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Writing Guide: Literacy narrative

Literacy Narrative

Writing Guide: Literacy narrative

A literacy narrative allows you to reflect on key reading or writing experiences and to ask: How have my experiences shaped who I am as a reader or writer? (See "A Place to Begin" for a sample literacy narrative, and see 2d for the student's assignment and draft.)

Key features

A well-told narrative shows readers what happened. Lively details present the sights, sounds, and smells of the world in which the story takes place. Dialogue and action add interest and energy.
A main idea or insight about reading or writing gives a literacy narrative its significance and transforms it from a personal story to one with larger, universal interest.
A well-organized narrative, like all essays, has a beginning, a middle, and an ending and is focused around a thesis or main idea. Narratives can be written in chronological order, reverse chronological order, or with a series of flashbacks.
First-person point of view (I) gives a narrative immediacy and authenticity. Your voice may be serious or humorous, but it should be appropriate for your main idea.

Thinking ahead: Presenting or publishing

You may have some flexibility in how you present or publish your literacy narrative. If you have the opportunity to submit it as a podcast, video, or another genre, leave time in your schedule for recording or filming. Also, in seeking feedback, ask reviewers to comment on your plans for using sounds or images.

Writing your literacy narrative

Explore

What story will you tell? You can’t write about every reading or writing experience or every influential person. Find one interesting experience to focus your narrative. Generate ideas with questions such as the following:

What challenges have you confronted as a reader or a writer?
Who were the people who nurtured (or delayed) your reading or writing development?
What are your best or worst childhood memories of reading or writing?
What images do you associate with learning to read or write?
What is significant about the story you want to tell? What larger point do you want readers to take away from your narrative?

Draft

Figure out the best way to tell your story. A narrative isn’t a list of “this happened” and then “that happened.” It is a focused story with its own logic and order. You don’t need to start chronologically. Experiment: What happens if you start in the middle of the story or work in reverse? Try to come up with a tentative organization, and then start to draft.

Revise

Ask reviewers for specific feedback. Here are some questions to guide their comments:

What main idea do readers take away from your story? Ask them to summarize this idea in one sentence.
Is the narrative focused around the main idea?
Are the details vivid? Sufficient? Where might you convey your story more clearly? Would it help to add dialogue? Would visuals deepen the impact of your story?
Does your introduction bring readers into the world of your story?
Does your conclusion provide a sense of the story’s importance?