Writing to Explore
crisismagazine.com
During our time learning about literacy narratives in class we had various assignments that would ultimately lead to the final major paper we were to write. For one homework assignment we were given a literacy narrative timeline that broke down our interests and experiences between different stages of our lives. The next class we were given a quiz in which we had to write about the theme we noticed of ourselves through the timeline. The following is what I wrote:
From my timeline I have noticed the theme of the desire to learn new things. While I have always been bad at math I have been interested in literature and other aspects of it. When I was young and attended elementary school in New York I always stayed for mandatory tutoring in language arts and math. I began to notice that I was more interested in literature, arts, and other aspects of that nature than numbers and symbols. I enjoyed staying after school with my teachers and we developed good relationships. They took the time to help me in what I needed and recommended books for me to read. Because my sister who is only four years older than I was interested deeply in books I used to read some of the ones she had in our small handmade bookcase.
I can remember reading the young child books from my school library and those my parents bought me such as Judy Blume and attempting to read The Diary of Anne Frank. I could read through entire novels and series quickly if I found it very interesting. My mother's bosses at the time would buy my sister and I Barnes and Noble gift cards as presents every few months and I loved going to buy new books and see what other great story I could read. As I became older and entered middle school and high school I would continue to buy books and read until recently that I have not had enough time with school and work to read as often as I used to.
During my sixth and eighth grade year I was enrolled into an art class, while I had taken some art classes in elementary school I was never assigned the intricate things as I was in this one. I could never draw anything it just wasn't what I was good at, but I saw my skills developing as I continued to receive assignments and draw different things. My favorite assignment consisted of drawing a character on wood, carving and painting it. Afterwards I concentrated more on yearbook classes in high school and created two pages in the year book the men's soccer and the softball pages. It wasn't until my senior year in high school that I took an art class and and saw that I had much more potential with drawing landscapes and figures. I became interested in the world of art and it quickly became my favorite class and some of my work was displayed in the school entrance hallway.
In a way books take you into a different world that the author creates for the readers. As Stephen King stated in the article read earlier this year "writing is telepathy" the words used create images in our minds that help us imagine the other "world" in our minds. Art is this way as well, the artist creates another dimension with colors, lines and shapes. By looking at the art you can imagine another world and see what the artist imagined in their minds. These two are very similar and can go hand in hand in this way. From this I would interpret that I am more into visuals and mental images rather than math and science or other aspects that in their own right could be considered literature as well.
From my timeline I have noticed the theme of the desire to learn new things. While I have always been bad at math I have been interested in literature and other aspects of it. When I was young and attended elementary school in New York I always stayed for mandatory tutoring in language arts and math. I began to notice that I was more interested in literature, arts, and other aspects of that nature than numbers and symbols. I enjoyed staying after school with my teachers and we developed good relationships. They took the time to help me in what I needed and recommended books for me to read. Because my sister who is only four years older than I was interested deeply in books I used to read some of the ones she had in our small handmade bookcase.
I can remember reading the young child books from my school library and those my parents bought me such as Judy Blume and attempting to read The Diary of Anne Frank. I could read through entire novels and series quickly if I found it very interesting. My mother's bosses at the time would buy my sister and I Barnes and Noble gift cards as presents every few months and I loved going to buy new books and see what other great story I could read. As I became older and entered middle school and high school I would continue to buy books and read until recently that I have not had enough time with school and work to read as often as I used to.
During my sixth and eighth grade year I was enrolled into an art class, while I had taken some art classes in elementary school I was never assigned the intricate things as I was in this one. I could never draw anything it just wasn't what I was good at, but I saw my skills developing as I continued to receive assignments and draw different things. My favorite assignment consisted of drawing a character on wood, carving and painting it. Afterwards I concentrated more on yearbook classes in high school and created two pages in the year book the men's soccer and the softball pages. It wasn't until my senior year in high school that I took an art class and and saw that I had much more potential with drawing landscapes and figures. I became interested in the world of art and it quickly became my favorite class and some of my work was displayed in the school entrance hallway.
