My Literacy Narrative

Writing 

“That’s my grandma” ca. 1984 

"That's My Grandma" sits framed on my grandmother's end table today, 41 years after its initial publication.

I don’t have a single specific earliest memory of writing. I think, even if I was asked this back in 1984, my response would have been, “I have always known how to write.” And in fact, I cannot remember a time when I did not know. 

In search of the original source of this photograph, so that I can properly cite it.

While I don’t have any specific memories of learning to write – words, sentences, paragraphs, essays – I do remember teaching myself how to write in cursive. My mom successfully persuaded Mt. Washington Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland to admit me to kindergarten at the age of four. When I was in first grade, I was able to read at a second-grade level, so I was sent to the second-grade class for reading and writing lessons. This meant, however, that I missed out on first-grade cursive writing instruction, so I was given a workbook to learn on my own. I think I’ve finally figured cursive out, for the most part.  

The front cover of the book is long gone, but the rest remains. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers will always be my favorite book.

Both my mom and my dad read to me all of the time. My grandmother did as well. We had books everywhere! But, I didn’t just read books. I remember reading cereal boxes at the kitchen table, as well as newspaper and magazine articles. If I saw words, I read them. If I didn’t know what the words meant, I asked. Some of my earliest and most frequently read books were dictionaries, encyclopedias, collections of fairy tales from around the world, and books about dinosaurs.  

We had books everywhere! We had a playroom with bookshelves full of books, and I had a bookshelf in the bedroom I shared with my younger sister. There were books on my mom’s bed and on her nightstand, and there were books under my pillow and under my covers. 

I didn't just read at home. I read everything I possibly could at school. I wish I could say that there was a single teacher who would feed me literature to read after I had completed our class assignments, but I'm sure I moved on to my own literary discoveries without their guidance. I have vague but fond memories of all of my elementary school teachers. I wouldn’t describe any of my elementary school teachers as influential beyond the classroom experience. I remember Ms. Frost for her long nails and glitter, and I remember Ms. Brooks for being stern and loving all in the same frown. Ms. Middleton had the best burns! "Good morning Damon. I see the polyester look is in." My elementary school teachers all fueled my love of learning. My high school teachers did too. I will always remember the words Ms. Cannell spoke to me one day in class, when she called me to her desk so that she could give me feedback on an essay I’d just submitted.  

“Laura,” she said, “I know that everything you write is written in stone, but, if you would consider making some revisions, please read my remarks.”  It took even longer for me to understand the advice that she was giving me than it has taken me to learn how to write cursive. But, I get it now.  

I am very interested in memoirs, and while I have not yet read everything on these shelves, I absolutely will.

Reading, I am certain, has played and continues to play a crucial role in my development as a writer. Now, when I read, I attempt to listen to the words on the page. I read not only to comprehend, but also to study and to critique the movements in language; the rhetorical choices writers make and the effects of those choices, and I often find myself returning to memorable passages from the texts I consume when I struggle to produce the language I believe best illuminates the ideas I commit to text.   

I have never substituted a precis or a movie for a book. However, there are several movies that I have watched before ever realizing that they were books first. One of my favorite movies is Charlotte’s Web. I tried, when I was still in middle school, to read E.B. White’s book, but I was not able to get through it. I probably should give it another chance.

After I graduated from high school, I took a very long and winding route to college. When I finally arrived, I was in my mid twenties. I earned my bachelor’s degree in English – Creative Writing, Fiction when I was 30 years old. I can think of a way that every single college professor from whom I've taken a class has made an impact on both my experiences as a learner as well as my methods as an instructor. Perhaps one of the most important moments in my college journey happened when I was an undergraduate student in Dr. Marti Singer's "Best Essays" course for graduate and undergraduate students. In this class, we worked together to create a textbook for first-year composition courses at GSU. Even though I was certainly the same age as many of the graduate students who were enrolled in that course, I was still a bit nervous during class discussions. One day as Cara and I worked together in class, she casually turned our conversation into a pep-talk. Cara encouraged me to speak, to share my ideas, to make suggestions, and to do so fearlessly. To this day, I find myself in many situations remembering her simple and strong words of encouragement, and gathering the courage to open my mouth. Even when I stumble over my words, I never regret getting them out. And, to this day I am thankful that our paths intersected.

To this day, as long as I have the time, I always hand-write my first drafts. I hand-write my notes. I hand-write directions to myself, and I write lists of questions to pursue as I develop content. The first draft of my master’s thesis was handwritten. I still have the spiral bound notebook with the draft.  

Now, as a college composition instructor, I strive to create classroom communities that are similar to the creative writing workshops I attended as an undergraduate. I encourage students to think about, and to share their expectations of the class after we review the learning objectives of first-year composition. I am willing to support students who make an earnest effort to “improve” their writing, in whatever form that improvement might take. But, in short, I teach writing by inviting students to use our first-year composition sequence to develop a personal writing process that will become their handbook for the academic, personal, and professional writing tasks that lie ahead.  

