"All Writing is Autobiograph" by Murray

     The construct Murray is asking us to reconsider is that all writing is an autobiography.  The way he explains it, you put yourself in everything you write even if you are not suppose to.  Like in a lab report or if your not suppose to use "I" in your paper, you are still the one writing it and you have your own way of writing.
     I believe Murray is right about everything you write is autobiography.  His ideas change the way I think about writing because I never thought about everything I write as an autobiography. It doesn't encourage me to write any different, it encourages me to write the same way I have always done my writing.
     "Meta Moment"
One reason for understanding Murray's claims has positively impacted me to keep writing like I always have. A second reason has changed my attitude towards writing, because all my writing is an autobiography of everything I have learned and experienced.

Commented

Commented on Danny and Justin's Blogs

Rhetorical Situations And Their Constituents By Keith Grant-Davie

Rhetorical Situations

And

Their Constituents

By Keith Grant-Davie

            The way I understand rhetorical situations from this reading is writing or spoken word that does its best to get people to do something.  This could be on television, or at a speech, it could be something you read.  Rhetorical situations could just be someone sitting next to you hinting at something they want without just asking.

 Understanding rhetorical situations is helpful for writing because when you’re writing you can communicate with you audience and let them know what you want to get across in your writing.  You can also choose your audience before you start writing.

My thoughts on the article are that it did get the point across to what a rhetorical situation is.  I like the all the examples Keith Grant-Davie used; like Kobe Bryant with Coca-Cola advertising “Obey you thirst-drink Sprite!”  I also like how he explained that your friend sitting next to you says “Boy, I’m really cold.”  And this is a rhetorical situation because your friend could have just asked you to turn up the heat, instead of hinting for you to turn up the heat. The thing I did not like about this article is that it was hard to read.  It took me awhile to get the reading done, but I am happy to have a better understanding on rhetorical situations.

Literacy Narrative post #2

Literacy Narrative

Throughout my life I have had a love hate relationship with literacy.  I love to read and write about things that I’m interested in and hate things that are boring to me.  I’m not much for reading and writing on my own, but in school I like to get my assignments done as fast as I can.  School has been the main literacy sponsor in my life.

The first thing about learning to write, was when I was three years old my mom taught me how to hold a pencil and start doodling.  Learning actual letters was when I went into kindergarten and D-One (a class right after kindergarten getting kids ready for first grade.) In kindergarten I learned the alphabet and started to read.  I learned a lot more about reading and writing in D-One and first grade.

It was second grade when I found my first favorite book.  The book was a short book about the Titanic.  I read that book over and over.  I took the book home and read it to my mom a couple times too. When I was in second grade I remember doing a lot of spelling test too.  I cheated on a test and I got caught.  The teacher said she would not tell my mom if I re-took the test and got a good grade.  (I got 100% and my mom did not find out until last year when I told her about it.)  That taught me to never cheat again.  In second grade I wrote a story about my dog that had passed away. The story was about how much I loved him and how much I missed him.

Fourth grade I found another favorite book.  It was called “Glue Fingers.”  The book is about football.  This book made me want to play and write about sports.  I did a story in fifth grade with three of my classmates about being pro football players.  It was a project that we all did for fun.  The story was about the three of us playing for the Dallas Cowboys.  (I’m pretty sure the Cowboys had won the Super Bowl that year.)

When I made it to the sixth grade we had kindergarten reading buddies.  That was a lot of fun for me.  I liked reading with the younger students and helping them to read.  I think that reading with the little buddies helped influence me to want to be a teacher.  I had so much fun helping teach the kindergarteners how to read.

When I went into seventh grade that’s when I remember writing more project papers.  I had to write a paper about the Civil War.  I did a lot of research and wrote a two page report about the benefits of the North winning the war.

It was eighth grade when I took my first computer class.  I did a power point report on Kobe Bryant. (He was a rookie that year.)  I really liked to read Sports Illustrated and read about sports in general.  The computer changed a lot of things.  I could go online and read about different sports icons and I could do research and write at the same time.  I did not have a computer at home but I would spend a lot of time at school writing reports or whatever I could on the computer.  If a paper could be turned in with either typing or by hand, I would rather type it.  I thought that the computer made it look so much better.

I remember my ninth grade English teacher like it was yesterday.  His name was Mr. Holley, he was a mean man unless you showed him respect and that you were really there to learn.  Mr. Holley always called everybody by their last name, and if you did not do what he said, you would have to come after school and sit in his class.  He assigned the book “The Giver” for the class to read.  The book was a great.  I had a hard time putting it down.  I read this book until I feel asleep at night, and it was the first thing I would think about when I woke up.  This book made me want to read more.  I thanked Mr. Holley and I actually liked the guy by the time I went into the tenth grade.

I moved on to High School and going into the tenth grade one of my classmate died in a car accident.   I wrote a long poem for her and her family.  I’m not sure where the poem is now but her family thanked me and said they loved the poem.  This helped me express how I was feeling and made me feel better knowing the family liked the poem too.  I did not write many poems, but for this occasion words just came to me and I wrote them down.

