“When asked to reflect on past experiences in the confines of the literacy narrative, they remember these experiences that haunted them and took away their freedoms” (Alexander, 618)
“Then I got to high school an every bit of confidence that I had about writing was stripped. Freshmen year of high school my English teacher, Mr. Stritch, was the person who ruined writing for me.”
This narrative is about how Kayla lost interest in writing because of Mr. Stritch. She used to love writing a lot, until High School, where Mr. Stritch ruined it for her. This is the epitome of victim writing.
Sam
Success Writing
“In addition to being the typical way students conclueded their essay, success narratives were the most often told abstractly, without reference to a specific time, place, or instance in the student’s life.” (Alexander 616)
“As I continue to grow as a student and person, I hope with time I can find excitement in all types of writing, no matter the topic.”
Sam ends his narrative in the same way that Alexander says that all success writing stories are ended, very vague and universal.
Hannah
Success Writing
“In addition to being the typical way students conclueded their essay, success narratives were the most often told abstractly, without reference to a specific time, place, or instance in the student’s life.” (Alexander 616)
“ It doesn’t matter whether it’s writing or a real life situation, peoples thoughts will always be different. I realized it doesn’t matter what you are writing about, you should be creating a piece of work you can always be proud of.”
Hannah’s end was the epitome of success writing. Although she didn’t have the same sort of past than Sam, her point was still very vague and inspiring at the end, the same way that Sam does.
Blake
Hero
“In these narratives, students portrayed themselves as the superman … who overcame challenges and struggles to become more literate.” (Alexander 618)
“Now I know that the smile she had on her face when she first read my essay was her teaching me a lesson. I see now it was because she was holding me to a higher standard because she knew I had the ability to succeed in my work, but I would rush through it and not worry about it.”
In this narrative, Blake kind of makes himself out to be more superior to the other students, at least in his teacher’s eyes. He writes about his struggle to focus on his work, but then his ability to over come it, making it a hero narrative.