In a way books take you into a different world that the author creates for the readers. As Stephen King stated in the article read earlier this year "writing is telepathy" the words used create images in our minds that help us imagine the other "world" in our minds. Art is this way as well, the artist creates another dimension with colors, lines and shapes. By looking at the art you can imagine another world and see what the artist imagined in their minds. These two are very similar and can go hand in hand in this way. From this I would interpret that I am more into visuals and mental images rather than math and science or other aspects that in their own right could be considered literature as well.
nomundoenoslivros.com
During a lesson on literacy we were assigned an article by Sherman Alexie "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me." After reading the article we were to answer some discussion questions on Moodle. I chose to answer:
1. Alexie claims that Indian children were "expected to be stupid" (para. 6) . Explain how expectations can impact children's literacy learning. Do you have any examples from your own experiences?
2. How was Alexie introduced to books in his home and which genres does he remember? How were you introduced to books in your home, and which genres do you remember your parents reading?
The following was my response:
Discussion Forum -> On Alexie (11/9) -> Re: On Alexie (11/9)
by Daibeliz Escobar - Thursday, 8 November 2012, 11:55 PM
1. Expectations can impact children's learning in either a positive or negative way. The child might feel motivated by the expectations set by their parents and teachers, however, sometimes they might begin to loos that motivation if they feel that they are not able to live up to what is expected of them.
4. Alexie was introduced to books in his home through his fathers love of reading. He stated that his father loved books and he loved his father he decided to love books as well. He was exposed to Superman comic books which was how he learned to read, books about the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, etc.
I was introduced to books at a young age as well through my sisters instead of my parents. I am the youngest and my two older sisters constantly bought books and filled up the bookshelf we had. Being young I looked up to them and wanted to do everything they did so I began to ask them and my parents to buy me books and stories to read. My sisters used to read fantasy, romance, horror, suspense, any genre. It was because of them that I love to read and discover new books.
1. Alexie claims that Indian children were "expected to be stupid" (para. 6) . Explain how expectations can impact children's literacy learning. Do you have any examples from your own experiences?
2. How was Alexie introduced to books in his home and which genres does he remember? How were you introduced to books in your home, and which genres do you remember your parents reading?
The following was my response:
Discussion Forum -> On Alexie (11/9) -> Re: On Alexie (11/9)
by Daibeliz Escobar - Thursday, 8 November 2012, 11:55 PM
1. Expectations can impact children's learning in either a positive or negative way. The child might feel motivated by the expectations set by their parents and teachers, however, sometimes they might begin to loos that motivation if they feel that they are not able to live up to what is expected of them.
4. Alexie was introduced to books in his home through his fathers love of reading. He stated that his father loved books and he loved his father he decided to love books as well. He was exposed to Superman comic books which was how he learned to read, books about the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, etc.
I was introduced to books at a young age as well through my sisters instead of my parents. I am the youngest and my two older sisters constantly bought books and filled up the bookshelf we had. Being young I looked up to them and wanted to do everything they did so I began to ask them and my parents to buy me books and stories to read. My sisters used to read fantasy, romance, horror, suspense, any genre. It was because of them that I love to read and discover new books.