It was eleventh grade when I read “Of Mice and Men.”  The book was long and I remember reading it over Christmas break.  That was the last thing I wanted to do while on a break from school.  I had to do writings after every chapter.  The book was boring to me and I did not want to read much more after that book.  Eleventh grade I got to use my last two hours of the school day to be a teacher’s aid for a third grade class.  I got to help third graders read and write.  (Another great experience that made me want to be a teacher.)  When I went into twelfth grade I had to go to school for a half day and worked the rest of the day.  I don’t recall any English classes or any big reading or writing assignments.

It wasn’t until I went to college nine years after high school that I did anymore real writing.  I worked for a lot of different jobs and didn’t do any type of writing.  Just last semester I started my college career and I wrote speeches for speech class.  I had a fun time giving speeches. That class was nerve racking.  One of my classes I had for my teaching major I wrote multiple papers for different teachers I went and observed in elementary, middle, and high school.  I also had to write about my experiences working in after school intramural programs with elementary children.

But my best writing had to be for my Life Span of Human Development class.  I wrote four different papers and the one that will always stick out in my mind, is the paper I wrote about my experiences with death.  This paper let me get out everything that I have been feeling about all the people I have lost in my life and how each death had a different impact on my life.  I also got to write my own obituary, and where I wanted to be laid to rest.  That was definitely a life changing experience putting a date on the day you die.  My first semester of college and I was already writing about when I was going to die.

As I am writing this paper I can tell the most common writing I have done is for school assignments.  When I write, I like to sit down at a table in silence and just write.    I like to write on paper before I type it into the computer. I put pencil to paper and think about what I want to write and do it. I believe I write the way I do now because of all the book reports and other class assignments I’ve done throughout school.  I do not like writing a little bit here and a little bit there, I like to just get it all done at once.  That is how I like to write.  I don’t really like to read unless it is something interesting to me. I have to do a lot of reading for school and I really think that it is good for me.  My experiences have shaped me into the person I am today, that includes all the reading and writing I have done in and out of school.

Literacy Narrative

Literacy Narrative

Introduction:

            In this paper I think back to when I first remember reading and writing.  I talk about what my experiences were from a young age until now.  I take you through my days in school and tell you about books that made a difference in my life.  I also tell you about different things I have written throughout my life.  At the end of this assignment I tell you about the easiest way for me to write and get my writing done.

            The first thing I remember about learning to write, was when I was three years old my mom taught me how to hold a pencil and start doodling.  The first time I remember really learning actual letters was in kindergarten and D-One (a class right after kindergarten getting kids ready for first grade.) In kindergarten I remember learning the alphabet and starting to read.  I remember learning a lot more about reading and writing in D-One and first grade. 

            I believe it was second grade when I found my first favorite book.  It was a short book about the Titanic.  I remember reading that book over and over.  I took the book home and read it to my mom a couple times too. When I was in second grade I remember doing a lot of spelling test too.  I remember cheating on a test and getting caught.  The teacher said she would not tell my mom if I re-took the test and got a good grade.  (I got 100% and my mom did not find out until last year when I told her about it.)  That taught me to never cheat again.  It was second grade when I wrote a story about my dog that had passed away.  I remember it being about how much I loved him and how much I missed him.

            It was fourth grade when I found another favorite book.  It was called “Glue Fingers.”  It was a book about football.  This was the book that made me want to play and write about sports.  I did a story in fifth grade with three of my classmates about being pro football players.  It was a project that we all did for fun.  The story was about the three of us playing for the Dallas Cowboys.  (I’m pretty sure the Cowboys had won the Super Bowl that year.) 

            When I made it to the sixth grade we had kindergarten reading buddies.  That was a lot of fun for me.  I liked reading with the younger students and helping them to read.  I think that reading with the little buddies helped influence me to want to be a teacher.  I had so much fun helping teach the kindergarteners how to read.

            When I went into seventh grade that’s when I remember writing more project papers.  I had to write a paper about the Civil War.  I did a lot of research and wrote a two page report about the benefits of the North winning the war. 

            It was eighth grade when I took my first computer class.  I did a power point report on Kobe Bryant. (He was a rookie that year.)  I really liked to read Sports Illustrated and read about sports in general.  The computer changed a lot of things.  I could go online and read about different sports icons and I could do research and write at the same time.  I did not have a computer at home but I would spend a lot of time at school writing reports or whatever I could on the computer.  If a paper could be turned in with either typing or by hand, I would rather type it.  I thought that the computer made it look so much better.

I remember my ninth grade English teacher like it was yesterday.  His name was Mr. Holley, he was a mean man unless you showed him respect and that you were really there to learn.  Mr. Holley always called everybody by their last name, and if you did not do what he said, you would have to come after school and sit in his class.  He assigned the book “The Giver” for the class to read.  The book was a great.  I had a hard time putting it down.  I read this book until I feel asleep at night, and it was the first thing I would think about when I woke up.  This book made me want to read more.  I thanked Mr. Holley and I actually liked the guy by the time I went into the tenth grade.

