Literacy Autobiography

Growing up I don't remember ever being challenged to read or write much of anything. In school I did not do well but was passed regardless of my grades. I don't think I read any of my textbooks and didn't really care. No one was pushing me to succeed so I didn't. One year I wrote a poem that was published and I was very proud of that poem. After having children I knew I didn't want them to follow in my footsteps so I read to them every chance I had. They still do not understand the importance of reading, but I still try to get them to read. Now that I am in college my outlook has changed greatly, and I know that in order to succeed I need to read the textbooks along with anything else I can get hold of. I haven't been in college that long and I don't think my reading expectations are that bad; I am assured it will get worse as I go though. During English 100 I have learned a lot about reading and especially writing essays. I never thought I could write an essay anywhere near as well as I have this semester. I have learned to love writing and I am even thinking of starting a journal sometime soon. I have found writing to be very therapeutic with all the stresses in my life at this point. I do plan on writing more even though English is not my major and cannot wait to see what next semester brings.

Learning to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass

In "How I learned to Read and Write" by Frederick Douglass, he speaks about what it was like to be a slave in the 1800's that was not allowed to learn to read and write. As far as white people were concerned, he was only there to work and nothing more. However, his masters wife had started to teach him when he first came to live with them until the master told his wife not to teach him because it would ruin him as a slave. After that he did everything he could to learn. Learning to read and write was the most important thing to him. I have never been one to read and write unless I had to. People have always told me since I was young that I needed to read more, but I have always had a hard time reading anything unless it catches my interest and keeps it. I believe this has a lot to do with the television and internet because anything you can read in a book can usually be found in a movie or some other form on the internet. I don't remember when I first started to read and write but I do remember my mother could not help much do to her learning disability and the fact she didn't read very well herself. Once I got into school, I do know that I struggled with it enough that they held me back in kindergarten. They said it was because of my age but I think if I had done better I would not have been held back. Douglass struggled because he didn't have many people to help him where I had teachers that helped me. It probably took him longer to learn to read than it did for me because he had chores daily and he had to hide that he was learning.

Reflection on Reading and Writing

Before this course, I had not written anything more than an email or text in probably 15 years. I have been out of school much longer than most of the other students in my class. When I was in high school I was not a great student but, I used to love writing. I usually wrote poems that didn't amount to much more than me putting my feeling on paper, because I was too shy to say them out loud. In my seventh or eighth grade Spanish class we had a teacher that inspired us, so another girl and I wrote a poem about him that was published in a High School writer newspaper. As I got older and was out of school, life pretty much took over and I lost any free time to sit and read or write. Being in this class has showed me how much I used to enjoy writing and how therapeutic it can be. I have really enjoyed writing the essays we have had to write much more than I thought I would before the class started. I am starting to see why it is so important to be a good reader and writer. Sometimes the only way to get your point across to other people is to write it down. I have really enjoyed this class and it has been a great way for me to refresh my writing skills. I hope that English 104 is just as great and that I find some time to write my own things and not just papers for school.

Self Analysis for Task 3

* What is the thesis for your paper?
"I have seen how the school system can fail the students by passing the children even if they do not understand the things they are taught. Not only is the school system to blame, but also the state laws."

* List the main points you make in your paper.
In Missouri there is a state law where, at the age of 17 children are considered adults allowing them to choose to move out of their parent’s house and drop out of school.

If a failing student who put forth no effort should not be allowed to attend summer school then receive a guaranteed pass onto the next grade.

The problem with this is that parents do not want to see their children fail in school, so they try to make sure their children are passed regardless of the fact that it will hurt the children more in their future.

Most 16 year olds are too immature, caring more about running with their friends rather than building a life for themselves.

teens are too immature to graduate and if the student is not doing well because they just are not applying themselves, they should be doomed to repeat that year again.

* What was the most helpful advice you received from your peer evaluation?
Forgot to add the MLA page numbers after the quotes.

* What was the most helpful information you received in class for your paper?
To put more of my experiences in the paper.

* How many drafts of this paper do you think you wrote and how/when did you write them?
I did an outline on paper, two rough drafts and a final copy on the computer.

* What would you do differently with this paper to make it more effectively, or what did you try to do that you just don’t think you got a good handle on?
Not sure if I did the quotes correctly. Think I should have added more of them to my paper.

* What are most pleased with about this paper?
I think I got a lot of my frustrations out talking about it in my essay.