One of the pieces to be analyzed is a scholarly text by Kara Poe Alexander; “ Successes, Victims, and Prodigies: “Master” and “Little” Cultural Narratives in the Literacy Narrative Genre,” in which she focuses on defining narratives in a way that allows for further analysis. In initially defining literacy narratives and the goals thereof, she writes: “Ultimately, literacy narratives aim ‘to define who we are and what we want to become, both as individuals and as a community,’” (Alexander 609) Speaking to the fact that these narratives, when analyzed, one can pick up on even the most minute details of the narrative and construct themes and ideas in their own mind based on the experiences of another, and allow one to deconstruct these ideas to their origin. She also writes to define a commonality between narratives: “dominant, archetypal stories,” or that which “follow conventional patterns of narration and correspond to prevailing cultural representations of literacy perpetuated through literature, film, [etc]… They also help organize and configure reality, thus shaping our understandings of ourselves.” (Alexander 609) Understanding this can allow us to use the narratives to connect the individual story to society as a whole. These are the premisse that will be used in this piece mainly as a lens, simply for understanding how these narratives are important in the way that they allow us to capture what makes a person who they are in relation to the rest of the world.
With constructing this paragraph, I wanted to add a proper introduction to the ideas of Alexander. I used two of her quotes to get the information “straight from the horse’s mouth” to the reader, allowing the major ideas and definitions that I will be using to be properly introduced.
Sometimes the effects done on the narrative by sponsors can run deeper; In “Reading Gone Wrong” by Shaylee Amidan, she explores how the withholding of literacy from one by a sponsor can damage their views on their personal life and passions. She talks about how “so many people are shot down for being different by their own choice..” (Amidan) This is a key theme perception for the author, as she references frequently how literacy (or the lack of acquisition thereof), is perceived as a make or break for success in life. Her experience with a teacher not allowing her to participate shows how some sponsors are all too willing to ostracize a student or other narrator without a willingness to conform; effectively taking away their choice in the matter. The choice being, how one goes about their journey to literacy, and how too often some sponsors will withhold, or attempt to define this long and winding road for someone. But again, this lack of establishment of literacy can and did cause problems for Amidan, and as Kara Poe Alexander explores in her piece, “Costs include social, cultural, and permanent displacement which leads people to alienation, [and] despair.” (Alexander 610) In Amidan’s case, this despair goes hand-in-hand with the fact that she felt alienated from the rest of the class; that she was not on the same intellectual level as other students for her need for a tutor. This is derived from the far-too-common narrative that defines literacy as a success factor; that without it, you will fail and be a reject of society.
In reconstructing this paragraph, I opted to add more of my own voice to it and remove some of the quotes that took up the paragraph, as well as bridging the gap between the narrative and Alexander that previously existed. I also added a bit more to make it relevant to the rest of the piece.
