Literacy Narrative

Building Literacy: Finding a Sponsor, Modes of Instruction, and Moving from Formative to Performative Experiences

When it comes to literary accomplishments, I’m a bit like Lady Gaga: I live for the applause. I first heard it when I performed a rousing rendition of “Brer Rabbit and Brer Snake” in front of my mom’s storytelling guild at the age of five. In a strong Southern accent. By the way, I’m from Wisconsin. I had been listening to Jackie Torrence on my cassette player every night until I had her stories memorized, down to the accent and inflection. Not long after, I performed another one of Jackie’s stories, “Tillie” at the Rhode Opera House alongside other members of TALES – Tri-county Area Liars, Elaborators and Storytellers. In this one experience, I accomplished three things which can promote literacy in the life of any young scholar: I found literacy sponsors in my mother and her story-telling group, I explored multimodal ways of learning by listening to Jackie Torrence’s audio tape, and I moved from a formative to performative experience by retelling her stories myself. In the following pages, I explore these methods of participating in the literacy community and address how they can be incorporated into the classroom.

Finding a Literacy Sponsor

Mrs. Sandy Jacoby, notorious for her harsh grading, pushed me to succeed, even when I’d rather be slacking off. She taught sophomore high school English and required a high level of excellence from her students, and even though I had historically earned straight As, she was the first to give me a B. I had purposefully procrastinated on a Great Gatsby project, reasoning that I would only lose one letter grade if I turned the marked book in a day late, or more sneakily, on the upcoming Monday after the weekend. Mrs. Jacoby insisted that I come to school and turn in the book on a Saturday or run the risk of failing the project altogether. I stayed up all night reading and highlighting and marking in the margins until I realized she would not allow me to fail and would push me to do my best.

On my papers I often got comments indicating that she felt I could do better. By the end of the semester, I found myself writing a 20+ page comparison paper analyzing themes connecting Stephen King’s Delores Claiborne and Gerald’s Game. More than the scholarly accomplishment of that paper, I enjoyed writing it. At the end of the class, Mrs. Jacoby invited me to join the school yearbook.

I was excited to join yearbook, not because I was popular or even knew most of the kids in my school, but because it sounded like a professional type of writing and editing that would be useful down the line. Again, Mrs. Jacoby required nothing less than perfection from her students, We also went on trips to the West coast, where yearbooks tend to be more competitive. We placed in national competitions and even won first one year at a conference. I committed myself to the yearbook for two years, moving from reporter to editor in chief, and spending most of the summer between high school and college completing the final touches on my senior yearbook.

I came back to help judge a regional competition the following year, when my little brother had joined the yearbook. He met his future wife working on the high school yearbook and Mrs. Jacoby was an honored guest at their wedding. Seeing her again, after so many years, I was glad to have the opportunity to thank her for believing in me, and pushing me to succeed, even when I didn’t want to push myself that hard. If every student had just one literacy sponsor like Mrs. Jacoby pushing them forward, they could see just how far they can reach. Sometimes, however, students have to find their own ways to adapt to difficult material.

Modes of Instruction

In college, reading for school posed a challenge for me, especially when I delved into literary analysis and had to dissect everything I read. I didn’t have much time to read for pleasure, so that became my only interaction with books, and it was often a painful one. When I approached Shakespeare from a written word perspective, I opted to rent every BBC DVD of the productions so I could see them performed rather than struggle through the archaic language. I also watched an entire miniseries when forced to read Charles Dickens’ Bleak House in a British literature course. It wasn’t that I couldn’t read the 800+ page book, but I couldn’t understand much of the language and struggled through it.

Some would claim that choosing to watch the video instead of reading the book was the cheater’s way out. If I had to go back and do it again, though, I would still watch the video as well as read the book. Particularly in the case of the plays, I feel that watching the video version of the text allowed me to engage with the material and see it as it was meant to be experienced. In many ways, I think experiencing text in a multi-modal format can help students fully grasp difficult language and at the very least, grasp the overall themes of the material.

Multi-modal formats are also more relevant to today’s students. Internet communication often incorporates visual literacies, different modes of textual messages, as well as video content. If we can bring these other formats to play in the classroom, not necessarily replacing textual documents but enhancing them, we can make instruction more relevant to students. This can then lead to a literacy experience that celebrates the student and their unique identities.

From Formative to Performative

              In college, I crafted my own poetry and I discovered performing it was even more entertaining than writing it. I joined student poetic groups and sought out open mics, which often included alcoholic beverages and a rowdy, active audience. On one occasion, I opted to share a piece I had written about how all Wisconsinites should be nudists. While announcing my survivalist claims, I slowly stripped down until I was wearing only a tiny swimsuit (in order to make my point, of course).

Other poems I shared explicitly described my budding sexuality. One of them described how I wished my then-boyfriend were a woman so I could explore my bicurious nature. Writing poetry allowed me to explore my own identity and all my potential identities. Not every student takes the opportunity to use their writing in this manner, but many do it unintentionally. Every thought that a student shares in their writing is a step toward developing a writerly identity and a voice in the ongoing discourse.

Programs that encourage students to actively participate and even perform increase student interest and help them move from formative to performative involvement in the literacy community. Spoken word poetry, in particular, has proven very effective in getting students interested in literacy, in expressing themselves, and in growing as both readers and writers. It helped me find a greater sense of community and identity as a young adult and can do the same for many other young people.

Conclusion

Although primarily rooted in the basics of reading and writing, literacy extends to auditory, gestural, and multimodal forms which allow one to socially interact within educational discourses. By encouraging full engagement with these multiple literacies, instructors invite their students to participate in discourse communities which mold the way they think and learn. For some students, three things can significantly propel literary development: finding a literacy sponsor, exploring different modes of instruction, and moving from formative to performative engagement. Incorporating these three aspects into the classroom can have a significant impact on students’ literacy development.