Reading 

I have very vivid images of illustrations from books, the titles of which I no longer remember. I am certain that the first book I ever read independently was Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers. 

Robert Frosted Mugs LJones.pdf

Download PDF • 309KB

(This is a fun personal anecdote - I hope you have time to read it, and I hope it makes you smile! I wrote it more than twenty years ago, and I still tear up every time I read it.)

When I read, I study the architecture of the text – from word choice to arrangement, punctuation, dialogue, all of it, When I write, I aim to produce a text worth reading.  

I have never watched a movie or read a summary rather than reading a book. I have read summaries and books, especially if I am having trouble comprehending the book.  

I have not had enough experience with audio-books to be able to compare the two experiences. In fact, I have only listened to a portion of one audio-book – a reading of The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. I decided to try out the audio book with my daughter, who at the time seemed very interested in becoming a Stephen King fan. We still haven’t finished the book, but I think I like the idea of reading aloud to my daughter for this book. I do like to read aloud, however. I usually read all of the essays that my students submit out loud when I prepare feedback for them. And, perhaps when I have time to commit to this experiment, I will try an audio-book. I just worry that if I don’t have the book in my hands, I will not absorb the text as completely as a listener as I do when my eyes are on the page. 

Opining 

1. Do you have an opinion about the present state of the economy?  

I am always concerned about the state of the economy, and the fuel for my concern is all around me. I don’t understand how so many of us struggle, suffer, and go without when there is so much wealth in this nation. It seems to me that the economic tug of war between left and right is obscene. The Citizens United decision, for example, does not directly affect the economy but is still an illustration of how absurd our economy is. There are trillions of dollars that just seem to circulate between the wealthiest people in the USA. Billions of those trillions are spent fighting to choose who will be in control of the nation’s spending decisions. Millions of those billions are spent trying to convince us to pick a side. The state of the economy is fine for billionaires. Perhaps once I earn my PhD in English, I will eventually be able to save a million dollars before I die, so that at least I will be able to leave my daughter a little pocket money for.  

2. Do you have an opinion about NATO? 

I do not understand enough about NATO to have a well-informed opinion, and I am talking myself down from doing some "quick" research so that I don't end up falling, as I am often wont to do, into a research rabbit hole. I imagine that NATO's original peacekeeping and member-protecting missions have been largely successful, but I worry that if the mission statements have not been reviewed since its inception, NATO may not be aging as well as it needs to maintain that mission. 

3. Do you have an opinion about the relationship between sacrifice and faith? 

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   From left to right: My father's Kiddush cup, a photo of me +/- 2years old and my dad, and the Sabbath candelabra my grandmother gave me when my daughter was born,

   
   
   
   

I have never thought about the relationship between sacrifice and faith before. I am somewhat isolated in my faith. I am biracial and I am Jewish. In Judaism, faith is inherited from the mother. So, my siblings and I were all Jewish at birth, by the rules of my faith, because our mother is Jewish. I have, more than my siblings, clung to some of the traditions of our faith. And as I have grown older, I have become more interested in preserving these traditions, however this endeavor is one I pursue alone. So, I am not sure for what or for whose purpose my interest serves. I think, as I reflect, I spent much of my adulthood devoid of spiritual practice; perhaps I sacrificed the traditions of my (pretty solitary) faith community for the camaraderie of my social communities. Perhaps in the future I may find that I sacrifice my social community to rebuild my faith. And maybe, just maybe, I will find a community that blends the two.

4. Do you ever use words you can’t define? 

 I cannot remember ever using a word that I am unable to define. If I do not know the definition of a word, I will not use the word until I am confident that I am using it correctly. I will always remember that I struggled to understand the meaning of the word exigence. I finally fully understood the word when I prepared my first lecture on rhetorical situation.  

5. How comfortable are you with saying, "I don't know."? 

I am usually quite comfortable with saying “I don’t know” unless I really should know the answer at the point I am being asked about it. In other words, if I don’t know new information, then I will state that I don’t have a clue, and ask questions until I understand. However, if I am in a position where I should have been prepared with that information but I was not, then I will feel embarrassed about not knowing. In other words. I am generally not worried about saying I don’t know, except when I have already committed to knowing but I did not fulfill my commitment.  

This is where the thinking happens

Thinking 

1. Do you have an internal monologue? 

I probably do have an internal monologue, however I generally do not listen to it, unless I am compelled to remember essential or urgent information.  

2. Do you ever edit as you narrate to yourself? 

I always edit as I narrate to myself. Once I have completed a draft and am ready to revise. I read the draft out loud. That is my tried and true method for catching errors and identifying spaces for revision.  

