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Amber MauroMrs. MarcumLiteracy NarrativeMarch 29, 2015Dinner Table One night after dinner, during the beginning of freshman year of high school, I was clearing the table with my mother and everything was going along like normal. My father and big brother were still at the table hashing something out when out of nowhere my dad interrupts what I’m doing because he has a question for me. He starts out by asking me if I’d like to write a book with him and goes on telling me that he already has a few ideas he’d like to pitch. At the time I was sure I wanted to become a writer , so naturally this intrigued me and I wanted to sit and listen to what he had to say I took a seat and was all ears. I remember him pitching three ideas, but I can only remember the one we choose. It’s a drama about a family who loses a daughter due to a kidnapping and her brother later in life making it his life mission to find her and make sure that no family has to deal with the pain his had to endure. You might be asking, “Why would anyone want to write a book with their daughter?” Or “How does he have the time?” Well my father is an innovative man who, at the time, was hard at work and stressed out of his mind. He thought that he needed something constructive to do and what better way to do that then with his daughter and one of her current dreams. Within a few days after he pitched the idea we were hard at work every night after he came home from work. At first, to me, the book had just started off as something I was doing with my dad for fun, but it developed into something so much more as the process moved forward. One of the first things I remember doing is curling up on my dad’s bed with a new notebook and a pencil in hand ready to hash out all the small details of the character’s and there back stories. Coming up with the characters had to be the easiest part for me at the time and some of the back stories came just as easy. At the time writing in detail was not a strong suit of mine. It was something I struggled with because I was sure that I didn’t have a creative bone in my body. But by going deeper and deeper into a character’s role, I was forced to think outside the box and think of different scenarios that we’d put each of them through. It proved to be much tougher than anticipated. Each character interacted in more than one way, their past and present was what linked them. It was hard to keep everything straight, but thankfully I wasn’t doing it myself. It was important that we had most of the characters before we started the actual first draft so the story would flow well.All the preparation was good because that’s what opened my mind, I was able to create an actual thought and let it flow as I was typing. Although I will admit my dad had most the great ideas for the book. The realization I came to was that letting my imagination?run wild and having free forming ideas were a lot harder than I thought. I found myself on a nightly basis struggling not only to keep the story going?but the ideas that me and my father had discussed seemed locked in my mind. I would struggle to make basic sentences that made sense. The book writing process that my father and I came up with went something like this; one night we’d write a chapter of the book, and, then critique each other’s work the following day. My father has great common sense and a wild imagination, it came so easy for him. Within a matter of ten minutes he could have three paragraphs written. It was like what I was thinking and then putting onto the page where two very different things. At first this annoyed me, but over time with his help I overcame my imagination hump and learned not to stress over being creative all the time. Over the time of writing with my father I learned how to convey what I thought onto a page, although still in the process of learning how to structure well thought out sentences. Like all people I’m a work in progress. Prior to really finishing all the nitty gritty stuff for the book my dad thought it be a great idea for some family members to read it. So I printed off about four copies and sent it to immediate family members and waited in anticipation. For the most part it was all good feedback: some couldn’t put it down and they wanted more, some just said it was a great story, and others just loved that my father and I had done it together and it wasn’t half bad. Before this my dad and I didn’t really know what we were going to do with it.After 2 years of collaboration, writing, and rethinking the final product was done. Now that the goal of this journey was done I was able to say although writing is fun and enjoyable there was no way I would be able to pursue it as a full time job. The whole process seemed more difficult than need be for a writer, I mean I’ve heard of writers block, but I was having more trouble than that. If anything the experience made the creative gears in my mind start moving clearing all the cobwebs. My writing in school classes improved and I became more confident with descriptive and opinion based papers. The end result of the book after about a good four to six month search for a publisher, someone who’d publish the book with no cost to us, we’d settled with American Star Books. This publisher sent us a contract that stated what we were inclined to do; it was completely free of cost to us. We didn’t have much say in how or what way they would publish the book, but they were going to publish it. On November 8, 2012. I became a published author at the age of 16 with my father at my side. The realization of this still has not hit me 3 years later, but there are three very important things I got out of the experience. One, I was not made to become a writer as I once thought, coming up with content on demand is not my strong suit. Second, my attention to detail and discussion in any type of writing, formal or free write, has