In general, literacy narrative assignments prompt students to explore and reflect on how their past experiences with language, literacy, and schooling inform their perceptions of themselves as writers and literate beings. (Poe Alexander, 609)
Ultimately, literacy narratives aim “to define who we are and what we want to become, both as individuals and as a community” (M. Young 26). (Poe Alexander, 609)
Scholars have identified one common feature of student literacy narratives: dominant, archetypal stories. #2 These common stories follow conventional patterns of narration and correspond to prevailing cultural representations of literacy perpetuated through literature, film, television, and the news media. (Poe Alexander, 609)
#2: See the following works for more information on dominant narratives in the literacy narrative genre: Carpenter and Falbo; Clark and Medina; Fox; Paterson; Williams; and Morris Young’s Minor Re/Visions.
Showing posts with label literacy narrative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literacy narrative. Show all posts
Monday, September 9, 2013
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Poe Alexander
...literacy narrative assignments prompt students to explore and reflect on how their past experiences with language, literacy, and schooling inform their perceptions of themselves as writers and literate beings. (609)
Ultimately, literacy narratives aim “to define who we are and what we want to become, both as individuals and as a community” (M. Young 26). (609)
Scholars have identified one common feature of student literacy narratives: dominant, archetypal stories. (609)
The most common “cultural narrative” that scholars observe students performing in literacy narratives is the conventional literacy success story, a narrative that assumes the more literate one is, the more successful he or she will be. (609)
Stephanie Paterson observes that the success stories students construct are about the accumulation of literacy: students write about going to school to make good grades so that they will earn more money and be more successful later (103). (609)
...success narratives paint literacy as pragmatic and utilitarian, a means to economic, cul- tural, social, and political success (609)
Because the cultural narrative that literacy necessarily leads to success is simplistic and even inaccurate, it can be characterized as a “master” narrative, which, according to Jean-François Lyotard, is an overarching story people tell themselves about their experiences in relation to the culture, literature, or history of a society (31). Also known as “grand” or “metanarratives,” master narratives both have the unfortunate result of gross overgeneralization and act invisibly to structure and define our lives (610)
little narratives are unsanctioned, artistic, and imaginative; they are less generalizable and more individualized and situated (Lyotard 31, 60). In fact, little narratives assume that “literacy is multiple, contextual, and ideological” (Daniell 403), and they “present many truths about literacy, not one Truth about it” (406). In addition, little narratives are often told by marginalized groups, such as women and minorities, whose stories run counter to the dominant literacy myths (e.g., Brodkey; Daniell; Gere). Although little narratives do take into account similarities and differences of communities, they do not try to reify experience or stereotype large groups of people like master narratives do. Rather, little narratives allow us to see “their importantly oppositional, or critical, social, and political energies” (Kreiswirth 310): the little narratives critique and challenge the dominant master narratives. In sum, little narratives “are more restricted in scope, [ are] more contextually bound, and seek to make sense of lived experience in a particular domain” (Sandlin and Clark 1002). (611)
...because little narratives allow glimpses into the lives of people whose stories have been overlooked, they are also more multicultural (612).
Do the cultural narratives (little and master) vary according to demo- graphics, such as race, class, or gender? We might expect marginalized groups to invoke little narratives or “counter-stories” more often, but do they? (612)
Method:
Dividing each literacy narrative into smaller episodes allowed me to categorize the many different performances students made throughout their texts. (612-613)
However, student papers could theoretically contain all cultural narratives (since multiple episodes were in each student’s paper). (614)
Findings:
Close examination of student essays shows that when students compose a school-based literacy narrative, they invoke cultural narratives, including both the master narrative of success and other little narratives. The average student essay included at least five cultural narratives; one essay contained all seven, and no essay contained fewer than three. These findings demonstrate that students are not relying solely on the success master narrative to frame their literacy experiences, but rather are using multiple stories to communicate their experiences. Of the cultural narratives students used, the success master narrative was by far the most common: almost one-third (30%) of all episodes aligned to this cultural narrative. Other cultural narratives were invoked as well. The two most common little narratives in student essays were the victim and the hero (19% and 15%, respectively). (614)
The most common “little” narrative in student literacy narratives was the victim story, which almost one-fifth (19%) of episodes invoked. In victim narratives, students wrote about negative school-based literacy experi- ences that stigmatized and marked them, including being misread by poor or insensitive teachers, having a “masterpiece” ruined by a teacher’s notorious red ink, or being forced to write research papers and read books for critique rather than pleasure. (617)
...literacy is intricately connected to identity...students have varied liter- ate identities. Readers do not find one dominant story of literacy; rather, we are exposed to multiple and varied selves along the literacy journey. (625)
In contrast to the little narratives that affirm the success narrative, some little narratives provide counterstories to the master narrative of success. The victim, rebel, and outsider narratives do not reify or support the success narra- tive; rather, they provide alternative ways of viewing our literate lives. (626)
...victim narratives show us, most profoundly, that not all stories are framed in terms of success. Victim narratives in fact challenge the success story by highlighting the negative consequences of literacy. (626)
the rebel and outsider narratives also provide alternatives to the success narrative, although to a lesser extent than the victim because of how little they were used. Rebel narratives highlight moments of subversion and transgression, when students use literacy in un- sanctioned ways, while outsider narratives portray a literate self who does not fit in and looks in on the literate activities in which others seem to participate as part of the norm. In sum, these three little narratives demonstrate that anguish, loss, and hopelessness are also parts of the journey toward literacy: much of what characterizes our literacy experiences involves a great deal of pain and hurt, loss and struggle. (626-627)
