Literacy Narrative... Example & List

Krystall Fasel

English 101

04/21/15

Examples of narratives:

·         Vivid Descriptions:

“I’m sitting in the woods with a bunch of Catholic people I just met yesterday. Suddenly, they ask me to name one of the talents God has given me. I panic for a split second and then breathe an internal sigh of relief. I tell them I’m a writer. As the group leaders move on to question someone else, I sit trying to mentally catch my breath. It will take a moment before the terror leaves my forearms, chest, and stomach, but I tell myself that I have nothing to fear. I am a writer. Yes, I most definitely am a writer. Now breath, I tell myself…and suppress that horrifying suspicion that you are actually not a writer at all.”

--Emily Vallowe, “Write or Wrong Identity”

‘Everyone’s An Author’ page 117

·         Vivid Dialog:

“Judith Jamison is my kind of American cultural icon… She has many accolades and awards—among them the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and Emmy…

But when I met her… she said with a huge smile, “Yes, honey, but you know I still have to do the laundry myself, and no one in New York parts the sidewalk ‘cause I am comin’ through!”

I like icons who are authentic and accessible. I think our country benefits from that. It can only serve to inspire others to believe that they can try to do the same thing.

--Maria Hinojosa, “Dancing Past the Boundaries”

‘Everyone’s An Author’ page 282

·         Vivid Sensory

“Certain events are parallel, but compared with Hugh’s, my childhood was unspeakably dull. When I was seven years old, my family moved to North Carolina. When he was seven years old, Hugh’s family moved to the Congo. We had a collie and a house cat. They had a monkey and two horses named Charlie Brown and Satan. I threw stones at stop signs Hugh threw stones at crocodiles. The verbs are the same, but he definitely wins the prize when it comes to nouns and objects. An eventful day for my mother might have involved a trip to the dry cleaner or a conversation with the potato-chip deliveryman. Asked one ordinary Congo afternoon what she’d done with her day, Hugh’s mother answered that she and a fellow member of the Ladies’ Club had visited a leper colony on the outskirts of Kinshasa. No reason was given for the expedition, though chances are she was staking it out for a future field trip.

--David Sedaris, “Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa”

‘Everyone’s An Author’ page 309

Literacy Narrative

Choosing a Topic about Reading or Writing

Possible Topics:

·         8^th Grade paper about Ancient Egypt

·         Reading first biography on Marilyn Monroe

·         Understanding first play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

·         Working with kids and being the teacher, teaching kids to read

·         Passing high school with poetry