Literacy Narrative Final Draft
Joeli Valerio
Professor Ewan
FIQWS
02/21/2019
Seeing the World in Many Colors
When I was a young child I was very close minded like many others were. I felt like the world surrounded me. I never cared about the issues and I struggled to speak to my mom in Spanish. I would just talk English and with my mom, the words made no sense in Spanish. Currently, I am intrigued b the news and issues but, before, I used to whine so my mom can change the channel to Disney channel. I’m 15 years old now, aware of issues I never thought would captivate me. Being bilingual and aware of issues has made me a critical thinker and an open-minded person.
In sixth grade, I was given the book El Deafo, a graphic novel by Cece Bell which is an autobiography about her struggle being a deaf person. The novel began showing a four-year-old Cece Bell doing normal things kids that age do, like sing with friends and play with makeup. One afternoon Cece began vomiting and her parents were very concerned and rushed her to the hospital. They discovered she had meningitis causing her to become deaf. Bell explains how although she was deaf she showed in this book that deaf people have a normal life too. At first, I was reluctant to read it because I didn’t find it appealing since at that time I was more interested in fictional stores. But you should never judge a book by its cover. I began reading it and it was so interesting. This book made me more aware of people struggling with disabilities. This book caused me to like more nonfiction and biographical books. It sparked my interest in real occurrences.
Additionally Bells El Deafo sparked my interest in reading articles of murder cases, celebrities biographies, and issues affecting the world. For example, in seventh grade, we had to debate on an issue still affecting us today which is abortion. Being put on the pro side of the topic abortion taught me to see the world in a more open-minded view. Writing my opening statement for this debate topic wasn’t boring at all due to reading El Deafo which spoke of a topic that we still hear today. Last semester of my Early College program we had a speech class in which I did an informative speech on Selena Quintanilla-Perez’s death. I had to do a lot of research which was interesting. El Deafo opened me up to issues I never thought would interest me.
Furthermore, knowing two or more languages is one of the best skills. Present Day, I speak fluent Spanish, which makes me proud because I am staying close to my culture. Speaking fluent Spanish now is impressive since, when I was younger I didn’t speak Spanish properly. At three years old I had delayed speech development. I did speak a language called Cryptophasia only with my sister. These two women came to my house to give me and my sister lessons. How the lessons were structured were that I and my sister were taught by a teacher. The way my mom communicated with the teacher to discuss our evolvement was by a translator.
Our teacher only taught us English which is the reason we weren’t good at speaking Spanish. During elementary school, I struggled to talk with my mother in Spanish. The words I said were backward and my mom tried to understand me. I felt since I couldn’t speak Spanish it made me feel as if I wasn’t Hispanic enough. As I began to grow up my goal was to teach myself Spanish. I watched Spanish cartoons, news, novelas, and talked with my mother in Spanish although it wasn’t perfect. I felt very proud of my accomplishment speaking the language from my country. My best experience speaking Spanish is translating. I volunteered at the Inwood Library in the summer and a lady asked me to translate for her. She thanked me for listening to her and allowing the worker at the library as well understand her issue. Translating gives you a wider audience and when you’re bilingual it makes you feel special like a superhero that helps others.
Moreover learning how to speak Spanish wasn’t hard. However writing in Spanish still is a challenge for me. In my eighth grade Spanish class, I had a project to write about which was the historyy of the Dominican Republic and we only were to speak and write Spanish. This project has made my writing in Spanish be much better. Recently I tutored a nine year old girl that only spoke Spanish. I did math problems with her that were in Spanish. It was confusing but that taught me it taught me to not give up. Speaking Spanish and knowing how to write Spanish has made me a more open minded person. Both Spanish music and the Spanish news have allowed me to see the struggle Hispanics have in this country making me more of aware of topics that affect me and the world. Speaking Spanish allows me to express myself in a unique way. At times I speak Spanglish showing both the mix Spanish and English have in my life. I am fluent in speaking Spanish but honestly I am intermediate in writing Spanish. Speaking Spanish will eventually help me write Spanish. Being a Spanish speaker has allowed me to see the world in so many ways, my young close minded self shunned away.
In conclusion being bilingual and aware of issues have made me a critical thinker making me a open minded person benefiting my writing. Reading the book El Deafo has showed me to see the world in many colors letting me see what others struggle with. Speaking Spanish has made me more connected to my family and it is helpful for others. Being an open minded human being shows how much you care for the world. An open minded person is a person which understands others opinions and you grow as a person.
