Process Piece: Literary Sponsor

This is the step by step transition from a daybook prompt to a final draft. I've never thought of collecting a draft in this manner, its like reading a chapter of a book until the author gets it just right, with little notes from their proofreaders and editor.The daybook entries eased me into this topic right after the required reading for that week.

1/24/11
Daybook Entry 2: Prompt - You re-read "Sponsors of Literacy" for today and wrote a reading blog for it. What did you do differently in your reading of it today than the first time: Where did you read it? What time of day? All at once or on sections? How did you take notes?

What did you still need to know about her argument that still feels unclear to you?
What would you like to discuss about it in class today?

It was just before midnight when I cracked open my Writing about Writing textbook and was able to finally sit down and truly read in silence (however, with some music playing nearby) the entire article and trying to understand it all. It took me about 2 hours, give or take minute breaks every few pages, to finally read and comprehend the basics of the article. However, this was quite an article to read if tired. I read this article all at once & I took a lot of notes.

Nothing comes to mind so far about questions and so far I have nothing to discuss in class about this particular as I want to hear other people's thoughts and slants on how they read and understood the article in question.

1/25/11
Daybook Entry 3: Prompt - Malcolm X asserts that his motivation for reading - his desire to understand his own experiences - led him to read far more than any college student. Respond to this claim. Has a particular motivation helped you decide what, or how much, to read?

In my experience, being exposed to reference texts like: a thesaurus, encyclopedia, or dictionary really opened my eyes to how complex the language I spoke truly was. When I was kid, I would pour over the texts. My grandparents would have me write down the words, meanings, etc. I would speak them over and over again. This activities was doubly so on the weekends or a rainy day. The sheer thought of being able to express myself in the particular manner of my choosing was my primary motivation to begin reading, learning, and understanding.

1/31/11
Daybook Entry 4: Prompt - Consider in what ways the community you grew up in was "oral" and in what ways it relied on texts. Makes a list of the different ways that people used talk and the ways they used print texts. Was one generally preferred over another? If so, how? Why?

I recall in the Old Trinity neighborhood of Durham I grew up in socially relied on oral communication. Neighbors and family especially, concentrated on speaking. I do not ever recalling receiving a punishment by written decree, but I do recall a lot of orders and commands by voice. However, when dealing with the world print, texts, etc. were the preferred method. Mail, government forms, applications for X, were always written tasks. This seemed to defer my older familial members who were not as educated or versed in the written disciplines. Depending on the situation, it just depended. Schools were more rigid with forms to fill out, I recall bubbling in the California Achievement Test in the late 1980s before North Carolina came up with their own test. I do not recall if one took more precedent than the other. However, my memory could just be hazy.

This is my first draft for this paper. It's quite rough but that's to be expected. For me, a first draft is the initial commitment. It's just enough to get your ideas on paper to work out your thoughts, nothing more.


Untitled: Literacy Sponsor

It all seems like a long time ago and heck, it probably was. But it goes something like this; having been read to by my Maternal Grandfather since I newborn, I was a wee lad of but two years in age, when I was introduced to my second literacy sponsor. It was my older brother, Roman. He was only four years older than I, but still he was charged, by my maternal grandfather, with the task of helping his younger brother with his reading and writing. Rome often read to me which helped his own comprehension as well as helping me understand the basics of the English language. Our Maternal Grandfather, whom we lived with, often told stories to me and Rome, or read whole chapters from his dusty, ancient, thick tomes that were heavy and labeled with strange words and phrases like "Police Science" and "Law". Two degrees hanging in his study, the first from Temple University Community College, an Associate in Police Science, the second was a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in Administration of Justice This often reminded me that he was a learned man, the only man in my family who actually graduated from college. In Gramps spare time, he introduced me to my basic understanding of math concepts, particularly in elementary arithmetic. Also he schooled me issues like morality, philosophy, history, current events, and political science. He made sure that I learned what my brother was being taught in school. Gramps made sure that I spent the next couple of years learning behind Rome and getting familiar with what he was learning in school. He made me copy Rome's homework assignments and I attempted to do them in my own spare time. After about a year or so, I was able to actually complete first, second, and third grade homework before I even stepped into a kindergarten class.

