Literacy: A Narrative Analysis

If a person is unable to read this essay, then that person is illiterate and therefore unintelligent. Inversely, any person who is able to read this essay must clearly be an intelligent person. Those two sentences reflect what American society as a whole would consider a fair description of literacy: the ability to read and write. There is a negative cultural assumption attached to this definition: one who can read and write is educated and intelligent and can contribute to our society, which an illiterate person is simple and stupid and can make no such contribution. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the prior claims, what cannot be argued is that it takes the guidance of many mentors, or literacy sponsors, to help a single student become literate.

This guidance can come in the form of peers, teachers, parents or guardians, government, community, social media; any outside force interacting with a person can be a literacy sponsor and can influence that person's literacy - for better or worse.

For example, a child whose parents read her a chapter from a children's book such as Harry Potter before bed each night will likely foster an eagerness toward reading and writing, while a child who has an English teacher who is unapproachable and inaccessible in her teaching methods might develop anxiety around being asked to read or write. The child who enjoys reading and writing will read in her free time and may even create short stories for herself, while the child who has trouble with literacy in the classroom will avoid reading and writing outside of school. It is important to note that a person's literacy and disposition on reading and writing can shift drastically over time due to positive and negative impacts brought on by varying literacy sponsors, as is my

case.
From childhood, I had every opportunity to develop literacy and an abiding affection for literature. My mother is certified to teach and she read to me nightly, and my elementary held annual writing competitions and distributed A.R. (Accelerated Reading) points to students based on length and reading level each time they read a book. Unfortunately, between middle- and high school Standardized Testing made core subject learning unbearable for me and school became a chore. It took a team-effort of several passionate instructors to remind me that despite the current, glaring flaws in our education system, I still needed to put forth the effort, and could even enjoy the process.
One such educator was Brian Guiney, instructor of a block lit class in coordination with Bill Bonning, as well as A.P. Lit. Mr. Guiney was privy to some of my more embarrassing moments as a student. In sophomore year, while graded papers were being passed back in his portion of the block class, I remember receiving an unsatisfactory grade and getting unreasonably upset. I ripped my assignment in half in the middle of the class and crumpled it into a ball. Mr. Guiney had no time for my theatrics, however, and he made no comment on my outburst, didn't even look at me. I sailed through two more years of high school with fair grades on sheer luck, and managed to enter the A.P. Lit course. In those two years, I had a wonderful A.P. Comp instructor, and an English and drama instructor who became second family to me, and I began to clean up my act.