3. What is it like to think wordlessly? 

I do not think that I can think wordlessly. I cannot even imagine what that is like. Fun fact: I recently listened to an episode of Radiolab that started with the guest recalling a time they were asked to close their eyes and picture an apple, and then to describe the apple they saw.  What they were surprised to learn was that some people (including them) are unable to see anything when they are instructed to visualize something, Others can see varying degrees of images from stock-photo level images to vivid multidimensional images that shine and glisten. When I listened to this podcast, I was stunned too. When I close my eyes, all I see is black. However, if I talk to myself about what I should see, I can produce an image. This includes my family! When my eyes are open, I can produce an image of my daughter or my mother or my sister or my husband. But, when my eyes are closed I cannot. However, I am able to conjure the sounds of their voices. Once I can hear them, then I can begin to see them.  

https://radiolab.org/podcast/aphantasia

4. Is there a difference between rationalizing and thinking? 

Yes, there is a difference between Rationalization and thinking. When we think, we gather information and identify pieces of information that are missing. Rationalization is process by which we seek to demonstrate, either to ourselves or to others, that the decision we are poised to make, or the action we are poised to take, has been arrived at through a logical analysis of the risks and benefits, and a sound prediction of the expected outcomes.

AI-ing*

1. Have you used AI? 

I used AI for the first time last semester, in two of the courses that I took: Composition Pedagogy and Digital Media Production. 

2. How many times? 

I used AI about two times for Composition Pedagogy and about three times for Digital Media Production.  

3. Toward what ends? 

I used AI in Comp Pedagogy to better understand how it can be used as a tool for developing materials in some cases. I tried out the AI tools on my website to help me create the website that houses my blog, which I am now shared with this class. 

4. Current thoughts about it?  

I am warming up to AI. I recognize that there are many simple tasks for which I can use AI to save time. I also can imagine AI tools that mimic a Socratic dialogue and may be very useful for working through difficult texts.  

*AI Update

Last night - as I fought the need to close my tablet, close my eyes, and go to sleep, I decided to see what ChatGPT would produce if I asked it to create a weekly schedule for me. Well, to my delight I got exactly what I hoped for. I especially love that this schedule includes blocks of time for relaxation. I didn't ask for that, but wow. I need it!

Behold:

Here’s a suggested weekly schedule based on your commitments:  

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### Monday:  

- 7:00 – 8:00 am: Exercise  

- 8:00 – 9:30 am: Prep for class (e.g., review materials, finalize plans)  

- 9:30 – 10:30 am: Commute to school

- 11:00 – 12:15 pm: Class  

- 12:15 – 1:30 pm: Lunch/commute back  

- 1:30 – 3:30 pm: Studying or grading  

- 3:30 pm onward: Relaxation or light work  

---

### Tuesday:  

- 6:30 – 7:30 am: Exercise  

- 8:00 – 9:15 am: Prep for teaching  

- 9:30 – 12:30 pm: Teach online  

- 12:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch/Break  

- 1:30 – 3:00 pm: Grading or planning  

- 3:00 – 4:00 pm: Meal planning or errands  

- 4:00 pm onward: Relaxation or studying  

---

### Wednesday:  

- 6:30 – 7:30 am: Review/prep for class  

- 7:30 – 9:00 am: Commute to school 

- 9:30 – 3:00 pm: Take classes  

- 3:30 – 5:00 pm: Tutor  

- 5:00 – 6:30 pm: Commute home/dinner  

- 6:30 – 9:15 pm: Teach online  

- 9:30 pm onward: Relaxation  

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### Thursday:  

- 7:30 – 8:30 am: Exercise  

- 8:30 – 9:15 am: Prep for teaching  

- 9:30 – 12:15 pm: Teach online  

- 12:15 – 1:30 pm: Lunch  

- 1:30 – 3:00 pm: Grading or planning  

- 3:00 pm onward: Relaxation, errands, or studying  

---

### Friday:  

- 7:30 – 8:30 am: Exercise  

- 8:30 – 10:30 am: Deep work (e.g., grading or planning)  

- 10:30 – 12:00 pm: Meal planning/groceries  

- 12:00 – 3:00 pm: Studying or projects  

- 3:00 pm onward: Relaxation or flexible time  

---

### Saturday:  

- 7:30 – 9:00 am: Exercise and breakfast  

- 9:00 – 10:30 am: Light work (e.g., prep for tutoring)  

- 11:00 – 12:30 pm: Tutor online  

- 12:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch  

- 1:30 – 3:00 pm: Grading or planning  

- 3:00 pm onward: Free time  

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### Sunday:  

- Morning: Exercise + meal prep for the week  

- Afternoon: Catch up on work or studying  

- Evening: Relaxation or hobbies  

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Let me know if you’d like adjustments or to prioritize specific activities further!