As a five year old tyke, I entered the Durham City School System  in 1986 (Now Durham Public Schools since 1992). I was originally plopped into a standard kindergarten class. Bored with their type of curriculum, which was more social than anything, I preferred to sleep in class after accomplishing their meager list of instructional tasks. Either that or becoming fast friends with my first girlfriend, Denise. Observing my activities for about a month or so, my kindergarten teacher and first government literary sponsor, Miss Carpenter called my maternal unit to let her know of my activities and performance. She suggested an accelerated class which placed kindergarteners into first grade. After a quick deliberation at home, I was enrolled into this new class. My second and third government literary sponsors was Ms. Archer and her teaching assist and graduate student, Miss Harris. With my early preparation from Grandfather and Rome, I quickly excelled and from there and never saw a poor grade for years from there. I was still copying my brother's homework assignments and completing them on my own up until December of 1986, when my Grandfather suffered massive heart attack while driving and subsequently died. My routine was broken for awhile after that. From there my Grandmother, became my last familial literary sponsor when she picked up the mantle and placed her deceased husband's book collection into my own room with the sole instruction that I must use it.

After a time, I did finally begin using his collection when I was comfortable enough. The collection consisted of his old collegiate textbooks, along with entire encyclopedias. From the time I was 7, I was self-learning with two sets of old, dusty late 1950s era Funk & Wagnalls and Collier encyclopedias. I often read his 1956 edition of Black's Law dictionary trying to comprehend the "legalese" of the era in which it was printed. A well-worn Merriam-Webster dictionary inhabited my desk and workspace in my room as well as their own edition of a thesaurus. However, with some pages missing from wear and tear over the years. With some advice from my Grandmother, I began copying the dictionary word for word, until  I grew tired of that activity and then switched to simply just reading the other books whenever I had the time or a break in my schoolwork. I studied these texts until I turned seventeen, by then I had read from these inherited tomes, several times over.

After the peer review and a quick check over by the instructor, I went back to the electric paper and refined the first draft into this work here.


My Literacy Sponsorship

It all seems like a long time ago and heck, it probably was. But it goes something like this; my Maternal Grandfather was the first to read to me upon the day I came home from the hospital. As my family patriarch, he also made sure that baby-talk was never used around me. Whether he knew it or not, he became my first literacy sponsor. According to Dr. Deborah Brandt, a "literacy sponsor" is an any agent who enables, supports, teaches, models, recruits, regulates, suppresses, or withholds literacy and gains advantage from it in some way. Grandfather, by her definition, was a positive literacy sponsor in my life. Now, it's not much, but this is an abridged, recounting of my childhood. I'm trying to think about how it all came to be...

I was a wee lad of but two years in age, when I was introduced to my second literacy sponsor. It was my older brother, Roman. He was only four years older than I, but still he was charged, by my maternal grandfather, with the task of helping his younger brother with his reading and writing. Rome often read to me which helped his own comprehension as well as helping me understand the basics of the English language. Our Maternal Grandfather, whom we lived with, often told stories to me and Rome, or read whole chapters from his dusty, ancient, thick tomes that were heavy and labeled with strange words and phrases like "Police Science" and "Law". The two degrees that hung in his study, the first from Temple University Community College, an Associate in Police Science, the second was a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in Administration of Justice. I was often reminded that he was a learned man, the only man in my family who actually graduated from college. In "Gramps" spare time, he introduced me to my basic understanding of math concepts, particularly in elementary arithmetic. He also schooled me issues like morality, philosophy, history, current events, and political science. He made sure that I learned what my brother was being taught in school; Gramps made sure that I spent the next couple of years learning behind Rome and getting familiar with what he was learning in school. Under his direction, Gramps pressed me to copy Rome's homework assignments and I attempted  this work in my own spare time. After about a year or so, I was able to actually complete first, second, and third grade homework before I even stepped into a kindergarten class.

