What is a literacy narrative?
A literacy narrative is an essay that examines the impact of literacy on your identity-it tells a personal story about your experiences with literacy and reflects on how it was significant to you.
The story you choose to tell should be about a specific incident that has influenced the way you feel about language (reading, writing, or speaking in your first, or additional language(s)). You could also write about your experience with a different type of literacy, such as using technology, learning to dance, or expressing yourself through music.
Whatever you choose, make sure you can pinpoint a particular scene to describe in detail (think of it as a short movie clip, instead of an entire movie). Dramatize the event by telling what people said, did, and thought. Include sensory details that will help your reader see hear, smell, touch, and taste what happened.
In addition to telling a story, you need to reflect critically on it. Looking back at the event now, explain how it was meaningful-why does it matter to you? How did it shape who you are as a person?
Choosing a Topic (from Norton Field Guide to Writing, p. 43)
In general, it's a good idea to focus on a single event that took place during a relatively brief period of time. For example:
• any early memory about writing or reading that you recall vividly
• someone who taught you to read or write
• a book or other text that has been significant to you in some way
• an event at school that was interesting, humorous, or embarrassing
• a writing or reading task that you found (or still find) especially difficult or challenging
• learning to text or email, learning to construct a website, creating and maintaining a Facebook page
Key Features (from Norton Field Guide to Writing, p. 42)
• A well-told story
As with most narratives, those about literacy often set up a situation that needs to be resolved-and that makes readers want to keep reading.
• Vivid detail
Details can bring a narrative to life by giving readers vivid mental images of the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures of the world in which your story takes place. Such details help readers picture places, people, and events; dialogue helps them hear what is being said.
• Some indication of the narrative's significance
By definition, a literacy narrative tells something the writer remembers about learning to read or write. In addition, the writer needs to make clear why the incident matters to him or her.