eyarboroughlitmem 2nd draft jan
TRANSCRIPT
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Eli Yarborough Yarborough 1
Professor Jan Rieman
English 1101
February 10, 2013
This paper was a good exercise in tying together what we have read about literacy and
its role in society so far this semester. I think I had a solid first draft, which helped me when
revising my paper later on. My paper was structured in a fairly chronological order, but I
separated the two components of literacy, reading and writing, then brought the two ideas
together in my conclusion in talking about my future plans with literacy. While I think the
examples of my progression through literacy complemented my paper well, Im not sure I
avoided the clich laundry list of literary experiences. Everyone reads and writes; I hope my
experiences help exemplify my individuality as a reader and writer, and how my experiences
have compelled me to follow a career as an aspiring copy-writer.
From Elementary to ADDY
The One Hundred Book Club. My elementary school teachers really knew how to
motivate us to read. Give us membership into an exclusive club, entice us with super stylish t-
shirts, throw in a pizza party for the whole class and you can get 120 kids to suddenly put down
the basketballs, get off the swings and start reading during the coveted 30 minute recess. This
wasnt my first reading rodeo, but it certainly helped me develop my philosophy towards
reading: read a book and collect my reward.
I carried this philosophy with me for a long time, always expecting some tangible
compensations, be it grades or pizza, from reading. I guess this is why I didnt do very much
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pleasure reading as a child, because I didnt get any self-satisfaction from completing a book
on my own. In lower school, each class had a big, colorful chart on the wall with all of our
names on it. When we finished reading a book, we got put a shiny gold star next to our name. It
was a cut-throat competition; some of my peers were even accused of fudging the numbers so
to speak.
This was one of my earliest exposures to the world of reading. It was a social activity,
similar to Jhumpa Lahiris experience. It was a way of connecting with my fellow students
discussing the adventures of Jess and Leslie in the Bridge to Terabethiaor Georges mischievous
curiosity in Georges Marvelous Medicine. It was through these connections that the foundation
for my interest in reading was established. Although there was still that incentive of the reward
motivating me to read, this social aspect added an element of enjoyment to reading.
In my family, we also had some traditions involving books. For example, every
Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember, my dad would read The Night before Christmas to
my sister and me. We would gather in our living room, the warm glow of the fire creating sparks
of excitement in our eyes. My dad, as if possessed with the spirit of Santa Claus himself, would
read us the story in a low, slightly raspy voice. As he read, I could almost hear the faint jingle of
sleigh bells in the distance, slowly approaching our house. This tradition made me believe in the
magic of a good story.
While my mom did play a major role in my love of reading, her biggest impact was in
writing. She majored in English at the University of South Carolina and got her masters degrees
in American Literature at USC and Languages and Linguistics at Georgetown. After completing
all the education she could handle, my mom used what she had learned and her love of barbeque
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and wrote a book calledHog Heaven: A Guide To
South Carolina Barbecue. I thought it was so cool
how my mom got to travel around eating barbecue
and then writing about it. So I decided to try my
hand at it.
My parents loved to travel and instilled that
enthusiasm into me at an early age. I began
chronicling our adventures into a travel journal (a
pre-PC equivalent to a blog). As I read through
a few of my journal entries, I found a particularly
funny one. In this I write, When I awoke, we had
arrived in New York City. My parents, sister, and I
had to endure a half an hour taxi ride through trafic [sic], bumps, even a median. Finnally [sic]
we arrived a [sic] the apartemt. [sic] 580 Central Av., 10 th floor. After we got settled down we
went out for a bite to eat. Of course when you have a 16 year old sister, it means stoping [sic] at
every clothes store we pass. All of a sudden my eyes met a b-e-a-uatiful [sic] sign BURGER
HEVEN [sic].
I would like to think that my writing, especially spelling and punctuation, has improved
since then. But it illustrates a passion for writing that transcends the classroom. In addition to my
travel journal, I also attempted to write fiction. In the fourth grade I wrote a 35 page book titled
The Magic Monkey (I already had a knack for alliteration). Whether it is journaling about travel
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or writing about fictional fantasies, these types of writing exemplify how my upbringing and
cultural context has shaped my literacy.