First Draft
Joeli Valerio
Professor Ewan
FIQWS
02/21/2019
Seeing The World in Many Colors
When I was a young child I was very close minded like many others were. I felt like the world surrounded me. I never cared about the issues and struggled speaking with my mom, Spanish. I would just talk English and with my mom the words made no sense in Spanish. I’m so intrigued with the news and issues but before I used to whine for my mom to change the channel to Disney channel. I’m 15 years old now aware of issues I never thought would captivate me. Being Bilingual aand aware of issues have made me a critical thinker making me a open minded person.
In sixth grade I was given the book El Deafo a graphic novel by Cece Bell, an autobiography about her struggle being a deaf person. At first I was reluctant to read it because I didn’t find it interesting. But you should never judge a book by its cover. I began reading it and it was so interested. This book made me more aware of people struggling with disabilities. This book caused me to like more nonfiction and biographical books. It sparked my interest of real occurrences.
Additionally El Deafo by Cece Bell sparked my interest in reading articles of murder cases, celebrities biographies, and issues affecting the world. For example in 7th grade we had to debate on an issue still affecting us today which is Abortion. I was put on the pro choice side which taught me to see the world a more open minded view. Writing my opening statement for this debate topic wasn’t boring at all due to reading El Deafo which also had a topic that we still hear today. Adding on last semester of my Early College program we had a speech class which we did a lot of informal speeches. I did a speech on Selena Quintanilla-Perez death. I had to do a lot of research which wasn’t boring but intriguing. El Deafo although was the first book that wasn’t fiction that intrigued me so much. This book allowed objective writing to not be such a challenge as it did, become more critical in my writing, and opened me up to issues I never even thought of.
Furthermore knowing two or more languages is one of the best skills. Present Day I am fluent in Spanish making me proud staying close to my culture. In contrast when I was younger I didn’t speak Spanish properly. At three years old I had delayed speech development. I did speak a language called Cryptophasia only with my sister. These two woman came to my house to give me and my sister lessons. It was a teacher and a translator for my mother. Our teacher only taught us English which is the reason we weren’t good at speaking Spanish. During Elementary School I struggled talking with my mother in Spanish. The words I said were backwards and my mom tried to understand me. I felt I couldn’t speak Spanish it made me feel as if I wasn’t Hispanic enough. As I began to grow my goal was to teach myself Spanish. I watched Spanish cartoons, news, novelas, and talked with my mother in Spanish even though it wasn’t perfect. I learned very professional words in Spanish that I never I would say like hechizo and majestuoso. I felt very proud of my accomplishment speaking the language from country. My best experience when speaking Spanish was translating. I volunteered at the library and a Lady asked me to translate for her. She thanked me for listening to her and allowing the worker at the library as well understand her issue. Secondly, when I went to parent. Translating gives you a wider audience and when you’re bilingual it makes you feel special like a superhero that helps others.
Moreover learning how to speak Spanish wasn’t hard. I began practicing to write in spanish and it was very challenging for me since I didn’t know how to write in Spanish. My mom a speaker wrote in Spanish and she helped me when learning how to write Spanish. In eighth grade we had a Spanish class where we only wrote and spoke Spanish. I had a project to write about the history of the Dominican Republic and we only were to speak and write Spanish. I spoke Spanish the whole way through reading my Spanish paper and felt proud. Recently I tutored a nine year old girl that only spoke Spanish. I did math problems with her that were in Spanish. It was confusing that as well taught me. Speaking Spanish and knowing how to write Spanish have made me a more open minded person. I normally watch Spanish news, and music. Both music and the news have allowed me to see the struggle Hispanics have in this country making me more of aware of topics that affect me and the world. Speaking Spanish allows me to express myself in a unique way. At times I speak Spanglish showing both the mix those two languages have in my life. I am fluent in speaking Spanish but honestly I am intermediate in writing Spanish. Speaking Spanish will eventually help me write Spanish. Being a Spanish Speaker has allowed me to see the world in so many ways my young close minded self shunned away.
In conclusion Being Bilingual and aware of issues have made me a critical thinker making me a open minded person benefiting my writing. Reading the book El Deafo has slowed me to see the world in many colors letting me see what others struggle with. Speaking Spanish has made me more connected to my family and helpful for others. Being an open minded human being shows how much you care for the world. An open minded person is when you understand others opinions and you grow as a person.
