Passion For Writing
Concept: Success
Passage: “..they do so by generalizing about literacy and its power of pointing to future success.” (Alexander 617)
Narrative Passage: “I think they were somewhat in disbelief because they knew I was never big into school”
Explanation: The author talked about how his family was in disbelief about his acquisition of literacy and how it was able to lead to his success.
Expect the Unexpected
Concept: Success
Passage: “..they end with this positive, abstract conclusion about literacy’s power and tendency to lead to success” (Alexander 617)
Narrative Passage: “I realized it doesn’t matter what you are writing about, you should be creating a piece of work you can always be proud of.”
Explanation: The narrative author very clearly was attempting to create an ending that was conclusive over the positive and ambiguous future effects of literacy.
Recess and Destress
Concept: Sponsorship, and somewhat child prodigy.
Passage: “..they conceived of themselves and their literacy abilities as exceptional, highlighting moments when their literacy skills were put on display to amaze and astonish.”
(Alexander 619)
Narrative Passage: “I see now it was because she was holding me to a higher standard because she knew I had the ability to succeed in my work..”
Explanation: This was a literacy moment in which the narrator felt a certain sense of empowerment at their own abilities, that were released by the teacher as a sponsor.
Turn Around?
Concept: Victim
Passage: “The popularity of the victim narrative in student texts indicates that students associate school-based literacy practices with oppression, and even cruelty.” (Alexander 618)
Narrative Passage: “I always got negative feedback, red x’s, and bad grades in his class. It just seemed to slowly eat away at any confidence in writing that I had leftover.”
Explanation: The narrator is very clearly attempting to create a sense of victimization by this teacher’s class, and how this one teacher just completely annihilated any sense of passion or excitement surrounding writing and reading for the narrator.