I moved on to High School and going into the tenth grade one of my classmate died in a car accident.   I wrote a long poem for her and her family.  I’m not sure where the poem is now but her family thanked me and said they loved the poem.  This helped me express how I was feeling and made me feel better knowing the family liked the poem too.  I did not write many poems, but for this occasion words just came to me and I wrote them down.  

It was eleventh grade when I read “Of Mice and Men.”  The book was long and I remember reading it over Christmas break.  That was the last thing I wanted to do while on a break from school.  I remember doing writings after every chapter.  The book was boring to me and I did not want to read much more after that book.  It was eleventh grade when I got to use my last two hours of the school day to be a teacher’s aid for a third grade class.  I got to help third graders read and write.  (Another great experience that made me want to be a teacher.)  When I went into twelfth grade I had to go to school for a half day and worked the rest of the day.  I don’t recall any English classes or any big reading or writing assignments.

It wasn’t until I went to college nine years after high school that I did anymore real writing.  I worked for a lot of different jobs and didn’t do any type of writing.  Just last semester I started my college career and I wrote speeches for speech class.  I had a fun time giving speeches. That class was nerve racking.  One of my classes I had for my teaching major I to write multiple papers for different teachers I went and observed.  I also had to write about my experiences working in after school intramural programs with elementary children.

 But my best writing had to be for my Life Span of Human Development class.  I wrote four different papers and the one that will always stick out in my mind, is the paper I wrote about my experiences with death.  This paper let me get out everything that I have been feeling about all the people I have lost in my life and how each death had a different impact on my life.  I also got to write my own obituary, and where I wanted to be laid to rest.  That was definitely a life changing experience putting a date on the day you die.  My first semester of college and I was already writing about when I was going to die.

As I am writing this paper I can tell the most common writing I have done is for school assignments.  When I write, I like to sit down at a table in silence and just write.    I like to write on paper before I type it into the computer. I put pencil to paper and think about what I want to write and do it. I believe I write the way I do now because of all the book reports and other class assignments I’ve done throughout school.  I do not like writing, little bit here and a little bit there, I like to just get it all done at once.  That is how I like to write. 

Fellow Students' Blog Posts on the Baron's Article

Ian's Blog
Una's Writing

Fellow Students' Blog Posts on the Brandt Article

Ashley's Blog
Brad's Blog "NoRdAhL"

Baron Article

      My experiences with literacy technologies began when I was three years old.  My mom taught me how to hold a pencil and start to doodle.  I first used a computer when i was eight years old, my grandparents had and old computer, (I don't know why they never used it) I remember just playing around with it and typing random words.  The first time I had a computer class was when I was in eighth grade.  I learned to type and do reports on the computer.  The first time I ever started texting on my phone was in 2008 when i got unlimited texting on my phone.  I had/have a phone with a keyboard on it. 

    The illustrations help you understand that writing has been around for a very long time.  I think it contributes to his article a great deal.  Baron is showing how long writing has been around and the different technologies that have be invented to help literacy.  I understand the illustrations as writing.  At least I believe them to be writing.  Writing has been around a long time and who really knows what people made a symbols to indicate what they were talking about.  I believe you could add them to the list of technologies for writing and literacy, it seems like writing to me.

Literacy Sponsors

     Deborah Brandt’s definition of “Literacy Sponsor” to me seemed to be the fact that people become literate because of other people, school systems and other establishments (prison, work, etc.) Circumstances in a person’s life can help to be a literacy sponsor too.  The characteristics of a literacy sponsor are people or places (schools, work etc.) who want a person to read and write to the best of their ability.  Some sponsors are only a sponsor to help their own cause or goal.

     Malcolm X’s literacy sponsors were prison, and Mr. Elijah Muhammad.  Malcolm X read the dictionary in prison to learn to read and write.  Then he read books and wrote letters to Mr. Muhammad.  These were sponsors because they motivated Malcolm X to become great with Literacy.

     Sherman Alexie’s literacy sponsors were his dad and the negativity he got from his schoolmates and society.  Sherman’s dad had a lot of books and loved to read.  This made Sherman want to read too.  The fact that most of the students around Sherman and the society he grew up in, did not want to be literate, pushed him to become a great person with literacy.

     I agree with Brandt to a point about Branch and Lopez, and how the difference in society and there life made a difference in the outcome of their literacy sponsorships. They both were in the same town and Branch got a better deal because of his parents. Lopez did well for herself but had to work hard for it.  She proved that if you want it, then you have to work for it. If you look at Sherman Alexie then you can say a person can learn as much as he or she wants to.  He overcame a whole Indian society who did not want anyone to become great.   No matter what race they are or where they are in society you can have literacy sponsor around you.