Literacy Narrative project-2 REVISED

Introduction:

In this project I studied two individuals who narrates their struggle to separate from society standards of literacy. I began my project by interviewing two individuals about their experience with literacy. I interviewed Ahmed Ashfaq, a high school senior. I then interviewed my peer, a young college student. In their interviews they both discuss the obstacles they faced in order to develop their literacy. Working from the narratives of their experience with literacy, I argue that living up to society’s expectations devalues an individual’s literacy rather than allowing them to find their own voice for society’s betterment.

Overview for Family:

I interviewed my brother who is in high school. In the whole interview he mentioned me a couple of times because we have shared a close bond since childhood. He stated how I used to read him stories. He also described how he overcame his struggles with his writing habits, and is now a successful writer that gain A's on his essays.

Overview for peer:

In my peer interview, he discussed how his mother loved reading and would read comic books to him, whereas she would barely write, and usually only for work purposes. He would write letters to his friends. His teachers would also read to him. My peer wanted to be musician. Reading played a big role in his life because of his mom and dream to become a musician.

Analysis:

Literacy, an ever-changing process that individuals and society correlate with different activities suited for their use. Literacy is meaningful to people in different ways. How we develop our literacy is branched off base on our surroundings. We reflect our communities’, cultures’, families’, and peers’ literacy values into our own to create one’s sole definition of literacy. No one person’s literacy is the same, yet it isn’t entirely different from others. They differ for every individual to differentiate oneself from others. The literacy I developed came from opportunities presented by living in a foreign land, and being able to blend my culture and religion into my literacy shaped my own literacy practices. My literacy is meaningful for me as it opened the door to my success and future from a desolate world I was known in, shaped my culture, and helped me find allies that I can relate to. I agree that my literacy has relations to literacy-as-adaption, which is depicted in Sylvia Scribner Literacy as Three Metaphors, as the literacy skill that adopts different criteria from different regions or communities and grants access to life opportunities. My literacy adapted from Pakistan and the Houston communities, so with the blend of these communities, I am able to mirror their aspects while contributing my own personal style. My peer’s and family member’s literacy had relations to the abilities they acquired to separate their literacy skills from society’s expectation. .Being able to talk to a peer and my brother about what shaped their literacy allowed me to dive deeper into understanding the evolution of one’s literacy.

My peer was surrounded by active readers and writers as he was growing up, from his mother reading the comic section out of the newspaper, to the friends he would write letters to. His father would read and write only for work purposes, yet his mother would sit down and read the newspaper out loud to him and occasionally rip out the comic section to directly connect with her son and develop his literacy. Having him at a young age his mother found it difficult to stay in school, yet to set a good example for her son. She continued her education and focused on classes, read books and wrote essays. It became the first thing they would bond over as she read to him. He would understand the values associated with literacy and how our surroundings can mold us. His literacy adapted and changed over the years to fit his personality and interest. His literacy gradually took form as he was nurtured throughout his years. The readings he listened to in middle school diminished his desire to read. He felt bored, empty, forced to listen like the rest of the students, yet this situation led him to take up reading on his own, to keep himself occupied like his mother did for him in his younger years. The example his mother set earlier in his childhood is reflected in his literacy as he associates his readings to the bond he shares with her. home shape my peer’s literacy, yet he struggled reading straight on because it gave him no satisfaction; however his fascination for music and wanting to be a musician played a big role in generating his literacy. He was fond of different musicians, such as Jimmy Hendrix, so his literacy adapted to a more lyrical sense. Just like there are different genres in music, my peer’s literacy was able to adapt to his sense of writing. He wouldn’t find it hard to write an extensive essay over a piece that he loved and felt connected to, but would find it difficult to create a generic essay to adapt to society’s view on his literacy. He would develop his essays like a lyrical story, everything he read would come with an occasional humming. His work came with a flow that distinguished himself from others. At this instance his literacy had direct relations to literacy-as-power, discussed in Literacy as Three Metaphors, which is the ability to shape one’s literacy to express oneself, while reflecting the expectations of society. The different forms of literacy gave his writings a lyrical and calm flow, allowed him to read books like he is writing musical notes, focused on every word and find the hidden meaning like a lyric of a song. He created something that reflected the community’s perspective. Assistance from his teachers was vital because they were direct opportunities for my peer to succeed. They would do everything to see a baby bird fly. My peer had many supporting factors and opportunities around him that gradually shaped his literacy. My peer's literacy is meaningful for him, as it became a source of power to leap towards his career of a musician, and opened the door to something he wants, and reflect the teaching of society. By not striving for society’s expectations, my peer was able to find his own voice and blend it with the teachings of society.