As a five year old tyke, I entered the Durham City School System  in 1986 (now Durham Public Schools since 1992). I was originally plopped into a standard kindergarten class. Bored with their type of curriculum, which was more social than anything, I preferred to sleep during  class or hanging out with my first girlfriend Denise, after accomplishing the teacher's meager list of instructional tasks. Observing my activities for about a month or so, my kindergarten teacher and first government literary sponsor, Miss Carpenter called my Maternal Unit to let her know of my activities and performance. She suggested an accelerated class which placed kindergarteners into first grade. After a quick deliberation at home, I was enrolled into this new class. My second and third government literary sponsors were Ms. Archer and her teaching assistant and graduate student, Miss Harris. With my early preparation from Grandfather and Rome, I quickly excelled, never seen a poor grade for few years. I was still copying my brother's homework assignments and completing them on my own up until December of 1986, when my Grandfather suffered a heart attack while driving and died. My routine was shattered for a time. A few months after his burial, Grandmother came to me and became my last familial literary sponsor. She picked up the mantle and one night, she quietly moved her deceased husband's book collection into my own room. The next morning, I received her brief words. I do not recall the exact words at this time but the gist of what she said, was the sole instruction that I must use it.
After a time, I did finally begin using his collection when I was comfortable enough. The collection consisted of his old collegiate textbooks, along with entire encyclopedias. From the time I was seven, I was self-learning with two sets of old, dusty late 1950s era Funk & Wagnalls and Collier encyclopedias. I often read his 1956 edition of Black's Law Dictionary trying to comprehend the "legalese" of the era in which it was printed. A well-worn Merriam-Webster dictionary inhabited my desk and workspace in my room as well as their own edition of a thesaurus. However, with some pages missing from wear and tear over the years. With some advice from my Grandmother, I began copying the dictionary word for word, until  I grew tired of that activity and then switched to simply just reading the other books whenever I had the time or a break in my schoolwork. I studied these texts until I turned seventeen, by then I had read from these inherited tomes, several times over.

From a time which I cannot even recall, to my formative years at my Grandparents' home, my brother's assistance, my government educational experience in school and in various jobs. My ability to comprehend and on some level, master various forms of literary have been of a paramount importance; even when I did not understand literary mastery was the crux. It has not always been a straight-forth path, but I would not be here today inside this classroom, at this college, without the sponsorship, no sacrifice, of these self-less individuals. Perhaps that doesn't always fit Brandt's definition, but perhaps the most pivotal sponsors in anyone's life could be described as such.
                                  
                                                                                                 Works Cited          
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Eds. Wardle and Downs. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 406-26. Print.

The "talk back". I struggled with these, it's so unfamiliar to address my paper in such a manner. From my youth, you were either right or wrong. Your opinion was in reality fact regurgitation. However, it served an interesting role and with it, the talk back's purpose really hit home asking you to defend your work in a manner of speaking.


Talk Back: Sponsors of Literacy

Well, I think I arrived at the very beginning of this paper when I started off by reminiscing. Then I made some phone calls to some still living older relatives. I sent an email to my older brother, Roman about some facts I could not recall properly.  Piecing together the remaining information, I was able to construct the very basic framework of my paper.

About my paper,  I thought my piece was a particular look inward. I'm not a person to reflect on the past as probably more than few would, but it gave me a legitimate reason to think about how things came to be and how they came to pass. It is, glimpse I prefer not to stare at too much longer, but on a whole it is not a terrible peek into the years gone by. Thus, I think the paper was a good attempt to do something I rarely do; talk about myself.

The strength of its paper is also its weakness, it is rooted in past events. From there, the strength is that it is quite a narrative piece, abridged, but a solid reflection. I would say a weakness is that this paper does not focus on any of the negative aspects of the Sponsors of Literacy, such as withholding information and similar issues. (Addressing J1: Perhaps because my memory of the events are skewed with a ton of bias, I cannot at this time remember some of the negative aspects I probably experienced & if I did remember this assignment would have FAR exceeded the page length that anyone would want to read)

If I had the time, I probably would have my this a "less-unabridged" work and maybe fit more in from my original research. But, hey that's the breaks sometimes. (Addressing J2: Peer workshops are well... different. Some constructive criticism is given but I have always preferred the cold, red stripe of the instructor's pen. Perhaps, because in the end, it is the only true mark that matters. I went with a few of their recommendations, but most of what was said about my work was more of a commentary on its content than a type of editing that points out glaring errors. Still, I found the review helpful. )

