Essay #1: Literacy/Personal Narrative
Length: 500 words
Due Date: Friday night, September 6th by midnight in the digital dropbox on Angel
Desired Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand our personal development as readers and writers or persons
2. Explore writing as a means of self-discovery
3. Choose the appropriate voice, diction, and audience for a personal literacy narrative
4. Use various invention, drafting and revising/editing strategies as needed
5. Demonstrate appropriate conventions of grammar and style of written English
6. Use technology effectively and correctly to complete the assignment
READINGS FOR PAPER:
1. Norton, Chapter 7: Writing a Literacy Narrative, Chapter 40: Narrating, and Chapter 57: additional examples of literacy narratives to be selected by the instructor 2. Quick Access Concise, Chapter 1: Understanding College and Other Writing Situations and Chapter 7a & c: Strategies for Writing Typical Kinds of College Papers ASSIGNMENT:
After completing the readings for this assignment, follow the guidelines in Chapter 7 of your Norton Field Guide, particularly pages 43-46. Additional tips on the writing process itself appear in the chapter, as well as samples from professional writers. As your text advises, follow these steps.
1. Choose a topic. A single event that you recall vividly would be a good choice. See the suggestions on page 43.
2. Consider the rhetorical situation, particularly your audience and stance. Your instructor will discuss conventions in more detail, but this type of writing does not require a formal tone and may use the first person (“I”). Grammar and format, however, need to be correct.
3. Be sure you understand the nature of narrating (Chapter 40) and have the kinds of details and stance that motivate and excite your readers. A good narrative always has an element of conflict.
4. Apply the information in your Field Guide on generating ideas, drafting, and revising