Learning How to Read Rough Draft

Have you ever wondered what your most important educational tool is? Well I believe that the ability to read is the biggest advantage of life. Knowing how to read can help lay the ground work for the rest of your future.

This day was going to be like every other Saturday. I was going to get up, brush my teeth, and then go downstairs for breakfast. Saturdays were always my favorite. The whole family was home, and my mom always cooked breakfast on the weekend. As I walked down the newly carpeted stairs, I could smell my favorite breakfast ever, waffles! The aroma grabbed me and yanked me down the stairs, the strong smell of vanilla floated me into kitchen and plopped me on a stool at the breakfast bar. My mom knew me so well, she had already pulled the peanut butter and syrup out of the pantry. I instantly grabbed the freshest waffle, threw it on my plate and smothered it in peanut butter. Next came the waterfall of syrup creating a lake on the plate. As I took my first bite my mom says, “How would you like to learn how to read today?”

            Perplexed, I swallowed my enormous bite and responded, “Read? What do you mean?”

My mother trying to come up with something creative to trick me, “Like instead of me reading you a story at night, you could read one to yourself. It’s so much fun!”

Questioning my mom’s new idea, “By myself? Like I could read Magic Tree House every day? That would be awesome!” Little did I know it would be so difficult.

My mom continued with her weekend routine, cleaning the kitchen, washing the dishes. My father forced to brush the dog, and then proceed to clean the carpets to make sure there were no more “Buster Bunnies.” Once all the morning activities were out of the way, my mom pulled a box out of the closet with the words “Hooked on Phonics.” I had no idea what the words meant but I was about to find out!

To try and get me to focus, my mom brought me into our living room and opened up the Hooked on Phonics program. The freshly cleaned carpets felt so nice on my hands and feet that I almost fell asleep. My mom kept prompting me, running through the alphabet. I didn’t realize this was going to be such a long process, only being able to learn the sounds of uppercase and lowercase letters. I knew most of the letters, but didn’t really know what they sounded like. But this wasn’t even the hardest part, Saturday was long but pretty easy. Sunday was when we started putting the letters together.

Knowing the sounds of letters was a good start, but I didn’t know many words past mom and dad. My mom kept saying, “Sound it out honey.” I didn’t really know what that meant. But felt like I needed to put the information I learned Saturday, to use on Sunday. I started reading words like ingredients to a cake, “There is a c, an a, and a t. Cccc-aaaaaaa-t. Cat! It’s a cat!” It felt so good to get a word right, but I got so frustrated with words I couldn’t figure out. It was so easy to want to quit when I got words wrong. I felt so disappointed with myself, I thought my mom felt the same way, but she was always so positive and encouraging. When she could tell I was really down on myself she said to think about it and then she disappeared. I was confused because she had left, but I did what she said, I kept trying to figure out the words. My mom came back a minute or two later with popsicles! She knew that I loved the blue raspberry ones, so she prompted me by saying, “If you can get this word right I’ll give you half of this popsicle.”

I was determined and focused on getting that popsicle, so I sounded out the word again, “t-rr-u-cckk. Truck. Truck!” my mom then split the popsicle so there was half on each stick and gave me one half.

Trying to keep me focused, my mom said, “Good job Nash. Now I’ll give you the other half if you can read this whole sentence.”

Now this was a sentence that I had seen before, but I didn’t know what it said. Pondering the sentence, I got frustrated, but I knew I just needed to stay relaxed. I had tried to read the sentence four times already, every time getting hung up on what my mom called the “verb.” I knew I was talking about my dog, but what did he do? Looking at Buster, thinking about what he does every day, I remembered him playing around and jumping all over the place. I then took one more try at the sentence, I thought over every word very carefully. “The dog jumped on the bed.” My mother looked ecstatic! She was so proud, it was the first sentence I had ever read. She gave me the second half of the popsicle plus she said I could have another one after dinner!

            I was only able to read very basic sentences, but it was a work in progress. I tried reading everything after that Sunday, cereal boxes, and newspapers, anything I could find. Learning to read seemed like such a small success, but I as I look back, learning to read set the foundation for my education. Learning to read led to writing, then came comic books. Next came books for school. High school came around and I had textbooks to read. Now I’m in college and I find myself recalling this skill I learned almost twelve years ago.