It all seems like a long time ago and heck, it probably was. But it goes something like this; (Addressing J3: Hello, my name is Jameal and I am a semi-colon addict. But upon a third or fourth thought, the colon does seem to edge out the semi-colon for your recommend course of action to introduce a new idea.) my Maternal Grandfather was the first to read to me upon the day I came home from the hospital. As my family patriarch, he also made sure that baby-talk was never used around me. Whether he knew it or not, he became my first literacy sponsor. According to Dr. Deborah Brandt, a "literacy sponsor" is an any agent who enables, supports, teaches, models, recruits, regulates, suppresses, or withholds literacy and gains advantage from it in some way. (Addressing J4: I will remember to use the direct quotes and use the parenthetical citation for future works) Grandfather, by her definition, was a positive literacy sponsor in my life. Now, it's not much, but this is an abridged, recounting of my childhood. I'm trying to think about how it all came to be...

I was a wee lad of but two years in age, when I was introduced to my second literacy sponsor. (Addressing J5: For the above sentence, I did like the comma there, it was where I wanted the pause. However, could you explain the issue with the pause there?) It was my older brother, Roman. He was only four years older than I, but still he was charged, by my maternal grandfather, with the task of helping his younger brother with his reading and writing. Rome often read to me which helped his own comprehension as well as helping me understand the basics of the English language. Our Maternal Grandfather, whom we lived with, often told stories to me and Rome, or read whole chapters from his dusty, ancient, thick tomes that were heavy and labeled with strange words and phrases like "Police Science" and "Law". The two degrees that hung in his study, the first from Temple University Community College, an Associate in Police Science, the second was a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in Administration of Justice. I was often reminded that he was a learned man, the only man in my family who actually graduated from college. In "Gramps" (Addressing J6: Gramps' as possessive -- acknowledged) spare time, he introduced me to my basic understanding of math concepts, particularly in elementary arithmetic. He also schooled me issues like morality, philosophy, history, current events, and political science. He made sure that I learned what my brother was being taught in school; Gramps made sure that I spent the next couple of years learning behind Rome and getting familiar with what he was learning in school. Under his direction, Gramps pressed me to copy Rome's homework assignments and I attempted  this work in my own spare time. After about a year or so, I was able to actually complete first, second, and third grade homework before I even stepped into a kindergarten class. (Addressing J7: To be completely candid, I was without a clue what this sort of work even did for me. Let's clarify my level of ignorance/applied creativity. At five years old, I was still partially convinced my stuffed bear was alive/possessed the ability to retain life/was a real bear, turned stuffed by magic. I just did as I was told, there was a definite carrot & stick application in the home of my grandparents. Do well, and you were treated well and had leisure time, to describe the punishment in today's climate, would not be appropriate but let's just say it's bad, real bad and we can leave it at that. Fear was the motivator at the time and skills were not the driving force behind my actions.)


As a five year old tyke, I entered the Durham City School System  in 1986 (now Durham Public Schools since 1992). I was originally plopped into a standard kindergarten class. Bored with their type of curriculum, which was more social than anything, I preferred to sleep during  class or hanging out (Addressing J8: Hang out vs. Hanging out. Hmm, I just think this is 'bad' English creeping into my writing. Not sure I like the comma here anymore) with my first girlfriend Denise after accomplishing the teacher's meager list of instructional tasks. Observing my activities for about a month or so, my kindergarten teacher and first government literary sponsor, Miss Carpenter called my Maternal Unit to let her know of my activities and performance. She suggested an accelerated class which placed kindergarteners into first grade. If I am correct and this is the sentence you wish me to reread aloud, it does feel  After a quick deliberation at home, I was enrolled into this new class. My second and third government literary sponsors were Ms. Archer and her teaching assistant and graduate student, Miss Harris. With my early preparation from Grandfather and Rome, I quickly excelled, never seen a poor grade for few years. I was still copying my brother's homework assignments and completing them on my own up until December of 1986, when my Grandfather suffered a heart attack while driving and died. (Addressing J9: Writer's age at this time was: 5 years, 9 months & a few days) My routine was shattered for a time. A few months after his burial, Grandmother came to me and became my last familial literary sponsor. She picked up the mantle and one night, she quietly moved her deceased husband's book collection into my own room. The next morning, I received her brief words. I do not recall the exact words at this time but the gist of what she said, was the sole instruction that I must use it. (Addressing J10: Read previous sentence aloud several times. It does not sound right and appears to get worse every time I repeat it. Right now, I wish I had what she said on paper or on recording. It sounds better than how I described it, this much is for sure.)

