Lindsay Garmon Ms. Fuentes English 1101-9 October 15, 01!

Midterm "e#lection

$ ha%e en&oyed doing all the reading and 'riting assignments that 'e ha%e done in and out o# class. (ome 'ere long and tedious and others short and more en&oyable. )ut $ ha%e truly lo%ed doing them all because they ha%e contributed to my reading and 'riting education and to me that*s %ery im+ortant. ,'o assignments, one 'hich 'as 'riting and the other reading, ha%e stood out to me, the Literacy Memoir and -Learning to "ead,$n -Learning to "ead,- it #ocuses on Malcolm . and his struggles to becoming a literate /#rican-/merican male in a time 'here /#rican-/mericans 'here loo0ed do'n u+on as an in#erior +eo+le. $ +ersonally li0e reading about +eo+le*s struggles, not because $*m e%il and en&oy the thought o# +eo+le struggling, no, $ li0e it because it is relatable and o+ens my eyes to all the things $ ta0e #or granted on a daily basis. ,here are +eo+le out there that ha%e had it 'orse than me and $ learn that through reading and this +articular story about Malcolm .. /t the time this reading 'as assigned our discussion in class 'as all about literacy. 1hat is being literate2 1hat are the de#initions2 3o' do +eo+le become literate2 /ll these 4uestions #uel my brain and ma0e me thin0, 'hich $ lo%e doing. Malcolm had to teach himsel# to become literate 'hile in a &ail cell. 3e 'as im+risoned #or a #e' years and his #ace 'as al'ays in a boo0. 3e started o## 'ith a dictionary. 3e 'rote do'n e%ery single 'ord out o# a dictionary so he could become more literate in 0no'ing 'ords and

0no'ing their de#initions. )y doing this, Malcolm #ound it easier to read. Malcolm became literate on his o'n. 3e taught himsel# ho' to read and 'rite. $ thin0 that is incredible. Later on in his li#e Malcolm became a 'ell-0no'n acti%ist #or /#rican/merican rights and 'as 0no'n #or his strong and asserti%e s+eeches. 3e says in the story that 'hene%er he had #ree time, he 'ould be reading a boo0. /nother literacy assignment, the literacy memoir, stood out to me because one, 'e s+ent so much time on it, t'o, $ got to tal0 about mysel#, and three, +eer re%ie' 'as in%ol%ed. ,he #ocus o# the literacy memoir 'as to gi%e my bac0ground on ho' $ learned to read and 'rite and certain e5+eriences that sha+ed the 'ay $ 'rite today. /lso, 'e 'ere to tell about the s+ecial +eo+le that hel+ed us along the 'ay, or our -literacy s+onsors.$ thought that this 'as a great to+ic to 'rite about. $t ga%e me and the other students a chance to tal0 about themsel%es, and 'ho doesn*t li0e to boast about themsel%es sometimes2 ,o be able to tell +eo+le 'here $ come #rom and 'ho the s+ecial +eo+le in my li#e are is cool. 1hile 'riting my memoir, $ had to 0ee+ in mind that my +eers 'ere going to be reading it, so $ 'anted to ma0e it as +ersonable as +ossible and not li0e $ 'as 'riting a #ormal letter to the +resident. $ 'anted them to #eel li0e $ 'as tal0ing directly to them as i# 'e 'ere #ace-to-#ace. 6eer re%ie' is something $ li0e doing because it can o+en my eyes to ne' o+tions and 'ays $ can change my +a+er to ma0e it better and allo's me to hel+ others ma0e their +a+ers better. 3o'e%er, $ #elt li0e $ couldn*t be as honest 'ith my grou+ as $ 'anted to be. $*m one o# those +eo+le 'ho are brutally honest and not being able to be 1007

honest irritated me. /nother thing that 'ould ha%e been cool is i# 'e could ha%e s+ent one-on-one 'ith each o# our grou+ members. O%erall, $ thin0 this class is aimed at teaching us that 'riting ta0es a huge amount o# +ractice and then some. 1riting ta0es re%ision and you could 'rite #i%e dra#ts be#ore it*s as good as you 'ant it to be. Letting many +eo+le loo0 o%er your 'or0 is im+ortant because that*s more o+inions and a better +a+er.