Walden Saldana-Montavon English 1101-002 Literacy Narrative Ms. McAlister Literacy has had a large value throughout my life.

My mind relates words and the ability to gain knowledge through the process of reading them as very sacred. Ever since I can remember, my parents have read books to me. I remember Charlottes Web, Henry and Beezus and Babe being read multiple times. These night time stories created magical worlds, existing infinitely inside the pages of those books. When I started kindergarten,these stories also instilled in me a love for learning. I could not wait to learn to read. I remember begging my teachers for homework so I could learn faster and feel more grown up. It was then that I realized that I hated writing. We had to write a journal every day in first grade. This was my least favorite part of the day. I did not like having to write about a topic I did not have any thoughts on. The only writing I really enjoyed was when I wrote a story about my stuffed mouse going on an adventure. The next vivid memory of reading was my first book report. I read Harry Potter; I think it was in the third grade. The experience, of laying on the floor after I had finished the book and feeling so completely out of place in this world is still burned into my mind. I had absolutely loved being there, and everything else was so insanely dull. Again, the part I hated was writing the report at the end, it seemed so pointless and boring. This started a long period of my life where I was an avid reader. I finished the next four Harry Potter books in a month, and was reading probably two hours a day when I came home from school. This continued for many many years, at least till seventh grade, where I started playing soccer after school, and did not have time to read. Since this time, I have not been able to read like I used to. At that time, I was reading books solely to escape this world. I loved the amazing places I could go to. To me, most of the plots were frivolous, getting in the way of me observing normal life in these worlds. Now, when I read a book, I concentrate too much on the plot, or the meaning, or allusions or references, these

Saldana-Montavon 2 clutter up my thinking and distract me from the book. I find myself wishing regularly that I could shut off my brain like I used to, forgetting about the act of reading, and being sucked into the pages. At the moment, reading continues to hold a mystical and important connotation in my life. The reading I do on a daily basis does not compare to what I used to do, and consists mostly of textbooks, manuals, news, and daily necessities. None of this captures my imagination like during my childhood. These readings do however allow me to be part of multiple communities, Like any readings, they transfer information to me making it possible to discuss events or ideas with others. Therefore, I would describe my current literacy as analytical rather than creative. Once again, I still do not enjoy writing. I continue to understand the importance of it, and feel that as I grow older and have more experiences, what I have to say will be worth listening to. My daily readings are part of my education and part of my personal experiences. Most of the reading that I do is, as stated before, textbooks, manuals,k and news, which helps me learn the required material for classes. The other part of my reading are blog posts and news that helps me connect with my friends or enjoy my free time. This then separates the two types of readings that do into distinct categories. Most of the academic reading that I perform takes place in times I personally set aside to read those texts. This consists of a setting where there are minimal distractions and I am constantly focused on the work at hand. On the contrast, the personal reading I do is very scattered and interrupted. I follow more of a free train of thought. I might be reading something, a blog post or a news article, and get interested or distracted by some other text or activity that arises. These create two different sets of mind for my readings, one where I am very analytical, and one where I am more creative.

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These two different types of readings also allow me to be in two different distinct literature communities. My personal readings mostly consist of thing my close friends or people I respect and admire have suggested or mentioned. These readings allow me to join in on their conversations and help me gain an insight into how they work as a person. I have had a very tight friend group since middle school, we all have the same interests and are very true friends. We have discussions about current events and other articles online a lot. This allows our literary community to be very tight knit and we can express connections and thoughts that we would only be comfortable sharing within ourselves. As our literacy community is based mostly on the internet, we have created our own types of written communication. It has not evolved very far, but mannerisms like typing kk instead of ok or, playing word association games once the conversation has become boring are common place. The other day without thinking, I attempted to play this game with someone not inside this community. The misplaced communication just resulted in confusion. The other community my reading puts me into, is my education community. This consists of the students assigned to read the same material as I have been. In my new education experience at UNCC, I have become involved in my academic readings, and attempted to spark different debates and conversations with my peers. For engineering class, we were instructed to read a paper on the controversy behind alternative energy sources. The author brought up many points that were unsupported and very biased. Others in the class did not agree with the points I raised in opposition to this article. This caused, as well as me, many of my classmates to do extra research into the topic. This is the type of exercise that I have started to commonly participate in is what I would like to gain out of my academic literacy community. Besides defining me as a student and a friend, the type of literature I read defines me as Saldana-Montavon 4

a person. First off, as I feel like my personal reading shapes me more than my academic reading. For my personal reading I read mostly fantasy books and video games. This really continues my desire from childhood to be stuck in different worlds. Showing up in my choice of friends and activities, this type of literature has provided key experiences in my life, even as important as inspiring me to want to become an engineer. Second, my academic reading is often lofty, and often incomprehensible. I tend to attempt to be smarter than I usually am. This pushes me, but at the same time, causes more confusion and struggle. This attempt to be constantly bettering myself pushes me harder to try and achieve the next thing inspired by my creative reading. I still feel very weak in my writing. I tend to ramble and spend too much time contemplating what I would like to say. I have noticed that I tend to write the best with music or other forms of entertainment running in the background. These let me write whats on my mind and I am able to edit and make it semi-coherent later. Since I do not tend to believe that much I have to say is worth writing, I think the main purpose of my writing is to gain an understanding of how the literature I read is formed. Even though I do not think that I am a very talented writer, I see that I can easily mimic the types of writing that I have recently read. This at least adds a certain interest in writing in my life, even though it is not great. In terms of academic writing, I feel that I am able to write just well enough to get my points across clearly. I have not had much practice straying from the five paragraph format forced upon us during highschool, but I am attempting to make my essays flow more together. In the end, I my history in literacy focuses on reading, and is split up into two phases. I would like to be able to learn how to read creatively again. I feel like this will inspire my creativity, and improve my works in other subjects as well.