Drumline, Charles Stone III, 2002
As we learned about discourse community we watched a film to better understand and see it first hand. We viewed the 2002 film Drumline starring Nick Cannon who portrayed a drummer from New York that attends A&T University in Atlanta and has conflicts with the drum section. As an assignment we were to post on the discussion forum one of two choices. I chose to respond to the first option: Describe Devin's involvement in the marching band community at his university. What skills does a player need to perform successfully in this community, and how do these skills relate to literacy? What did Devin need to learn in order to develop as a drummer and as a member of a marching band? Has the community shaped his identity as a drummer? The following was my response:
Re: On Drumline (due Nov 14th)
by Daibeliz Escobar - Tuesday, 13 November 2012, 11:06 PM
Devin was part of the drum line for the marching band at his university. There is skill involved in being a part of a discourse community, in this case the players in the marching band community needed to be able to play their instruments, read music, play as " one band, one sound" and just overall be team players. From the beginning Devin thought he was better than the other drum players and was in a conflict with his section leader. This created a strain between himself and the rest of the band because he failed to acknowledge that it was much bigger than him and his drum. He needed to learn to be a team player and play with the others, control his temper and read music as well. Although he was skilled in playing the drums by watching and listening he needed to be able to read the sheet music for the following game in order to expand his literacy in music. The marching band seemed to shape his former identity into a seemingly "new" one when he began to change and realize that the band was much bigger than him and his struggle to remain the best at playing the drums.He learned to read and play with the band rather than somehow outshining them.
Re: On Drumline (due Nov 14th)
by Daibeliz Escobar - Tuesday, 13 November 2012, 11:06 PM
Devin was part of the drum line for the marching band at his university. There is skill involved in being a part of a discourse community, in this case the players in the marching band community needed to be able to play their instruments, read music, play as " one band, one sound" and just overall be team players. From the beginning Devin thought he was better than the other drum players and was in a conflict with his section leader. This created a strain between himself and the rest of the band because he failed to acknowledge that it was much bigger than him and his drum. He needed to learn to be a team player and play with the others, control his temper and read music as well. Although he was skilled in playing the drums by watching and listening he needed to be able to read the sheet music for the following game in order to expand his literacy in music. The marching band seemed to shape his former identity into a seemingly "new" one when he began to change and realize that the band was much bigger than him and his struggle to remain the best at playing the drums.He learned to read and play with the band rather than somehow outshining them.
Writing Into the Day- Strengths and weaknesses
As we were in the process of writing a mini-ethnography and working into the Literacy Narrative unit we were asked to write what we though of our papers thus far in that period of time and what we though needed improvement. Our professor then made her way around to each of us to read our responses and make comments to help us better understand how to move forward in completing our papers. My response is below:
My ethnography has many strengths and weaknesses at this point because it is my first draft. Of course it has many more weaknesses than anything else. I know that a main weakness is not knowing how to incorporate my two sources which are the company clothing website for P.S from Aeropostale and the receipt. Another issue at the moment is how to write in third person. The last time I did this was in eleventh grade for my senior exit. I know I also can't exactly write a half page on how I gathered my research because I am not sure how to explain.
The following comments were those made by my professor:
Analyze sources for Lexis (for example) Use Swales' characteristics to look at them through that lens.
Call yourself "the researcher" talk about "the text"
and "the genre" " the source"
My ethnography has many strengths and weaknesses at this point because it is my first draft. Of course it has many more weaknesses than anything else. I know that a main weakness is not knowing how to incorporate my two sources which are the company clothing website for P.S from Aeropostale and the receipt. Another issue at the moment is how to write in third person. The last time I did this was in eleventh grade for my senior exit. I know I also can't exactly write a half page on how I gathered my research because I am not sure how to explain.
The following comments were those made by my professor:
Analyze sources for Lexis (for example) Use Swales' characteristics to look at them through that lens.
Call yourself "the researcher" talk about "the text"
and "the genre" " the source"
Man Writing Smaller 9-5-11 Kathy.Bazan
After finishing the Genre Unit we began to delve into discourse communities. We were assigned two different readings and I chose to read Tony Mirabelli's "Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers" The following class we had a quiz in which we had to explain what an ethnography was based on the readings from the night before. My answer was as follows:
Based on the reading that I chose for last nights homework an ethnography would be a study or comparison of a certain type of person for a period of time. After reading Mirabelli's article on food service workers and how they must have different literacy rates than that of which you learn in high school in order to better help out the customer and do it in an efficient way. He gave many examples of his time working at Lou's and how the customer and waiter/waitress are different. By doing so, he helped give us- as the reader- a comparison of what waiter/waitresses really need to know and how it shows an authority and what the customer wants which would ultimately make the customer the authority. He helped us understand better by giving us the various examples over a longer period of time. Mirabelli also has the experience and knowledge of this field work because he himself worked in the business for sometime. He allows us to see what he noticed over that period of time, and with those examples we can see the differences, comparisons and understand them better.