These little narratives also both reinforce and challenge the master narrative of success. (627)
the stories we tell are part of larger cultural conversations on literacy, language, and schooling. We are not alone in our literacy experiences; rather, our stories are connected to and informed by others. (627)
One class activity could involve a discussion of the concepts of master and little narratives common to the literacy narrative genre. Instructors could give students a list of the seven cultural narratives examined here. Then, as the class reads exemplary literacy narratives such as those by Rodriguez, hooks, Douglass, or Villanueva, students could locate the cultural narratives these published authors use to tell their stories. (627-628)
Ultimately, literacy narratives aim “to define who we are and what we want to become, both as individuals and as a community” (M. Young 26). (609)
Scholars have identified one common feature of student literacy narratives: dominant, archetypal stories. (609)
The most common “cultural narrative” that scholars observe students performing in literacy narratives is the conventional literacy success story, a narrative that assumes the more literate one is, the more successful he or she will be. (609)
Stephanie Paterson observes that the success stories students construct are about the accumulation of literacy: students write about going to school to make good grades so that they will earn more money and be more successful later (103). (609)
...success narratives paint literacy as pragmatic and utilitarian, a means to economic, cul- tural, social, and political success (609)
Because the cultural narrative that literacy necessarily leads to success is simplistic and even inaccurate, it can be characterized as a “master” narrative, which, according to Jean-François Lyotard, is an overarching story people tell themselves about their experiences in relation to the culture, literature, or history of a society (31). Also known as “grand” or “metanarratives,” master narratives both have the unfortunate result of gross overgeneralization and act invisibly to structure and define our lives (610)
little narratives are unsanctioned, artistic, and imaginative; they are less generalizable and more individualized and situated (Lyotard 31, 60). In fact, little narratives assume that “literacy is multiple, contextual, and ideological” (Daniell 403), and they “present many truths about literacy, not one Truth about it” (406). In addition, little narratives are often told by marginalized groups, such as women and minorities, whose stories run counter to the dominant literacy myths (e.g., Brodkey; Daniell; Gere). Although little narratives do take into account similarities and differences of communities, they do not try to reify experience or stereotype large groups of people like master narratives do. Rather, little narratives allow us to see “their importantly oppositional, or critical, social, and political energies” (Kreiswirth 310): the little narratives critique and challenge the dominant master narratives. In sum, little narratives “are more restricted in scope, [ are] more contextually bound, and seek to make sense of lived experience in a particular domain” (Sandlin and Clark 1002). (611)
...because little narratives allow glimpses into the lives of people whose stories have been overlooked, they are also more multicultural (612).
Method:
Dividing each literacy narrative into smaller episodes allowed me to categorize the many different performances students made throughout their texts. (612-613)
However, student papers could theoretically contain all cultural narratives (since multiple episodes were in each student’s paper). (614)
Findings:
Close examination of student essays shows that when students compose a school-based literacy narrative, they invoke cultural narratives, including both the master narrative of success and other little narratives. The average student essay included at least five cultural narratives; one essay contained all seven, and no essay contained fewer than three. These findings demonstrate that students are not relying solely on the success master narrative to frame their literacy experiences, but rather are using multiple stories to communicate their experiences. Of the cultural narratives students used, the success master narrative was by far the most common: almost one-third (30%) of all episodes aligned to this cultural narrative. Other cultural narratives were invoked as well. The two most common little narratives in student essays were the victim and the hero (19% and 15%, respectively). (614)
The most common “little” narrative in student literacy narratives was the victim story, which almost one-fifth (19%) of episodes invoked. In victim narratives, students wrote about negative school-based literacy experi- ences that stigmatized and marked them, including being misread by poor or insensitive teachers, having a “masterpiece” ruined by a teacher’s notorious red ink, or being forced to write research papers and read books for critique rather than pleasure. (617)
...literacy is intricately connected to identity...students have varied liter- ate identities. Readers do not find one dominant story of literacy; rather, we are exposed to multiple and varied selves along the literacy journey. (625)
In contrast to the little narratives that affirm the success narrative, some little narratives provide counterstories to the master narrative of success. The victim, rebel, and outsider narratives do not reify or support the success narra- tive; rather, they provide alternative ways of viewing our literate lives. (626)
...victim narratives show us, most profoundly, that not all stories are framed in terms of success. Victim narratives in fact challenge the success story by highlighting the negative consequences of literacy. (626)
the rebel and outsider narratives also provide alternatives to the success narrative, although to a lesser extent than the victim because of how little they were used. Rebel narratives highlight moments of subversion and transgression, when students use literacy in un- sanctioned ways, while outsider narratives portray a literate self who does not fit in and looks in on the literate activities in which others seem to participate as part of the norm. In sum, these three little narratives demonstrate that anguish, loss, and hopelessness are also parts of the journey toward literacy: much of what characterizes our literacy experiences involves a great deal of pain and hurt, loss and struggle. (626-627)
These little narratives also both reinforce and challenge the master narrative of success. (627)
the stories we tell are part of larger cultural conversations on literacy, language, and schooling. We are not alone in our literacy experiences; rather, our stories are connected to and informed by others. (627)
One class activity could involve a discussion of the concepts of master and little narratives common to the literacy narrative genre. Instructors could give students a list of the seven cultural narratives examined here. Then, as the class reads exemplary literacy narratives such as those by Rodriguez, hooks, Douglass, or Villanueva, students could locate the cultural narratives these published authors use to tell their stories. (627-628)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)