After a time, I did finally begin using his collection when I was comfortable enough. The collection consisted of his old collegiate textbooks, along with entire encyclopedias. (Addressing J11: Yes, an entire set of encyclopedias)  From the time I was seven, I was self-learning with two sets of old, dusty late 1950s era Funk & Wagnalls and Collier encyclopedias. I often read his 1956 edition of Black's Law Dictionary trying to comprehend the "legalese" of the era in which it was printed. A well-worn Merriam-Webster dictionary inhabited my desk and workspace in my room as well as their own edition of a thesaurus, however, with some pages missing from wear and tear over the years.(Addressing J12: I decided to reconstruct the words to create a more complete sentence) With some advice from my Grandmother, I began copying the dictionary word for word (Addressing J13: Well, I was told to do this. Gramps was deeply moved by Malcolm X's biography and had met the man in Harlem sometime in 1960.) , until  I grew tired of that activity and then switched to simply just reading the other books whenever I had the time or a break in my schoolwork. I studied these inherited tomes several times over until I turned seventeen. (Addressing J14: Read aloud the previous sentence and adjusted to this new variation)
From a time which I cannot even recall, to my formative years at my Grandparents' home, my brother's assistance, my government educational experience in school and in various jobs. (Addressing J15: It feels choppy upon a third read. As if there is too much pause. This sentence would require a serious breakdown and reconstruction) My ability to comprehend and on some level, master various forms of literary have been of a paramount importance; even when I did not understand literary mastery was the crux. It has not always been a straight-forth path, but I would not be here today inside this classroom, at this college, without the sponsorship, no sacrifice, of these self-less individuals. (Addressing J16: 'no sacrifice' just seems like it is interrupting. While it sounds fine to speak it in such a manner, writing it seems to interrupt the flow of the message to the receiver) Perhaps that doesn't always fit Brandt's definition, but perhaps the most pivotal sponsors in anyone's life could be described as such.

Works Cited          
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Eds. Wardle and Downs. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 406-26. Print.

This is the final draft. I believe I have address many of the concerns from the peer review to the talk back from the instructor, or as much as I wanted to address without completely losing the voice of this work. Writing can be subjective, especially when it is about someone's life. I didn't want to lose the essence of what I originally said. I would like to think, I did not. Enjoy.


My Own Literacy Sponsorship

For me, it was long ago, almost thirty-odd years when my maternal grandfather became the first person to read to me upon the day I came home from the hospital. As my family patriarch, he also made sure that baby-talk was never used around me. Whether he knew it or not, he became my first literacy sponsor. In her landmark text, Dr. Deborah Brandt noted that a "literacy sponsor" is an any agent who enables, supports, teaches, models, recruits, regulates, suppresses, or withholds literacy and gains advantage from it in some way. My grandfather, by her definition, was a positive literacy sponsor in my life. My own paternal unit, father, he restricted me in many ways, with that said he was also my first negative sponsor, by not allowing me to flourish or only flourish when I strictly adhered to his rules and regulations. These two men were at constant odds with each other over the years, but I digress, this is an abridged, recounting of my childhood. Even still, I recall how it all came to be.

