Finding Forrester: Literacy Narrative

Chelsee Graham

English 1510

Professor Ray

10, September 2017

Finding Forrester

Finding Forrester is a substantial example of a literacy narrative. A literacy narrative allows a writer to express their relationship or feelings about reading and writing. Literacy narratives are written by many people around the world and many writers use this so their readers can get to know them better and their background with reading and writing. Finding Forrester is a narrative about a 16-year-old named Jamal who is a very intelligent boy and a great athlete.

The characters in the story all played a key role but the one who made the most impression was Jamal. He came from a not so wealthy family and didn’t live in a great part of New York and turned out

to be a very well-educated individual that no one expected him to be. He made something out of himself and reached out to William Forrester who helped take his work and make it into something much bigger.
The setting is a very important part of this story.

The setting takes place in two various places. The first setting, which is where the story begins, takes place in Bronx which is the city he grew up in. Bronx is a not so great part of NYC and they didn’t have very many good schools, homes, or just a living situation in general. He grew up playing street basketball with some bad kids which caused him to get into some trouble sometimes. The other important setting is in Manhattan. This is the better side of New York and is where Jamal’s private school is located. He got the chance to go here due to his capability of being an amazing writer and with the help from William. These settings play a significant role because it’s like a fish out of water story. He grew up with all the terrible stuff surrounding him and turned himself into a very intelligent

individual.
Dialogue is important in this story because it helps move the story along. It creates conversation between different people to show the persons thoughts and feeling towards a subject. William once said to Jamal, “No thinking- that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You re-write with your head. The first key to writing is… to write, not to think!” By this William means to write from your heart and you can edit it later but your best work comes directly from your heart. This is important to the overall narrative because it shows how Jamal put what he already knew and felt into words. Instead of writing just what he thought he started freewriting and wrote from his heart.
If I were to choose a scene to write about from Finding Forrester it would be the championship game.

In this scene, the basketball players from Mailor-Callow were losing. Jamal had played a great game but in order for the school to drop his plagiarizing charges he had to win the game for them. A foul shot was called on the other team and the outcome of the game all depended on Jamal. He got two foul shots and was amazing at shooting fouls shots. He had once shot 50 without missing one. As he approached his first foul shot he blocked out all the noise, dribbled the ball a few times with his sweaty hands, shot the ball and missed as the crowd went “Ahhhh.” All eyes were on him. He felt the pressure for sure. He got the ball, dribbled it once more and shot his last shot and boom it hit the side of the backboard and bounced right off. The crowd sighed

and
There are many different conflicts throughout the story that push the plot along. One example from the story is human v. himself. In this case its Jamal v. himself because even though he knows he is very intelligent he wants to fit in with everyone so he doesn’t make it known that he is smart. Another example is Human v. Human which would be Jamal v. His friends, and Jamal V. William, because he breaks into his house. Another example is Human V Nature and this is based on the social class v. structure. These conflicts are effective and draw me in because in creates suspense on what’s going to happen next? In the end, all of these are resolved because as Jamal becomes more confident in his work people start to treat him with more respect and after the rocky start, he becomes real close with William as he helps him become a better writer. All major conflicts were resolved by the end of the story.
The plot progression of the story starts out with the Rising action which is Jamal and William practicing writing and William trying to form him into a better writer. Jamal made a promise to William that whatever they wrote in that room stayed in that room. The climax in this story is whenever Jamal breaks that promise and uses the work they had written together for an assignment. At this point William is furious that Jamal would go behind his back and break their promise. In the falling action, these conflicts are resolved and William forgives Jamal after reading Jamal’s apology letter.
This story is a perfect example of a Literacy Narrative. It tells the story of Jamal and his conflicts and lessons learned as he became a writer. It shows his love for reading and writing and what measures he will take to become the best he can be. I feel like this was a very heart-warming story and I enjoyed being able to watch his journey as a writer.