Literacy Narrative

1.       Here is an example of strong visual description from Lydia’s Story is, “She described the shelf area as about three feet wide and about a foot and a half tall. Crouched there, she watched the water continue to rise.” (Lydia’s Story, pg 130)

2.       A great example of vivid dialogue from Bidding Farewell to Arms is, “I hereby tender my unqualified resignation as a Reserve officer of the Army, USAR, under the provisions of Chapter 6, Section III of . . . . I understand that if my resignation is accepted, I am entitled to an honorable separation and will be furnished an Honorable Discharge Certificate.” (Bidding Farewell to Arms, pg 119)

3.       A nice piece of sensory description from Lydia’s Story is, “Entering the large VFW hall, we were struck by the chemical odor of a cleaning solution so strong that it seemed toxic.” (Lydia’s Story, pg 128)

4.       List of possible topics:

a.       Learning how to read

b.      Learning how to write

c.       Teaching my brother how to read

5.       I am going to write about the time my mother taught me to read. My purpose is not just to fulfill an assignment, but to bring back a loving memory of my childhood.

6.       Most likely my audience will have gone through a very similar experience, learning how to read is a necessity in our culture, therefore I believe it will bring many good thoughts to the readers.

7.       My stance will be somewhat affectionate, and sincere. Having my mother teach me to read is a great loving memory.

8.       My narrative will be printed out, and also post in my blog for the world to read.

9.       I remember seeing my mother, the reading program, my great-grandfather’s chest, our two windows in the living room, and a beautiful blue sky.

10.   I remember hearing my mother’s sweet voice and the sounds of the reading program.

11.   I recall smelling a freshly cleaned carpet, along with the smell of my dog’s breath.

12.   I was a little frustrated at first, but when I got the hang of it I became so proud.

13.   I don’t remember much of what I taste, but I do recall my mom giving me popsicles when I did well. Blue raspberry anyone?

14.   My mother is in her pajamas because it’s the weekend, her beautiful auburn hair and brown eyes glimmer in the sunlight. She talked slowly and soothingly trying to help me out. My dog buster, who is a golden retriever, shared a similar auburn colored coat with my mother.

15.   “Mom, I cant do this!”

“Yes you can honey, just keep trying. What’s this word again?”

“Dog.”

“Good! Now what did he do?”

“The dog jumped.”

“See, I told you could do it!”

16.   Pondering the sentence before me, I got very frustrated. I had tried to read the sentence four times already, every time getting hung up on what my mom called the “verb.” I knew I was talking about my dog, but what did he do? Looking at Buster, thinking about what he does everyday, I remembered him jumping on the couch. I then took one more try at the sentence, “The dog jumped.” My mother looked ecstatic! She was so proud, I was so proud!

17.   This event seemed so miniscule at the time, but I as I look back, learning to read set the foundation for my education. Learning to read led to writing, then came comic books. Next came books for school. High school came around and I had textbooks to read. Now I’m in college and I find myself recalling this skill I learned almost fifteen years ago.

Redefining Rhetoric

Most students felt that when writing rhetorically, you attempt to persuade the reader to see the subject in your point of view. They all talked about taking in account the different elements of rhetorical writing, purpose, audience, stance, medium, and design. As a writer you must know why you're writing, you have to be able to know your side well enough, and your audience well enough to effectively get your point across. So after reading others post, I feel I should keep my definition:  to write rhetorically is to be educated on your topic, inside and out, know your audience, what you really are trying to say, how you want the message to come across, and make sure that what you are saying is accurate, in order to effectively persuade your audience.

Defintion of Rhetoric

My definition of rhetoric is that a person thoroughly thinks through what they're writing before letting the public see it. Everyone has used the rhetoric process of thinking through their writing, whether it's a text, short story, class essay, or a textbook. When being rhetoric you have to think about who you're writing to, your purpose, your accuracy, to make sure you most effectively get your point across. Everyone has had that moment when you write something, you send it or hand it in and then you look back and you cant figure out at all what you're trying to say. Most likely you were tired and just trying to get it over with. In that case you probably weren't thinking about the all the aspects of effective writing. Your writing should be appropriate for the subject, the audience, the purpose, and the medium. To be rhetoric, you must consider all of the above aspects, and maybe even go above and beyond, and do a little homework on the subject of your writing. To further expand on my definition, to write rhetorically is to be educated on your topic, inside and out, know your audience, what you really are trying to say, how you want the message to come across, and make sure that what you are saying is accurate.

Rhetorical Situations - Narratives

Differences and Similarities of “Lydia’s Story” questions:

Throughout the questions referring to chapter two we had many more similarities than we did differences. For example, question 1, we all pretty much agreed that the main point of the story was that you should keep hope, a level headed mind, clear thoughts and things of that nature. Similarly with question 2 we all agreed it was told from Lydias’ perspective in the third person form. As well as in question 3 we had words and phrases that made the story standout but probably some of the more important ones were of the phrases that talked about the crackling TV and the crisp cool AC. However, question 4 is where we differed the most by far. One member believed that it was pretty formal while the others thought not. We also had similar ideas about the original audience but different enough to mention. We thought the audience could be either health care Politian’s, works, or individuals.

