Dawn: Hello, and I N. Dawn Carter, and this semester in Essay Writing, I wrote two literacy narratives. And the first literacy narrative, the original draft, when I wrote it, I wrote what eventually kind of equated to a success narrative, per Kara Poe Alexander. And I equated literacy, or being knowledgeable, to being successful. But I wasn't 100% happy with that one. So I revised the first narrative, because I realized as I was writing, or as I started to re-write, that literacy is more about identity for me than it is about being successful. So, on the rewrite, I want to give you a little excerpt from the first paragraph, or the introduction. The name of my rewrite was entitled, "Who Am I Without Literacy?" And here's a portion of the first paragraph:\ "Growing up, everyone knew I was a nerd. I carried books around with me wherever I went, and I was always eager to spend recess in the library instead of the gym. From the onset, I was identified by my peers, teachers, and family by the one thing I loved most: reading."\ I'll skip ahead a little bit. "In many ways, I am a stereotypical introvert. If you invite me to a party, I am guaranteed to find a quiet corner about a quarter of the way through the event and pull out my ever-present e-reader to play\'a0 aboard game or finish a reading passage. Reading and words are very important to me." And that's a portion of my first literacy narrative. And as I had to revise my narrative for the second one, I realized that although reading was important, I didn't really touch upon writing, so my second narrative focused more on writing. And I'll give you an excerpt from the introduction for that. The name of my narrative--the second literacy narrative was entitled "Retelling My Story: Literacy and Me, Who I Am in Five Pages." Here's the first sentence: "I was 8 years old when my mother bought me my first diary. It was pink and white with a little lock and key, and it contained about 100 sheets of pink, blue, and purple paper. From the moment my mother gave me that diary, those pages became sacred ground for my thoughts. I don't know if it was the little lock, or my being able to write for leisure instead of schoolwork, but I felt special writing in that diary. Those colored pages were a special haven to me, and I used that paper sparingly."\ I'll skip ahead a little bit. I wrote: "I learned the power of writing my thoughts and feelings in a safe space that was meant for my eyes only. Writing became like air to me. It was a way for me to release all of the ideas and thoughts I held in."\ So what I discovered while I was writing my narratives is that from the first narrative, I focused mostly on reading and its impact, and I really thought at that time the best way to tell that story was to link it to success. And I mentioned in my first narrative about an illiterate ancestor, my great-grandfather, whom I met... and he couldn't read. And I thought that--I kept that in my rewrite, but I thought that that was the most important part. But when I revised my story, and I rewrote it and I focused on writing, I realized that what I really like about literature, what's really important to me about literature, is that it allows me to express myself in ways that I feel most comfortable. I organize my thoughts, I'm more confident, and I'm less inhibited when I write than when I am speaking. So, my second narrative, "Retelling My Story," which is the one I prefer, is really about writing. And the first one is about reading. And I wish I could have written a narrative that included more of both, and I guess I'll continue to work on that. But the narratives I've included: the first one is about reading and the second one is about writing.