Poetry has always interested me as well. When I was younger, my sister and I would read
Shel Silverstein poems to each other. Silverstein was able to tackle some fairly heavy issues
through his poetry, but in a way that is kid-friendly and easily relatable. Take The Giving Tree
for example. It is a rather deep and even dark discussion of the stages of life: the innocence of
childhood, the responsibilities of adulthood, and finally the solemnity of elderly life. As a child, I
didnt quite understand the deeper narrative, but the exposure to these themes and messages
helped develop my aptitude for critical reading later on in life.
I attempted to write poetry at an early age.
In the second grade I wrote a poem titledBooks.
This acrostic poem is appropriate for my literary
memoir. While my thoughts and abilities were quite
primitive and simple back then, it was a foundation
from which I could grow and develop.
More recently, my favorite poets are Robert Frost and Edgar Allen Poe. I have always
had a fascination with Poe. There is a restaurant near our beach house on Sullivans Island called
Poes Tavern which my family and I frequented. We would read Poes poems written on the
tables and walls and discuss their meaning. Robert FrostsMending Wall is my favorite poem.
While he is not known for his humor, I find the line good fences make good neighbors both a
funny and an intriguing thought.
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I have not tried much poetry writing since high school, but I dabbled in writing music,
which is just poetry set to musical notes. Music has always been my biggest passionsome
might say obsession. My sister has been a big influence in my love of music. She started writing
song reviews for a wel- known music blog several years ago. Since then, I have found myself
reading and dissecting lyrics and analyzing the musical components of songs.
As I continued my education and matured, my literary interests developed as well. I
began reading Hemingway, Ayn Rand, and Thoreau. One of my current favorite authors is Silvia
Plath. Although her themes are rather dark, she is an amazing writer with a fascinating yet tragic
life. Her novel theBell Jaris an intriguing portrayal of a young womans struggle with mental
health issues and depression. While it is very loosely based on Plaths own experience with these
issues, I still find it so interesting how much the book reveals about Plaths internal struggles and
throws so many red flags to Plaths eventual suicide.
Because I have always been interested in famous authors lives, for many years I wanted
to literally be exactly like Earnest
Hemingway. He was able to do the two
things I love: travel and drink coffee, and
write about his experiences, of course. I
have been lucky enough to visit the Caf de
Flore and Les Deux Magot in Paris where
Hemingway, and other famous writers,
actually sat and worked on such classics as
The Sun also Rises andA Farewell to Arms.
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I feel incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to have visited such historic sites around the world.
In addition to reading literature, I have also starting reading the newspaper every day. I
have read TheWall Street Journal every morning for the past two years. Not only is it a good
exercise in mental dexterity, it also keeps me informed about current events. I very much enjoy
politics, both reading about it and debating my views. TheJournal is an excellent source for
political news and learning about developing issues in the political environment, both
domestically and internationally.
These experiences have had a profound impact on my journey as a reader and a writer.
My literacy is ever changing and growing. It cannot be defined by any one concept. However, I
do know what feelings reading and writing evoke in me. These experiences have allowed me to
realize what I want to do in the future. I have been fascinated by advertising for as long as I can
remember. I think that it is amazing how a few words or a picture can convince someone to buy a
product or service. Advertising is the manipulation of language, resulting in the audience either
consciously or unconsciously purchasing the product, service, or supporting the cause.
My entire literary career has led me to pursue this dream of becoming a copywriter
(someone who creates ads). Without the influence of my family, teachers, and other literary
sponsors, I would still be searching for my calling in life. Now that I know what it is, I can work
on making my dream a reality by continuing my literary education and practicing my writing
skills in order to improve my craft.
Advertising has as much to do with reading as it does writing. Without the creative
inspiration that comes from reading, one can never be successful in the advertising industry, no
matter how good he is at composition. Reading, not just from books, but blogs, news of current
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events, magazines, and social media, is a great source of creative inspiration. Without literary
skills, it is hard to recognize new trends and fads. I believe that my entire reading and writing
history, as well as my continuing literacy education, will allow me to be successful in advertising
and all other related aspects of my life.
Eli,
Your narrative shows your appreciate for the power of the written word, the glorification of
writers, and a recognition that literacy development is ongoing. All good things. Ive listed a
number of questions in the margins that I was thinking about as I read. Your self-assessment
notes how you look at both reading and writing and then combine your examination of both at
the endan effective strategybut Im left curious about your shift in attitudes about reading
and when they changed. Read through my comments and please write a talk back in response,
using the Word function and uploading that talk back to Moodle. I look forward to hearing what
you think and some ideas you have for revision.