Daily Writings - 1103

1).

Mom- Would read stories to me and make me write letters.

Dad- Would play "ABC" game going down the road making me be able to read words off
of buildings and signs
Grandma- Also would read to me at night when I stayed over
English Teachers- Taught me proper ways to write papers, pronounce words, vocabulary,
and grammar.
Sister- Played games with me such as Scrabble

2).

A special place that influenced my literacy narrative would be my room. My room was

a special place because it is where I spent majority of my time doing my homework and reading.
My room was one ofthe quietest places in the house since it was on the far end and upstairs. Due
to that, all the noise coming from the living room and kitchen could not be heard. Since it was so
silent, I was able to concentrate more and focus on my work more.
3).

Throughout elementary school, I believe it was either once or twice a year that the Book

Fair would come to our school. The Book Fair was held in our library at school and everyone
had to go whether you wanted to or not. Usually, each grade level would go on a certain day. For
example, Kindergarten would go on Monday, first grade on Tuesday, and so on. One experience
I have in particular with the Book Fair is my third grade year. I would say this was the time when
I did the most reading throughout my elemtary school years. My favorite series to read was The
Series of Unfortunate Events. Luckily for me, the Book Fair had all of the books in the series so
my mom wrote me a check and I bought every single one of them. Also, there was this sick spy
pen that I wanted. What was cool about it, was that it was not only a pen, but the way it worked
was that you would write something with it and nothing would appear. This was because the pen
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had invisible ink and the only way to read it was to push a button on the pen and a blue light
would appear. This light once placed over where you wrote, would show what was written.
4).

The first time I ever used a computer that I can remember was when I was around 7 years

old and in second grade. I had been in elementary school for a while, but it my first year using a
computer. I remember when the school first got the computers, they were humongous in size
compared to computers that we have today. It took a while to get the hang of using a computer at
first, but once I got used to it, it came easy. The first time using Power Point was during a project
in the sixth grade I believe. At this time, a few years had passed and computers had progressed.
My middle school was able to have more computers than my elementary school and of course
they were newer and faster. These new computers came with Microsoft office on them, so this
was the first time I would use Power Point, and it definitely made projects and presentations
seem less stressful and time consuming.
5).

In terms of my literacy narrative, I would like to pursue more of an advanced writing and

reading ability. By that, I do not mean to be able to read better than I do now or write better.
What I mean, is to be able to take what I am reading and be able to fully understand what all is
happening throughout the novel and be able to break it down piece by piece. To me, it seems that
as I am reading I do not always understand what it is that I am reading. This may be because of
the way I goabout it, but there is always ways to improve that and that is what I am hoping for.
In terms of writing, I want to be able to be able to go on and on about a subject. Usually I find
myself struggling to write about things, but maybe if I can learn some skills to improve that area
it will come more naturally. Also, Sherman Alexey left me with a big unanswered question, and
that is how he was able to comprehend and understand novels that were way above his level
without a proper education? That is one mystery I find very interesting.
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6).

Yes, I do think it is important to think back on our first experiences, the people who have

been a part of the process, and the different variables put into our literacy narrative. I believe
that, because it has shaped the way our literacy narrative is today and without it we would be a
total different person. Also, when you look back on your first experiences, it is like a flashback
and you can see where you started and how far you have come since then. Then there is the
people who have been a part of the process. Without these people, I would not be the same
person I am today. The way they taught me and how to do certain things set the foundation for
my literacy narrative and was based around what they taught me.
7).

An ethnic dish my family prepares would have to be Chicken and Dumplings. This dish

is like a family tradition to make. My great-great-grandma

first started making the dish and

passed it on to my great-grandma. My great-grandma however, makes it the best. My Nana and

mom try to make it, but it just does not compare to it. I'm not sure if there are any special sauces
or herbs put into it as she makes it herself. She does not tell what she puts in it, or how she makes
it so it is a mystery to us. Either way, whenever she makes the Chicken and Dumplings I cannot
wait to devour it down.
8).

The main problem I am having with my family tree project is being able to communicate

with both sides of my family. Besides my direct family, the rest are located out of state and we
do not keep in contact with them. So my grandparents are the oldest relatives of mine that I have
to hope can remember the stories that their parents and grandparents told to them about their
older generation. The problem with that, is my grandparents do not have great memory so it is
hard for them to remember back that far. So, the biggest challenge for me is trying to find out
about where my family originally came from.

9).

When it comes to error free work, it is very high on the list of importance. I would have

to say after actually making sure the work is completed, error free work then comes after that.
The reason for placing such importance on error free work is due to the fact that in Engineering,
if your work has all of these errors in it you can expect a huge deduction in points. Also, if you
have work that is loaded with errors at your job, you can expect that your boss or supervisor will
let you know about it. However, there would be one exception in my case where it is acceptable
to create work that has errors in it. This would be when brainstorming for ideas. I find
brainstorming acceptable just for the simple fact that you are not trying to come up with a
specific idea but instead trying to come up with many ideas to help build a foundation.
10).

When it comes to peer review, I usually get back the good ole, "Good job Dude!"

although I know there are mistakes in my paper. I really hate when this happens because like I
said, I know there are errors in my paper that need to be fixed. Also, it tells me that the person
really did not even go through and carefully read what I had written. On the flip side however,
there have been times when I have been given appropriate criticism and helpful suggestions. To
me, that is my favorite part. While I may not always agree with what they are saying, it is nice to
have a different view on things. Also, it tells me that I need to go back and hit more on a certain
topic. One experience in particular was my 1201 design package. I was not using the required
passive, past tense type of writing when I was supposed to, and luckily my partner was able to
catch it. Without that catch I probably would have failed. Also, there were tons of errors that I
had looked over, but luckily my partner was able to catch them.
11).

..

A tough decision I have had to make since coming to Charlotte was deciding whether or

not to drop my Chem1251 class. This was a tough decision because chemistry is in my freshman
curriculum that I must have, but I was not doing so well in there. I had stayed in past the

add/drop period, so I was going to have to use 3 hours of my withdrawal credits which would
only leave me with 13 more hours to use. I was not doing so well after the second exam and I did
not want to have a D or F for one of my grades during my freshman year so I decided it would be
best to withdraw from the class. Although it may have used 3 hours of my withdrawal credits, it
saved my GPA and possibly my freshman year.

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