategy—to make what point (to show what)? Why do you think he or she uses that strategy the way he or she did? Consider such factors as who the author is, their purpose, and context such as when it was written and where it was published.
Activity 1C
Find and then read (or view or listen to) at least three literacy narratives you find by browsing the DALN shown in this chapter. Choose the one that most resonates with you because of the topic or the author’s stance. Then do the following:
a) Provide the title and any information known about the author.
b) Summarize the narrative. What is the story about? What is the author saying? What is his or her point?
c) Respond to the text (the literacy narrative). Why did you choose this narrative? How does it compare to others you reviewed? Compare/contrast your experiences/perspectives with the author’s. How effective is the story? Discuss the most memorable or striking scenes or details.
d) How has reviewing this literacy narrative helped you consider composing your own?
Activity 1D
Search the DALN for literacy narratives related to your academic major or future profession, considering what makes someone “literate” in that field or profession. In groups assemble what is called a corpus—a collection of written texts of a certain type, topic, or author—of literacy narratives related to your major or future profession using a number of search terms. Assign the narratives among your group members so that all can be read. When reading them take notes about patterns, themes, and trends you notice, as well as what seem to be differing experiences. Discuss your findings as a group and then write up a list of what it means to be “literate” in each field or profession you searched, any challenges or tensions, literacy learning, etc.
Activity 1E
After brainstorming (listing) or freewriting (writing non-stop for a period of time), choose a single literacy event that is particularly memorable and/or significant to you. Narrate and describe a specific scene or moment of this event in 250-500 words. Why do you believe you chose this literacy narrative to write? Why is it significant to you? What does it show or reveal to you about your views and experiences about reading and/or writing?
Activity 1F
Conduct a group or class analysis of your classmates’ literacy narratives. Similar to Activity 1D, assign your classmates’ literacy narratives among group members or the entire class and read them noting patterns, themes, and trends, as well as what seem to be unique experiences. Notice this activity is not asking you to critique the narratives or assess how they were written; instead, look past the perceived quality of your classmates’ literacy narratives to focus on the content—what the narratives are about, what the writer is saying, etc. Discuss in groups or as a class what kinds of prior knowledge about literacy students in your class share or don’t have in common. How do you think such prior knowledge will function in your composition class?
Activity 1G
State some specific personal goals you’d like to set for yourself as a writer that you would like to take away from this class.