Elaina Gavrilovski
Professor Rinke
Writing 150
February 15, 2012
Completing
this narrative was quite the experience for me.
Creating the literacy timeline in the beginning of this narrative was my
favorite part. During this process, I reflected and listed all the events in my
life that was in relation to the literacy of my life up till the present. Doing
this made me revisit the past via memories. It also helped me realize how
effective being literate is. Writing, reading and speaking are the main points
that make up being a literate individual. The most logical place for me to
begin my timeline was simply my first word. Although, I hardly could remember
this moment in my life, I knew what it was for sure!
Throughout
this experience, I noticed how powerful it is speaking and comprehending two
languages fluently. This part of my literacy narrative dominated and therefore,
making it my theme. I knew right away that I would have a lot to write about if
I focused on how I learned my second language and how it affected me. After
completing the timeline, I noticed how being literate can vary in numerous
ways.
I easily narrowed down the area of focus on my written
narrative. As soon as I began writing, I knew exactly what my main topic was
going to be. I feel that my thoughts were clear and down to the point. As I
began to write my narrative, my thoughts would just come out naturally. I felt
that I was reliving the past as each new sentence was formed. I hardly had to
even look at my timeline to write my story. I enjoyed revisiting on some of the
most memorable moments in my life. The
final edits in my paper foreshadowed what I was going to put on my video slideshow.
The animoto video slideshow was the most challenging part
of this assignment to me. I feel like I really had to focus and to maintain a
clear, brief focus while doing this. I knew right away what I was going to do
it on, but I just did not know at first how to approach the slideshow. I wanted
to pick the best choice of words that I could to make my animoto video
slideshow as down to the point as possible. I found it pretty hard to limit
down my words to the 52-character limit per slide, but I figured my way around
to fit into the criteria. My strategy for this was to be as simple and clear as
possible.
The pictures I chose to share with my peers in my animoto
video slideshow went with the sentences as close as they could. The pictures I
used were from the time and age as the text explained. The images that I used
were personal and I think they added a greater emphasis on my narrative all
together. The images I selected helped tell my story because it helped my peers
imagine the time that each literacy steps took place in my life.
The song I choose is just a simple instrumental version.
I thought this was good a choice in music because it made my animoto passive and
flow well. It was not overwhelming and I did not have to worry about words
going along with the slideshow. I also chose this instrumental song because it
gave me a good vibe and I enjoyed the company of listening to it.
As I went and revisited my animoto slideshow, I enjoyed
reading what others had to say about it. The adjectives they used to describe
it were what I aiming for. Words like cultural, creative, and interesting were
words used that my peers used to describe my animoto and that made me feel
accomplished. Also, after watching it a second time I wish I rephrased some
words to make it sound a little less complicated.
Overall, this assignment was an enjoyable one to me. I
had a good time doing it and the topic was a lot of fun. It helped me touch
back upon memories that I totally forgot about. I wish for more assignment to
be like this because it was unique and I have never done something like it. My
favorite part of writing this literacy narrative was the very first step of it,
the timeline. The timeline portion was the foundation to my assignment.
