ENG121

When you hear the word “literacy,” what do you think of? Take a couple minutes and try to list as many words and phrases as you can. Write your definition of literacy. Think beyond just “the ability to read and write.” Are there other kinds of literacy? What does it mean to be literate? What skills do literate people demonstrate? Make a list of at least five experiences in your life that have to do with reading and writing. Think outside of school. Have you ever written anything using social media that got you in trouble? Do you write diaries or journals? Do you like to read blogs?

Elaborate on ONE of the items you wrote about in step one. For five minutes, write whatever comes to your mind about that idea. Don’t stop writing. If you can’t think of something to write, simply write “I’m stuck,” until you can think of something. When you are done, re-read what you have written. Highlight or circle anything that you particularly like, that sounds like it would be good to elaborate more on for the literacy narrative paper.

Make a plan for what you want to write. You can make a formal outline, where you use roman numerals to denote major and minor ideas, or an informal outline in which you simply list ideas. Start with the narrative. Think about the order of the story. Do you want to start at the beginning or do a flashback at the beginning and come back to it at the end? Think about what details you want to include and how you want to describe them.

Now move on to the analysis. Consider the implications of the event you just described. What did you learn from it? What will you want your audience to learn from it?

Finally, add the introduction and conclusion into your plan. Think about what will most grab your audience’s attention and what background information they will need to know in order to understand your story. Finally, consider what final words you want to leave them with.