1 Running head: CIRCLE OF LITERACY

Circle of Literacy
Marisol Montes
University of Texas at El Paso
English 1311
July 11, 2014
Paul LaPrade

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Abstract
Ive had a roller coaster type of relationship with literacy and it is no doubt one of the things that
has offered me more knowledge than anything else Ive encountered. Its the kind of thing that
opens your mind and makes you want to keep learning, the great addiction of our lifetimes!
Reading allowed me to escape the confines of my simple, common life and enter a world where
magic and fairy tale creatures exist. Writing pushed me to expand my vocabulary and
furthermore find different ways to organize my thoughts on paper. These two have opened many
doors for me and while they dont peak my interests as much as they used to, my pursuit of
knowledge will always direct me towards reading and writing. piqued


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From what I can recall about my first experiences of reading and writing I was never
inclined towards the subjects. I dont remember learning how to read and I dont remember
learning how to write other than the routine letter scribbling that we did in class to learn good
penmanship skills. To me it was always about how my writing looked and not necessarily what
the content was. I also dont remember reading much as a child and I didnt really care too much
for it either. I always saw it as a chore; it was nothing more than an assignment and a grade to
me. That was the kind of relationship that I had with literacy for about half of my life and I
didnt care enough about it to change it. It wasnt until I read a book called The Tale of
Despereaux when I was about 11 that I realized what wonders reading could offer. Not long after
that I became aware of how easy it was for me to write. I wasnt great and I dont intend to
achieve greatness but the words flowed pretty effortlessly from my mind onto the paper.
Fortunately, unlike Malcolm X and Alexie, I had many doors wide open for me to learn and
people were always encouraging me and my other classmates to succeed in reading and writing.
Unfortunately I believe this prompted a lack of self-motivation to continue doing these things
after people stopped babying me. Ive come full circle; I dont care much for reading and writing
is nothing more than a task I must complete.
Reading
Before I started middle school I dont remember reading much. I do remember the library
at my elementary school though. The walls were lined with books that had colored stickers on
them indicating what level of reading they were. I remember walking through the short shelves
looking for the books that had the color dot I had been assigned. Blue was the highest level of
reading for us and I took pride in being able to read those books but only because it meant that I
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was grouped with the smarter kids in the class. But the colored dots are the only things I
remember about those books, the meant almost nothing to me.
When I started middle school there were still dots on the books but I finally started caring
about what the books told me. I sought a challenge for myself and I looked for a thicker book,
one with long chapters and maybe even bigger words which was something Id never really
considered before. I picked up The Tale of Despereaux. I didnt think much of it at the time I
picked it up but when I began reading it I wasnt reading a book, I was watching the events come
to life in my mind. Making the connection between the words I read and what they represented
was a small breakthrough for me. I could read books with greater ease because the words made
sense and I could picture everything in my head. I felt a desire to read and become a part of those
great fairy tales about dragons and wizards and courageous mice.
I zoomed through many books during this time and it was great. Although they werent
books that contained relevant information to my life or inspiring stories about great political and
social leaders like The Autobiography of Malcolm X, they still taught me a lot. Malcolm X read
because he wanted to educate himself and learn about his black history and heritage (Haley,
1964, p. 199) which is aweing and inspiring but my interest for reading were to escape the world
I lived in. The books I read taught me to dream and never let my imagination die because as a
kid that is the greatest tool one can have. And it is something that has transferred over to my
adulthood and the kind of career I want to pursue. My interest in reading may not be as strong as
it was then but I wouldnt have this kind of connection to my imagination if I hadnt connected
with those books so well back then.
Writing
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It was around the same time that I acquired a passion for reading that I learned how to
communicate my thoughts and ideas through syntax. Unfortunately the writing portion of my
literate experiences was not as wondrous as the reading portion was but it was something that
always came a bit easy for me once I learned how to do it. That is not to say that I was good or
great at it but when I learned something new about writing composition I didnt find it hard to
implement it in my writing assignments. My head was and is always filled with ideas and
thoughts, some complex and others simple but all of them yearning to come out and be heard and
writing allowed that.
Its always been the same writing process though, despite what the content of the written
assignment is. It starts with the introduction which outlines the points, topics, and themes of the
essay. Then there is the body of the essay which elaborates on those points, topics, and themes
with some examples from relevant resources. Finally the conclusion ties the loose ends and
brings us back to the central theme of the essay. That is the structure that I have used since I
learned how to organize my thoughts/ arguments on paper. On the other hand the inconsistencies
of writing usually include the process of being able to express myself properly and effectively.
While expressing myself through writing I would encourage myself to use different
words and phrases to expand my writing capabilities and that helped expand my vocabulary.
Although sometimes especially now, I find myself fishing for the right word to express myself
for long periods of time and it puts a damper on my writing streak. That has been the recurring
problem that Ive had with writing, its a great way to get your thoughts out of your head but it
requires so much strategy that after a while Ill get bored of it and distracted. Unlike with a book
which only requires that you understand and be able to visualize the world that it being created
for you to explore.
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Being literate is a very important and necessary skill to have and there is no doubt that
the knowledge that is gained from reading and writing will be of use in our lifetime. It opens our
eyes to different things depending on what we are looking to find but literacy offers something
new to everyone. I know that I gained a lot when I was at the peak of my literacy adventure and I
know Ill continue to use that knowledge in my daily life. Although my interests in reading and
writing have declined I know that the embers that once sparked a fire of passion to read and write
will never fully go out.