Katherine Foster September 6, 2013 English 1101

Literacy Memoir Draft 2

Im the third child of four in a family of six. Im not the first born, or the last. Im not the only girl, or the only boy. Im just another kid in the bunch; therefore, EVERYTHING is a competition. My oldest sister has always had English come easily. She can spell better than me with spellcheck, she reads faster, and comprehends easier. But that is why I am who I am. Why I work for good grades, why Im in college, and why I consider myself literate in a variety of subjects. My first encounter with reading for fun was coincidentally while watching T.V. As a child, my family loved watching the Nickelodeon show Rugrats. All children gathered on the floor in front of the television, we would always race at who could read the episode titles. Some were long, some short, and they only stayed on the screen for a few seconds before they were gone. Episode titles could be as simple as Tommys First Birthday, or At the Movies, or more difficult such as The Showdown at Teeter Totter Gulch. I didnt always get the words out fast enough, but the game was great practice at applied reading and it also quickened my reading pace remarkably! I didnt really favor any particular subject in grade school. I didnt have a particularly hard time in anything specific, but I also didnt love a subject. In English,

I only ever did what I was told. Read Pride and Prejudice and answer the questions. Annotate this poem. Memorize these words. I did fairly well on papers and tests and always placed into honors or Advanced Placement classes. I would be considered perfectly literate, with no real desire to be; however, one literacy I cannot deny practicing almost constantly is the literacy of texting. My generation has been one on the front of new technologies. Cell phone, computer, and social media advancements have taught many of my friends how to incorrectly spell, punctuate, and abbreviate. It may be on purpose, but it is a literacy itself to know how to read and write it. From laugh out loud(lol) and away from keyboard,(afk) to throwback Thursday(tbt) and to be honest,(tbh) there is a lot to learn and keep up with. I didnt have a social media site until I was a freshman in high school, but I got my first phone with unlimited texting when I was in the eighth grade. When texting my sister, I realized she spelled every word out. Even u and r. She used commas and periods and spaced after periods! It blew my mind that she was still so proper and that influenced me to do the same. In High school I found myself to be a part of the technical theater department. We did the standard things such as designing and building sets and costumes, but the first step of the process is to read and analyze the script. It was my job as a technical director to depict what the author of the script was saying between the lines, and how to best convey that to an audience. I had to consider what sounds to include to set the proper mood and what lights to use to enhance the right emotions. My training of analyzing texts in English was easily applicable in the life of a techie. I went on to participate in plays every year of high school. The plays

helped me to picture situations and better understand what was really going on beneath the surface. From joyful plays such as The Jungle Book, to L Cubed, which is about three people facing death and more importantly, the decisions theyve made throughout their lives. Because of my knowledge of technical theater literacy as well as English literacy, Ive made a fine techie in the past. Being literate isnt simply reading and writing. Anyone can read this memoir, but only a literate person will learn something about me by reading it. I began reading episode titles to my favorite show, and now Im writing a memoir about where I started to where I am and how I got here. I can analyze a piece of writing or read a childrens book for the political message that is always hidden there. I can read and design shows to impress a bored audience, or text in a language my grandparents would see as foreign. I may not know everything about calculus and numbers or have a crazy love for books or know why a bridge doesnt fall, but I am literate, all the same.