In response my professor wrote:
Ethno is not a comparison and isn't the study of a person type, but rather a social group or culture.
This comment helped me better understand in furthering my research for discourse communities.
Based on the reading that I chose for last nights homework an ethnography would be a study or comparison of a certain type of person for a period of time. After reading Mirabelli's article on food service workers and how they must have different literacy rates than that of which you learn in high school in order to better help out the customer and do it in an efficient way. He gave many examples of his time working at Lou's and how the customer and waiter/waitress are different. By doing so, he helped give us- as the reader- a comparison of what waiter/waitresses really need to know and how it shows an authority and what the customer wants which would ultimately make the customer the authority. He helped us understand better by giving us the various examples over a longer period of time. Mirabelli also has the experience and knowledge of this field work because he himself worked in the business for sometime. He allows us to see what he noticed over that period of time, and with those examples we can see the differences, comparisons and understand them better.
In response my professor wrote:
Ethno is not a comparison and isn't the study of a person type, but rather a social group or culture.
This comment helped me better understand in furthering my research for discourse communities.
Waitress, Director Adrienne Shelly, 2007
During the discourse communities learning segment in class we were asked to pick between two articles: Tony Mirabelli's "Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers" or Sean Branick's "Coaches Can Read Too: An Ethnographic Study of a Football Coaching Discourse Community", in the end I chose the read Mirabelli's article.I felt that I could relate to it more because I work in retail sales in which I have to interact with customers on a daily basis. We were given some ideas to respond to after reading the article, my response is below:
Discussion Forum -> On Mirabelli (9/26 8am) -> Re: On Mirabelli (9/26 8am)
by Daibeliz Escobar - Friday, 28 September 2012, 12:52 AM
Mirabelli conducted research through explaining his own experiences with the area. While he gave many examples of different restaurants he applied most of them to the time we spent working at Lou's. I felt that I could relate in a sense to how you have to have a different literacy than that which you learn in high school, etc. I work in retail sales so I have to know how to interact with a customer and know what certain things mean when my one of my managers asks me to do something specific or asks me a question. To work in certain job areas you have to have the level of literacy required to effectively help a customer in the best possible way. With all the examples Mirabelli included about Lou's he concluded that food service workers need the special literacy in order to communicate with the customer, better explain to them dishes and be able to read the customer to get a sense of what they would prefer. With this the waiter/waitress would have an authority over the customer, but ultimately the authority is really the customers as they manipulate the menu into what they would like to eat. An ethnology could be comparing certain groups through a period of time as he compared the literacy aspect of the food service worker and that of the customer.
Discussion Forum -> On Mirabelli (9/26 8am) -> Re: On Mirabelli (9/26 8am)
by Daibeliz Escobar - Friday, 28 September 2012, 12:52 AM
Mirabelli conducted research through explaining his own experiences with the area. While he gave many examples of different restaurants he applied most of them to the time we spent working at Lou's. I felt that I could relate in a sense to how you have to have a different literacy than that which you learn in high school, etc. I work in retail sales so I have to know how to interact with a customer and know what certain things mean when my one of my managers asks me to do something specific or asks me a question. To work in certain job areas you have to have the level of literacy required to effectively help a customer in the best possible way. With all the examples Mirabelli included about Lou's he concluded that food service workers need the special literacy in order to communicate with the customer, better explain to them dishes and be able to read the customer to get a sense of what they would prefer. With this the waiter/waitress would have an authority over the customer, but ultimately the authority is really the customers as they manipulate the menu into what they would like to eat. An ethnology could be comparing certain groups through a period of time as he compared the literacy aspect of the food service worker and that of the customer.