Connections between Chapter 2 and “Lydia’s Story”:

Chapter two was mainly about knowing who you’re talking to and knowing your position and really knowing who you are before you post or print what you’ve wrote. “Lydia’s Story” had its strengths and weaknesses given its unique constraints and opportunities. However we believe that the largest connection between “Lydia’s Story” and Chapter 2 was the fact that “Lydia’s Story” was an example of many of the items presented in Chapter 2.

Summary of “Think About” activity:

Personal List:

1. (Song) Smoke Filled Room- Mako (about a girl trying to make herself look older when she should really be embracing her youth and innocence)

2. (Story) My day to my girlfriend (mainly about what I’ve done for the day what I have planned for the rest of it)

 

It seems that today most of the things that we talk about with our friends and family is egotistical because it’s all about us and what we’ve done most of the time. Similarly with mainstream hip-hop/rap music. It’s all gotten to this point where it’s one big morph of these big names talking about their life with girls, drugs and money.

Summary of “Think Beyond Words” activity:

The most compelling videos we agreed on were those who had fitting music and those who tell their life story’s in a compelling way that is interesting. For example a woman is telling her life story but while she’s telling that they have picture from her lifetime on the screen.

Summary of “Compare Narratives” activity:

Narratives: Magazine articles and Music Videos

The largest difference between a Magazine Article and a Music Video is perhaps obviously is one is print and one is electronic. Each case is different because with an Article in most cases it needs to have visuals of some sort to maintain the reader’s interest. However with a video you don’t need a lot to keep someone’s attention, a video could be jaw dropping with no sound or anything else but the video at all. If a video was presented in a different medium a person’s amount of interest would change dramatically more so for the lesser, although if a magazine was made into a video it can instantly become more interesting considering in our day and age our attention span has dropped considerably. 

Rhetorical Situations

Chapter 2 brings to light a concept that many are familiar with, but don't even know it. This concept is the idea of having a rhetorical situation, a genre, an audience, a purpose, a stance, a context, and a medium and design. No matter if you're writing a birthday note to your mom, tweeting about a new artist, or writing an essay about a book for school, you have a rhetorical situation to think about. When you text a friend, you don't write in third person, you don't use slang in a college application, you have to take in account a handful of things when using words to express an idea.

At times it can be hard to see the intent of written words, so it is important to know your genre. Whether you are assigned a genre, or you get to choose your own, take in consideration how different genres will affect your tone in writing. Following your genre is your audience, who will be reading your work. How will your words effect your readers, and how they respond, this leads into the next stage. Your purpose may be perceived different if you don't take in account who you are talking to. Along with your purpose is your stance. If you don't stand by what you're saying, how will others? Stay strong in what you believe and don't worry about changing for others. Make sure your stance is justified though. Context is a strong tool that can help prove your point, or completely destroy it. Do your homework! Lastly is your medium and design. Make sure that your medium is works the best for your audience and purpose you are trying to portray.

Ultimately, as a functioning human being you use this process daily. Everything you write or say goes through this filter. Yes, at times you might miss a step or two because you aren't thinking of consequences. But to get your view across most effectively, run through this filter to make sure you are saying the right things to the right people.

Writers, Authors, and Genres

Writers	Authors
Don’t always have the intent of publication	Trying to reach a certain group of people with a publicized work.
People who use words to express their feelings	Don’t always have to use just words, they can always use other art
Can write anything they want	When they are reaching out to a certain group they want to write to impress and adjust to the group that is receiving the information
Don’t have to be a certain emotion	Usually books and published work have a certain feel to them throughout the entire work
Don’t have to give credit to others ideas	Have to give credit to other authors

Types of Writing	Why you enjoy/Despise it
Persuasive Writing	Too much research
Narrative Writing	Easy to write because it’s about your self
Timed Writes	Not Enough Time to finish your thoughts

Balloons
Could you stop at the store,
I don't mean to be a bore,
Thank you for going to the store.

Balloons I need now,

Could you go get me some please?

This party needs it.

You could drop them off after
These things could be colorful,
Could you help me out with this.

Leave my house,
This party is too dope,
You weren't invited.

Nash: Hey I need your help
Friend: Sure, what do you need?
Nash: Could you go to the store, pick up some supplies, drop them off and then leave?
Friend: Sure, but leave?
Nash: Yeah, you aren't invited. Sorry.

Shopping list

Go to the store

Get food from the store

Drop off the stuff at my home

Leave because you’re not invited

For Poetry it was necessary for us to consider what words would get the meaning across the quickest. For a play we had to consider how people talk to each other, and for our shopping list we had to think about things people can do to help us.