improved tremendously because of the experience. It was great to learn the process of writing a book;writing process although very challenging it was a great learning experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. Last, but not least I had a higher appreciation for people that spendt the time to sit downone and write for others enjoyment. For authors who have the ability to sit in front of the computer and instantly create a master piece. I am far from where I would like to be with writing, but with every English class since freshman year I’ve’ve visual seen my writing improve. Literacy is something each person should take the time to look at;, its importance in one’s life is more significant than one might think. Literacy is applied to all aspects of life and it sometimes plays a role in shaping the person you become.Amber,What a great story! I can’t imagine how it feels to be a published author at your age. You clearly do a great job of describing the experience and detailing how you and your father wrote the book. You also do some work giving the significance of writing the book on you today. The fullness of your story telling is the major strength of the essay. If you choose to revise this essay, the areas that need some improvement are: the sentence-level issues (commas with introductory phrases, for one), possibly adding some details about the characters or plot from the book or some dialogue with your dad during one of your sessions, and maybe you could say a little more about why people should care about literacy at all. Overall, nice work.Total=83Rubric for Assignment #1: Literacy NarrativeCategory43210Assignment Requirements20 points17Exceeds requirements for the assignment. Clearly addresses the prompt by telling a story about your literacy. Includes reflection and analysis of your experiences, which attributes an overall meaning or lesson to the narrative.Meets all requirements for the assignment. Clearly addresses the prompt by telling a story about your literacy. Includes some reflection on those experiences.Meets most of the requirements for the assignment. Addresses the prompt by telling a story about your literacy. May not adequately focus the story or provide adequate details on the events.Meets some, but not all, of the requirements for the assignment. Tells a story about your literacy, but does not develop the story completely. Parts are missing or unclear.Does not meet the requirements of the assignment. Discusses the topic generally or fails to provide a complete story.Creativity20 points17Demonstrates originality andmastery of the objectives or material. The story contains many creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has really used imagination.Demonstrates above-averageinsight and a thorough understanding of the objectives or material. The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions that contribute to the reader's enjoyment. The author has used imagination.Demonstrates a basicunderstanding of the objectives or material, but often relies on generic or predictable techniques. The story contains a few creative details and/or descriptions. The author has tried to use imagination.Demonstrates a partialunderstanding of the objectives or material. The story contains one or two creative details, but they distract from the story. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.Demonstrates littleunderstanding of the objectives or material. There is little evidence of creativity in the story.RhetoricalStrategies20 points17Addresses audience,purpose, and voice with expertise through the savvy use of rhetorical strategies. Engages audience with vibrant details and storytelling. Any multimodal components are well- integrated and integral to the story.Addresses audience,purpose, and voice well with the appropriate use of specific rhetorical strategies. Engages audience with strong details. Any multimodal components are relevant to the story.Addresses most aspects ofaudience, purpose, and voice with rhetorically-appropriate strategies. Engages audience with some details. Any multimodal components are poorly integrated or may be more decorative than relevant to the story.Addresses some aspects ofaudience, purpose, and voice, and/or inconsistently uses rhetorical strategies. Does not fully engage, audience. Any multimodal components are only partially or vaguely connected to the story.Fails to address audience,purpose, and/or voice and/or uses rhetorical strategies incompletely or incorrectly. Does not engage or build interest in the reader. Any multimodal components are irrelevant or distract from the anization20 points17Uses a strong narrativestructure. One idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with strong transitions.Uses a clear narrativestructure. One idea or scene may seem out of place. Clear transitions are used.Is a little hard to follow. Thetransitions are sometimes not clear.Is a hard to follow. Thesequence of events may be mixed-up or unclear.Ideas and scenes seem to berandomly arranged.AcademicCorrectness20 points15Contains no errors ingrammar, spelling, or mechanics. Format is extremely polished and professional. Title is creative, sparks interest and is related to the story and topic.Contains only minor errors ingrammar, spelling, or mechanics. Format is polished and shows your effort. Title is related to the story and topic.Contains several minor errorsin grammar, spelling, or mechanics. Format is clean and consistent. Title is present, but is general or predictable.Contains one or two majorerrors in grammar, spelling, or mechanics. Format is inconsistent or not appropriate. Title is present, but does not seem related to the story and/or topic.Contains several major errorsin grammar, spelling, or mechanics. Format shows no attention to appearance. Includes no title.English 112Spring 2015 Ashley Marcum ................
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