Photographer: Franz Pfluegl
Also in the Discourse Communities Segment we were asked to respond to another article by Ann M. Johns "Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict and Diversity". We were given a list of topics for discussion on the forum and what we would discuss in class the following day. This was my response to the article:
Discussion Forum -> On Johns' Discourse Communities, respond by 8am on 9/26 -> Re: On Johns' Discourse Communities, respond by 8am on 9/26
by Daibeliz Escobar - Wednesday, 26 September 2012, 07:25 AM
In community conflict and diversity, there is a cost of affiliation. Basically what was said was that students need to make sacrifices if they "want to become affiliated with academic discourse communities..." Usually, they are asked to modify their lives and what they normally do in order to take on the values, language etc of the new culture. As stated in the text it can be a greater sacrifice then is expected.But you never truly leave the dominant identity of self that came with growing up with your family even if you become affiliated with other groups.
My professor replied to my response as well:
Re: On Johns' Discourse Communities, respond by 8am on 9/26
by Laura Erturk - Wednesday, 26 September 2012, 02:34 PM
You can acquire a new culture, learn a new language. But home is always home.
Discussion Forum -> On Johns' Discourse Communities, respond by 8am on 9/26 -> Re: On Johns' Discourse Communities, respond by 8am on 9/26
by Daibeliz Escobar - Wednesday, 26 September 2012, 07:25 AM
In community conflict and diversity, there is a cost of affiliation. Basically what was said was that students need to make sacrifices if they "want to become affiliated with academic discourse communities..." Usually, they are asked to modify their lives and what they normally do in order to take on the values, language etc of the new culture. As stated in the text it can be a greater sacrifice then is expected.But you never truly leave the dominant identity of self that came with growing up with your family even if you become affiliated with other groups.
My professor replied to my response as well:
Re: On Johns' Discourse Communities, respond by 8am on 9/26
by Laura Erturk - Wednesday, 26 September 2012, 02:34 PM
You can acquire a new culture, learn a new language. But home is always home.
Power of Words, Antonio Litterio
On the first day of classes we were asked to think about the kind of writing we do in everyday life. For one day of the week we jotted down notes of everything we wrote about during the day and then posted it on Moodle. This is what I wrote:
Discussion Forum -> Everyday writing -> Re: Everyday writing
by Daibeliz Escobar - Friday, 24 August 2012, 10:42 PM
-Texting
-Receipts at work
-Size check lists at work
-Class notes
-Homework assignments
-Reminders
I text my friends from high school to keep in touch, and at work I have to make lists of the sizes that we need to pull out from the stockroom to put out on the sales floor. I have been taking notes in each of my classes and writing notes to myself on my phone to remind me of things I need to do.
Discussion Forum -> Everyday writing -> Re: Everyday writing
by Daibeliz Escobar - Friday, 24 August 2012, 10:42 PM
-Texting
-Receipts at work
-Size check lists at work
-Class notes
-Homework assignments
-Reminders
I text my friends from high school to keep in touch, and at work I have to make lists of the sizes that we need to pull out from the stockroom to put out on the sales floor. I have been taking notes in each of my classes and writing notes to myself on my phone to remind me of things I need to do.
Stephen King, Photographer Unknown
After reading the article "What Writing Is" by Stephen King we were asked to explain what he meant by "writing is telepathy". And draw a writers tool box and its components or how he depicts writing as telepathy in our notebooks. This was my response:
Stephen King says writing is telepathy because although the author does not give every single detail, at times we can all picture he/she is trying to depict.
Stephen King says writing is telepathy because although the author does not give every single detail, at times we can all picture he/she is trying to depict.