I was but a small child, not much older than two years of age when I was introduced to my second positive literacy sponsor. It was my older brother, Roman. He was four years older than I, and yet he was charged, by my maternal grandfather much to my father's dismay, with the task of helping his younger brother with his reading and writing. Rome often read to me which helped his own comprehension as well as helping me understand the basics of the English language. Grandfather, whom we lived with, often told stories to us, the Jordon Brothers, his bright-eyed grandsons. Sometimes, he read whole chapters from his dusty, ancient, thick tomes that were heavy and labeled with strange words and phrases like "Police Science" and "Law". The two degrees that hung in his study, the first from Temple University Community College, an Associate in Police Science, the second was a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in Administration of Justice. I was often reminded that he was a learned man, the only man in my family who actually graduated from college. And on the other hand, father was a middle-school dropout who in reality had few skills in which he plied his trade, skilled labor and carpentry. In grandfather's spare time, he introduced me to my basic understanding of math concepts, particularly in elementary arithmetic. He also schooled me issues like morality, philosophy, history, current events, and political science. He followed up on our lessons, checking to see that I learned and really knew the fundamentals of what me and Roman were being taught in school; Even with his busy schedule, grandfather made sure that I spent the next couple of years learning behind Rome and getting familiar with what he was learning in school. On the other hand, father could only shrug his shoulders at us when we came to him for help on even basic issues like addition and subtraction or reading a new book. One day, in disgust, he reluctantly pointed a finger at us in the direction of our grandfather silently in defeat and from then on Under  grandfather's direction, he pressed me daily to copy Rome's homework assignments. I attempted this work in my own spare time. After about a year or so, I was able to actually complete first, second, and third grade homework before I even stepped into a kindergarten class.

Seemingly prepared, I entered the Durham City School System  in 1986 as a plucky five year old tyke (now Durham Public Schools since 1992). Originally, I was plopped into a run-of-the-mill, standard kindergarten class. With my amazing preparation, it was not long before I became bored with their type of non-curriculum, which, truth be told, was more social than anything, I preferred to sleep during class or hang out with one particular girl, Miss Denise Matthews. after accomplishing the teacher's meager list of instructional tasks. Unbeknownst to me, the head classroom teacher, Miss Carpenter, observed my activities for about a month or so. As my kindergarten teacher and first government literary sponsor, called my she considered it her duty to notify my maternal unit, or mother if you will, to let her know of my activities and performance. She suggested an accelerated class which placed kindergarteners into first grade. After a quick deliberation at home, I was enrolled into this new class. My second and third government literary sponsors were Mrs. Archer, who also became my third grade instructor, and her teaching assistant and graduate student, Miss Harris. With my early preparation from grandfather and Rome, I excelled, and for some time, I never saw a poor grader. I was still copying my brother's homework assignments and completing them on my own up until early December of 1986, when my grandfather suffered a heart attack while driving and died. It was then that my routine was shattered. A few months after his burial, his dutiful wife, my grandmother, came to me and became my last familial literary sponsor. Taking up the mantle, one night, she quietly moved her deceased husband's book collection into my own room. The next morning, I received her brief words. I do not recall the exact words at this time but the gist of what she said, was the sole instruction that I must use it.

I do not recall how much time passed before I finally begin using his collection. I presume it was when I was comfortable enough. The collection consisted of his old collegiate textbooks, along with entire encyclopedias. From the time I was seven, I was self-learning with two sets of old, dusty late 1950s era Funk & Wagnalls and Collier encyclopedias. I often read his 1956 edition of Black's Law Dictionary trying to comprehend the "legalese" of the era in which it was printed. A well-worn Merriam-Webster dictionary inhabited my desk and workspace in my room as well as their own edition of a thesaurus. However, with some pages missing from wear and tear over the years. With some advice from my grandmother, I began copying the dictionary word for word, until  I grew tired of that activity and then switched to simply just reading the other books whenever I had the time or a break in my schoolwork. I studied these texts until I turned seventeen, by then I had read from these inherited tomes, several times over.
My ability to comprehend and on some level, master various forms of literary have been of a paramount importance; even when I did not understand literary mastery was the crux. From a time which I cannot even recall to my formative years at my grandparents' home, my brother's assistance, my government educational experience in school and in various jobs, it has not always been a straight-forth path, but I would not be here today inside this classroom, at this college, without the sponsorship of these self-less individuals. Perhaps that doesn't always fit Brandt's definition, but perhaps the most pivotal sponsors in anyone's life could be described as such.
                                  
                                                       Works Cited          
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Eds. Wardle and Downs. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 406-26. Print.