Being raised in a heavy religious family such as mine, my Brother Ahmed’s literacy was highly influenced by the teachings of my family. His grandfather would follow the simple but effective routine of sitting down at the table to read the Quran, to enter a world where it is just him. His parents often had to work overnights, so his sister would sit home and read to him, nurturing his literacy. For Ahmed, his parents never had the same opportunity to develop their literacy, so he uses it as motivation to develop his literacy towards his liking. Being read to by his sister allowed Ahmed to base his sense of reading and style of writing on his sister’s literacy practices. He shared a close bond with his sister, so everything he did, he did with her. He picked up her writing habits, he wrote essays similar to her. Ahmed's love for Superman jumpstarted his own literacy. The sense of courage and protection Superman carried around represented to Ahmed to protect his sister’s literacy as he gains the courage to write exquisite essays reflecting her style. He would carry himself in a way of being fearless, but looking out for others, which came out in his writing. He wrote to his teacher in a confident, courageous tone, addressed the important topics, and wrote what is on his mind regardless of society expectations all while protecting his sister’s sense of writing.

Nothing could be more influential to Ahmed’s literacy than his sister. He would base his values off his sister’s, yet his literacy formed around his interests later in his school years. Ahmed always turned in his work with confidence, with a hint of his sister’s writing style, so with society’s approval on the way he wrote, he continued, until a teacher name Mr. Hill changed his entire outlook on his writing. His literacy wasn’t his own; it was shaped to protect the one he had a close bond with, to protect her traditions. Mr. Hill criticized Ahmed’s paper, noting how his writing habits are a problem because his writing wasn’t reflected of his personality. English teachers, such as Mr. Hill, can notice a student’s writing style based off their actions in class. The criticism Ahmed received directed his literacy towards a path of his own. He would write his essays to find himself. Every paper he turned was an experiment to develop his literacy. The desire to create something that reflects his personality, yet carry his sister literacy became a priority. He found Mr. Hill as a guide to find his literacy. Ahmed used his literacy as an instrument for liberation and social change. His literacy emphasized a relationship between power and society views on literacy. His teacher manipulated his literacy to have a shape of its own and not one that resemble his sister’s. Nevertheless, the development of his literacy was blocked due to society’s expectation of STAAR. Writing to meet the requirements of the state warped Ahmed writing. His writing conformed towards society. His literacy wasn’t a form of his imagination and creativity but a tool just to move up in educational institutes; however doing activities such as Football directly correlated with the separation of society and development of his literacy. Watching Peyton Manning get injured and then come back to take his team to the big game, resonated with Ahmed. He felt the restrictions imposed on his literacy by society and STAAR was no longer oppressing him, but was a stepping stone to develop his literacy. Mr. Hill and Peyton Manning were inspiration in creating a literacy that showcase resiliency. Ahmed's literacy was no longer bounded by society but transcended them. His literacy derived from all the aspects in his life from religion, Mr. Hill to accumulating and protecting his sister’s literacy. He showed he wasn’t bounded by society, and that his literacy was realization of his spirit. He controlled what is reflected on his paper. He doesn’t write what his sister writes, but uses her literacy as a self- improvement for his own.

These literacy opportunities developed my peer's and my brother's literacy. One who sense of music and wanting to feel everything lyrical developed a literacy that can flow with traditions of society yet has a sense of individuality. The other who close bonds with his sister left him wanting to protect her sense of writing while developing a literacy that transcends society values. Their understanding of the social values associated with their literacy shaped how they were perceived and what they thought about themselves. They didn’t let STARR or required reading hold them back. They both empowered their literacy based off their personalities, bonds and interests while meeting the demands of the social context they were in.

WORK CITED

Scribner, Sylvia. "Literacy in Three Metaphors." Literacy in Three Metaphors. American Journal of Education, Web. 8 May. 2016.