Narratives and Generating Ideas - Joe Stajkowski

Our latest assignment was to read a few examples of literacy narratives. At the end of each example there were questions about the reading. I found these questions helped me understand what I had just read, and made me think about the reading in ways I normally would not after reading something. All of the examples were good but one stood out from the rest. The narrative by Malcom X was very powerful. His hunger for reading and learning was incredible. It really makes me feel blessed for receiving the education I do everyday at such a small price compared to what this man went through. He talks about getting on the floor in prison after "lights out" to catch a small glow of light to continue to read. I believe this desire and determination is what made him the intelligent man he was.

We also were to read a section on generating ideas and text. This was a main point of emphases of my 12th grade english teacher so I knew some of the methods already. Although I knew some I still learned new ways to generate ideas. The one that stood out the most to me was looping. It seems to me that this would help you think about what your trying to say and make sure you get everything out that you want. It seems as though it would help you remember things easier after multiple loops. I will most likely try this method in my next writing assignment.