Week 4: Narratives, theses, organizing papers, building paragraphs

1. Week 4: Narratives, theses, organizing papers, building paragraphs Have out readings: Frederick Douglas’ Narrative; Sherman Alexie’s Narrative; Lauren Kaiser’s Narrative Make sure you are logged in to Wordpress.com and have open your personal blogs Target: Literacy Narratives Readings: LBH 36-58; GFC 69-71; Alexie, “Superman and Me”

2. Thesis Statements • Expresses/Articulates “the intellectual position you are taking” (LBH 36) • Articulates the controlling idea/purpose of your paper (states what readers should understand as the main point/purpose of your paper after reading) • Answers the “So What?” question • Changes as you develop your draft • Usually comes in the first paragraph…almost always comes at the beginning of the paper • May indicate the organization of your paper (often effective way to set up organization) • Explicit (in explanatory and argumentative papers) • May be Explicit or Implicit in narrative papers

3. Narrative Approaches… Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, American Slave Para 1: “I lived in Master Hugh’s family about seven years. During this time, I succeeded in learning to read and write. In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various stratagems” (105). • Tells readers what they are going to be reading about: How Frederick Douglas learned to read and write as a slave and the specific strategies that he used Para 6: “The reading of these documents enabled me to utter my thoughts and to meet the arguments brought forward to sustain slavery; but while they relieved me of one difficulty, they brought on another even more painful than the one of which I was relieved. The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers . . . The very discontentment which Master Hugh had predicted would follow my learning to read had already come . . . Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever” (106-7). • States the purpose of Douglas’ Narrative to emphasize that literacy (reading and writing) are essential to freedom, lead to freedom, prevent a person from passively accepting his/her own enslavement Para 8: Notice language he uses to organize his story (to tell his story in chronological order): • I soon learned of…after that…I would then…during this time…by this time…I continued to… I finally

4. Narrative Approaches… “Superman and Me” Para. 1: “I learned to read with a Superman comic book” (85). • Hook…something to draw readers in, to interest readers in the rest of the text that follows Para 2: “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well.” • Orients readers; names his “sponsor” of literacy; prepares us for para. 3 and 4; Functions like a false thesis (which he indicates in para. 5) Para 5: “This might be an interesting story all by itself. A little Indian boy teaches himself to read at an early age and advances quickly” (86). • (A) Signals the shift that is coming, indicates to readers that this is not just a story about him learning to read and write; telling us as readers, this is not what it seems; (B) Cues unknowing readers that it is, indeed, not common to read about a young boy from a reservation advancing in reading and writing (setting us up for what is to come) Para. 6: “We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid. Most lived up to those expectations inside the classroom but subverted them on the outside . . . As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world. Those who failed were ceremonially accepted by other Indians and appropriately pitied by non-Indians” (87). • Explicitly explains to readers why it is uncommon for a young boy from a reservation to advance as a famous author (like himself)—it is not socially acceptable Para. 7: “I read with equal parts joy and desperation. I loved books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life” (87) • States the purpose of his literacy narrative, answers the “So What?” question—he is telling us this story because reading and writing, acquiring literacy, as a young Indian boy, saved his life…saved him from the minimum-wage and insecure jobs of his parents that we read about at the end of the first paragraph…saves him Para. 7: “I visit the schools as often as possible. The Indian kids crowd the classroom. Many are writing their own poems, short stories, and novels. They have read my books. They have read many other books. They look at me with bright eyes and arrogant wonder. They are trying to save their lives . . . ‘Books,’ I say to them. ‘Books,’ I say. I throw my weight against their locked doors. The door holds. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives” (88). • Powerful ending…coming full circle. This isn’t a literacy narrative about him…it’s a literacy narrative about young Indian boys and girls, living on the reservation and the challenges they face and what he’s doing about it. Reinforces the point of his narrative: literacy can save our lives

5. Narrative Approaches… “Unearthing” (Lauren Kiser’s 2nd Draft) Para 1: “it is where my life began, and also where my story begins” • Reader orientation—explaining why her narrative starts where it does—also, making us familiar with the genre (she is writing a first person narrative) and she is going to tell a story in chronological order Para 2: Names sponsor 1 (grandfather) Para 6: “I learned some of life’s most valuable lessons on those summer afternoons from my old companion dressed in a flannel shirt and khaki pants” (75) • Answers the “So What?” question (why is she telling readers what she learned from her grandfather?) Also, signals a shift—she is done talking about her grandfather’s influence (she reinforces this shift in next paragraph with the opening line: “There was a point, however, at which my exploration of the world had to move indoors” (75). ) Para 7: “My mother went to great lengths to enhance my basic education. She supplemented what I was taught in school with a multitude of extracurricular media” (95) • Names sponsor 2 (mother) and explains why she is going to tell reader about her Para 15 (conclusion): “The foundation of my education was made concrete by my mother and grandfather. They allowed me to explore the world around me with few boundaries…” - Uses the conclusion to answer “So What?” question—why are her memories of learning from her grandfather and mother important, how did they impact her life and who she is as a person today?

6. Literacy Narratives: Developing Thesis/Controlling Idea/Purpose Post to your personal blog: • What is the point that you are trying to make in telling your literacy narrative…what is the takeaway that you want readers of your literacy narrative to leave your writing with? • How do you want readers to answer these questions: • How has ___’s experiences with literacy shaped him/her as a person? • How has ___’s experiences with literacy impacted his/her life? • What is the point that ____ made about literacy? • What is the purpose of _____’s literacy narrative?

7. Reading Review: Prepping for Paper First Drafts of Literacy Narrative: Due WEDNESDAY Essay Components: Introduction (captures and focuses readers’ attention), Body (develops thesis/purpose, fulfills the commitment stated in the intro), Conclusion (summary of ideas, restatement of main point BUT not a complete restatement of thesis…you have a rich narrative to develop your main point off of at the end of your essay) Full Essay Organization: Chronological (recount a sequence of events, explain a process from beginning to end, explain the causes that led to an effect) Body Paragraph Organization: Move from the general to the specific; Unified (Is each main section relevant to the main idea (thesis) of the essay?; Within main sections, does each example or detail support the principal idea of that section?); Coherent (Do the ideas follow in a clear sequence?; Are the parts of the essay logically connected?; Are the connections clear and smooth?); Topic Sentences (Does each paragraph have a sentence that explains the purpose of the paragraph and makes it clear how the paragraph relates to the larger purpose of the paper?) Page Format: Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced (no additional spaces); Header (last name and page number); Heading (you name, my name, course title 1103-02; date) (SEE STUDENT EXAMPLES POSTED ON BLOG)

8. Small Group Presentations 7 groups of 3; 1 group of 2 Directions (5 minutes/person): • Verbalize the story of the visual mapping that you created and brought to class • Offer a brief explanation of the plans you have, based on your presentation, for your written literacy narrative After Presentation Directions: • Fill out response sheets for each of your group members (hand scoring sheet in to me and hand longer sheet back to the presenter)

9. FreeWriting Exercise I: Descriptive Writing Post Response to your personal blog: In the context of your personal literacy narrative… • Literacy smells like… • Literacy tastes like… • Literacy feels like… • Literacy sounds like… • Literacy looks like…