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Angela Clayborne
Professor Leslie Wolcott
ENC 1102
27 January 2015

Literacy Narrative
For most of my life, Ive had the basic definition/concept of literacy that
most people have: The ability to read and write. However, since being in this
class, my definition and my concept of literacy has greatly expanded. Ive
realized that literacy doesnt only include the ability to read and write but
also the ability to compute and solve problems.1 Ive also realized the
importance of how we learn to be literate. From reading Brandts Sponsors
of Literacy Ive learned that the people, places, and things, also known as
our sponsors, that assist us in our literacy acquisition have a huge influence
on the quality of our literacy and the opportunities that our literacy can open
up for us.2 As I was thinking back to how I acquired my own literacy, Ive
discovered that if it wasnt for the materials and resources, the material

1 (The National Insitute For Literacy, n.d.)

2 Brandt, D. (1988). Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and
Communication, 49(2), 165-185.

sponsors3, that Ive been provided, I wouldnt have developed my literacy as

well and efficiently as I did.

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When I was younger, I was homeschooled for two years: for kindergarten
and first grade. This is, what I believe, to be the critical period that set me up
for learning to be literate and being able to grow with my literacy. Because I
wasnt in the standard classroom setting, my mom bought me a lot of
materials to teach me how to read, write, and behave in society; however,
there are only two that I vividly remember. The first one was this cute little
blue book with the picture of an apple on it. I called it my apple book, and I
completely loved it! Inside the book was different activities that allowed me
to learn my vowels and pronounce words, practice writing sentences, and
practice reading stories. The thing about these stories is that not only did
they help teach me how to read but they also taught me and reinforced
some appropriate behaviors for interacting with people and being in society.
The second material wasnt really something my mom bought for me or even
just one thing. It was a collective group of the things around me like street
signs, labels on containers, television shows, instructions from recipes on
nickjr.com, board games, those old cassette tapes with the sing-a-longs on
3 (Brandt, 1988)

them, just pretty much anything that I could read or listen to. These
materials exposed me to new words, showed me appropriate behaviors, like
not crossing a street before I see the walking sign pop up, revealed to me
different ways of reading, and taught me that you cant read everything in
the exact same way (because you wouldnt read a recipe the way you would
read a chapter book).
These materials are clearly only a few of the material sponsors that have
influenced my literacy; however, I feel that these are the main ones that
have impacted the reader and writer
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I am today. My little apple book allowed me to learn how to read and write
on my own pace, in a way, and it allowed me pick the level of reading I
wanted to advance to. This allowed me to gain the discipline to continue
working in the book and improving my reading and writing skills (with
encouragement from my mom of course!).

This has shaped the

reader and writer I am today because now I tend to want to read to acquire
my own knowledge. I dont only read what is assigned to me in class. I take
the initiative to read more outside of class and expand my mind and my
vocabulary. The other outside materials allowed me to learn reading and
writing in real world applications. Most students my age didnt have as much
of an opportunity to learn and practice not just reading and writing but also
behaving and functioning in society in the (The National Insitute For Literacy,

n.d.) real world because they were being taught these things in school. I was
out actually practicing and perfecting my literacy skills, and I feel this gave
me somewhat of an edge over the other students in my grade. Whenever I
went out somewhere with my parents, adults I conversed with were in
incredulity with how well I behaved and how well I could communicate for a
little girl my age. Also, these materials have allowed me to feel comfortable
and confident with reading more than just books. When Im out and about,
Im comfortable with reading street signs, figuring out things that I may not
understand, and communicating with people. Not only was I able to read
what was around me, I was able to comprehend and process/respond
accordingly. I feel that if I was in the traditional school setting. I would not
have as much access to these materials as I did.
Today I still use the concepts that Ive learned from the materials I had
when I was younger to improve my literacy, and I find it astonishing how
important materials are in learning to be
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literate. Brandt says that literacy favors the richer over the poorer, the freer
over the jailed, the well connected over the newly arrived or the left out.4
This statement is very true! Not everybody has access to the same resources
and materials. What they do have access to can impact their literacy and
opportunities. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have parents that realized
4 Brandt, D. (2001). Literacy in American lives. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

the importance of this and gave me access to not just the standard materials
I had but also the abstract ones. I feel that my literacy wouldve been
affected without them, and its mind blowing thinking about this concept.
Learning this truly has given me a greater appreciation for the materials I
was provided.