Reflection Journal
Joeli Valerio
Professor Ewan
FIQWS
03/07/2019
Reflection of my Literary Narrative
When first introduced to the Literary narrative I found it challenging since it’s about a past event that impacted you. When thinking of what I should write, no book or literary event seemed to pop in my head. I eventually decided to pick a book that captivated me which was El Deafo. I connected the impact the book had on me with the benefits of knowing another language. I was successful in examining my literary experiences through my evidence since I started the main points from the experiences that were relevant to be told letting me see what won’t be necessary.
I see a change in my thinking when using evidence in essays, normally I believed that you quoted the evidence, then you explain the evidence in your own words. The changes in my thinking when using evidence in essays were using signal phrases. Signal phrases introduce a quote, summarization or a paraphrase. Signal phrases provide clarity and introduce the reader to the evidence. How I will use critical thinking to effectively help me in future assignments is they will have analyzation, and decipher the meaning of texts, and have logic. Critical thinking will effectively help me in future assignments have more clarity, decide what information is relevant and allow me to analyze and evaluate ideas.
Furthermore the literary narrative and the introductory letter were two assignments that were very different but have a strong connection to the writers. How the introductory letter helped me prepare for the literary narrative is in the introductory narrative you had to explain how the academic accomplishments affected you as well explain the importance of two majors. In the literary narrative, the prompt was to explain literary accomplishments and the impact on us. For both, the assignments you had to explain the impact for introductory letter the skills and majors had in you and for the literary narrative the impact the literary experience had on you connecting both assignments. The MLA format in the introductory letter were familiar to what we used in the literary narrative. For example I centered the title, double spaced, the pages were numbered with our last name and lastly I tabbed in both narratives. The similarity I noticed in both narratives was subjective speaking. I used “I”, “my” indicating that I wrote in subjective language. There were many differences, such as the format of how the essays were. The literary narrative had an introduction, four body paragraphs and a conclusion. The introductory letter was formatted as a letter and had a introduction body paragraphs and a conclusion. Another difference found was the ideas were implemented in both the narratives were not alike. Lastly, in the introductory, I was introducing myself while in the narrative I was telling a story.
Additionally, my process when writing the literary narrative was challenging. I relied on both past and new approaches. How I succeeded in employing the approaches is that I used past approaches adding what I did as well in our introductory letter. I approached my ideas in the literary narrative by analyzing my main ideas and explaining its purpose. Another past approach I employed in this assignment is using a hook. A hook captures the reader’s attention and when I approach an essay those are one the many things that come in mind. The new approaches could have been using signal phrases when citing evidence. In other assignments, I used Chicago Manual style and cited evidence by putting footnotes. In this essay, I learned to introduce evidence, using signal phrases, a technique that will be very helpful for future assignments. I produced then assemble my paper. I had all my ideas in a piece of paper explained to them and explained the impact. I then assembled where all my ideas go chronologically. I experienced missteps where I didn’t know how to connect one experience to the other. As I moved forward in my essay I eventually connected them. How I learned about the processes is how to clearly explain ideas and what is relevant in the essay, my processes are developing allowing me to see what should be written and what shouldn’t. I’ve seen a change in my writing. I’m beginning to cut out extra information that’s not relevant or connected to ideas in the essays and how to properly explain the evidence.
Indeed, the review process was very helpful. How I responded to my peer’s suggestion is I took them all into my essay and it allowed me to see the errors I have done. The suggestions I adopted were two important ones my partners helped me see. She explained that in some sentences were syntax giving me feedback allowing to read thoroughly the sentences, secondly putting things in chronological order. Putting things in chronological order will make the writing make sense and will make you connect all the events that lead you to the final result. What review and proofread strategies I used is I read my paper out loud and I looked over my sentences to see the wording. Reading my paper out loud allowed me to notice the grammatical errors as well irrelevant information to be cut out. Looking over my sentences allow me to see if the wording makes sense. Sentences are the components of an essay which if they don’t make sense your essay doesn’t make sense. What I learned from my writing while proofreading is I need to review it more than once. My writing does need improvement such as the grammar clarity, amount of information given, syntactical sentences, etc. Proofreading has been a technique that has taught me my errors and what shouldn’t be done next time I write an essay. Overall this literacy narrative allowed me to see what small event can impact you in the future for the greater.
