My monster has a misshapen head. He has red X’s for eyes, and the left eye is larger than the right. his head is also misshapen on the side with the smaller eye. His mouth is stitched together, and his hair is a stick straight purple. Half of his body is green, being the upper part of his torso, and the lower half is orange. Three teal fingers on each hand completes the description of my monster.
Pathos is the rhetorical appeal that appeals to a reader’s emotions. Many advertisements are pathos-geared. In the example of an ad I chose from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcroQsUN60s, the advertisers are using emotions in a sexual way to reach the audience. In this case, the advertisement is an appeal to sex to sell the Pepsi product. In Sherman Alexie’s “Indian Education,” pathos is also being use. In this case, however, the appeal is sympathy from the audience. He uses brutal and somewhat disturbingly vivid examples of his treatment to elicit emotions from the reader. “They pushed me down, buried me in the snow until I couldn’t breathe, thought I’d never breathe again” is a direct quote from “Indian Education” that effectively uses pathos as a rhetorical device. It was highly effective because using descriptive words such as “pushed” and “buried” draw out pictures of what is happening to the character and therefore forces the reader to feel emotions for the character.
A literacy narrative should tell some kind of story. Usually a literacy narrative is best when it is personal. A literacy narrative can discuss a personal literacy one may have, or a different type of story altogether. Telling a story in narrative form is a kind of literacy in itself.
Activity 2
The start of literacy in its simplest terms did not originate from people of our time. However, new literacies are developed every minute. Yesterday’s newly discovered literacy is history; unless you are the original creator, the new literacy had already existed before it reached yourself. The growth in literacy variety has improved, changed, and greatly impacted my own literacy development. I feel that with every new language formed by literacy, whether it is visual or spoken, comes a better advantage over generations before me. Therefore, generations after me will also acquire more literacy capabilities and will bypass my strength in new literacy just as I have with my earlier counterparts.
Activity 1
Topics for literacy narrative:
1.) Summer reading at a library-I chose this sponsor because living in a small town, the library is the center of the community and became my main literacy sponsor. The ideal reader for this approach would be anyone who could relate to small town isolation and the resources we cling to as substitution. They would bring with them similar experiences with noncompetitive sponsors. Literacy would be hobby and fun based to this reader.
2.) Lack of access to certain technologies– I chose this lack of access because I believe not being exposed to the technology that is available now greatly impacted my development in literacy. The ideal reader for this approach would be anyone that did not have easy access to newer technologies such as computers and cell phones growing up. This reader would be a late bloomer in using technology versus someone who was exposed earlier on. Literacy to this reader would be understood better through books and hard copy.
3.) Pizza Hut reading programs– I chose this sponsor not because of competition reasons, but because it involved my family in my reading. The ideal reader for this approach would be anyone who wants to read for competition or family bonding. This reader could relate to wanting attention from his or her parents or peers. Literacy to this reader could be misunderstood and under appreciated and the reader may be using the program for reasons not directly related to enhancing their literacy.
4.) Jobs worked– I have not worked many types of jobs and this has affected my literacy. I have worked one job for 5 years with other small jobs for a few weeks to a few months and therefore have only acquired certain literacies. The ideal reader for this approach would be anyone who feels that their lifestyle has affected their access to different literacy. This reader would have a highly developed type of literacy in one specific area but not in others. Literacy to this reader may be seen through a tunnel vision spectrum.
5.) Writing poetry and journals– Using these outlets helped me develop my literacy capabilities and shaped my feelings toward creative literacy. The ideal reader for this approach would be anyone who expressed themselves best in a creative or private way. This reader would value vocabulary and may or may not want to share his or her expressions of literacy. Literacy to this reader is personal, unique, and who they allow to read it would be selective.
Narratives are…
Personal
Constructive
Stories
Spoken or seen
I have had some experience with writing narratives, but I have had a lot more experience with reading them. In high school, I have written narratives for English and creative language arts classes. I took a creative poetry class, and I wrote poetry to express myself through narrative that way as well. I feel that autobiographies, biographies, and even fictional pieces can be considered narratives. With novels, authors can be telling part of their life story or certain events that have actually happened, just with a fictional twist or change of real names.
Using the feedback during class, I will be able to develop my theme within my visual narrative more thoroughly. Since I have a pretty good start on my assignment, I was able to consider my group member’s feedback better than if I had not started. I have only a few finishing touches in order to complete my visual narrative assignment. My group members liked the ideas I had for my visual narrative and the creative things I am planning on using to complete my project. We also dicussed citations during our group conversation. We brought up issues that we were unsure of and asked Brittany for instruction. After the feedback I received during our writing group discussion, I realized I am going to have to revise my visual narrative assignment in the area of citation, because I was not aware of everything that needed to be cited. I will have to review my assignment before completion and include a citation according to the appropriate sources. Talking with my writing group members gave me more ideas and creative insight to my project and I may be able to include citations to compliment my theme, rather than just including a Works Cited page. Hearing what Danielle and Jilian are planning for their visual narratives helped me reaffirm whether or not I was headed in the right direction. While Danielle plans to use her visual narrative to show progression, I plan to present a common theme. Using the criterion for the visual narrative assignment on the sheet Brittany gave each group was also very beneficial.
I have already started my visual narrative project. I decided to focus on something I not only enjoy, but want to pursue as a career. My visual narrative focuses on the types of literacy I perform at the library I work at. The main idea or theme of my visual narrative encompasses my daily abilities that include literacy that are unique to the job. I have chose to present the visual in collage form and in a way that also represents a few literacy elements within the job description.
How does being mutli-lingual positively or negatively effect one’s literacy capabilities?