ENGL 1301-016 Fall 2008 Literacy Autobiography Assignment

Tell the story of how you became part of a “literacy community.”

For the purposes of this paper, literacy is defined broadly as the ability to understand and make meaning through language. In this context, language can be taken to mean any symbol system used for communication within groups. It is not unusual to feel you have no literacy stories worth telling, when in fact, you may be thoroughly literate in visual or digital media, in sports, in music, in other areas of interest. Or you may have very interesting stories to tell about your struggles with literacy. Although you may ultimately choose to focus on school literacy (e.g. learning to read and write or do math), you are encouraged to think of literacy broadly and to imagine yourself and others as capable of multiple literacies.

Literacy communities are like clubs in that they tend to have insiders and outsiders. Knowing how to dress determines who is “in” and who is “out” of style for a specific group. In the same way, there are keys to membership in a literacy community, namely the knowledge and proficiencies that support the values of the group. Your literacy autobiography will tell the story of how you tried and perhaps succeeded at becoming a full-fledged member of a group. This membership could be official as in the case of a sports team or unofficial in the case of becoming an accomplished musician or lover of literature.

For this assignment, you must:

Write an autobiography about how you tried to join a community by gaining knowledge and proficiency and accepting (at least to a certain extent) the values of that group. An autobiography is a narrative about one’s self. A good story has a good shape, usually formed through the development and resolution of some conflict. The authority in your autobiographical writing will come from the care with which you select your material and the richness of the details you choose to present. Relate important moments that show learning that helped you become a fuller member of the literacy community.
Make the case that your proficiency in the subject you chose constitutes a form of literacy. For instance, if writing about your struggle to become a first string varsity football player, you could make this case by focusing on football vocabulary, shared knowledge about football history and current events, and knowledge of your team’s playbook.
Show how becoming a member of the “literacy community” not only constitutes gaining proficiency, but also involves sharing or accepting certain values of that culture or community. What values are common to the group you became a part of? Do you still hold those values?
Write 4-6 pages in MLA Style (no Works Cited necessary unless you cite a text of some sort) in 12pt. double-spaced Times New Roman font.

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