by Evan Perez

2/23 English 110 The City College of New York Professor Vicars

Language & Literacy Narrative Brainstorms Worksheet

Your name: Evan Perez

Instructions: Please respond to the questions that follow with as much detail and description that you can. The more you put into reflecting now on the complexities of your language and literacy development, the better off you’ll be in completing our major assignment for our first phase of this course. Take as much space as you need.

When it comes to your experiences with language (speaking and listening) and literacy (reading and writing), what specific moments in your life can you recall that are particularly vivid or that emerge as being significant to you? Yes, it could be an example from your earliest memories of learning to speak, read, and write (in school or elsewhere), but it doesn’t have to be. It could be a memorable encounter—a moment of tension, confusion, or triumph. It could be about experiences developing additional dialects/languages and advanced literacies (i.e., learning to speak/write in different peer groups, at school, at work, with family, online, in different locations across the nation or world, etc. Please select 3 moments to describe. Then, explain why each is interesting or significant.

1.Going from English to Spanish while visiting Honduras – this was significant as I always struggled with Spanish growing up but during a trip to visit and meet my family in Honduras, I found that I was barely speaking English but was almost completely communicating in Spanish and I even noticed myself thinking in Spanish and not in English. I was proud and intrigued at how I subconsciously switched languages

2.Realizing that I need to change how I speak to other groups of friends – I’ve mainly stuck with the same type of friend groups that are used to my humor and teasing, but one time I entered a new friend group and quickly realized that I had to change the way I speak to this new group as it came off as rude when I meant to be playful

3.Recognizing how I am more confident when speaking in front of groups than to individuals – I remember telling a story to a group of friends on a call and being confident in my speaking, but later the next day, I went to speak with a friend one on one and found it really difficult to have a small talk and made a moment awkward which surprised me as I see myself as a confident speaker

What specific materials or artifacts (i.e., objects, writing, learning materials, pictures, video recordings, etc.) from your past can you locate/recall and that in some way represent a meaningful moment in your reading/writing development? This can be something like a journal or book, but also anything at all (e.g., a toy, piece of furniture, cereal box, art supplies, etc.) What memories and feelings can you extract from these examples you’ve gathered/recalled? Explain.

There is a photo of me in my room from when I was 2 years old, it was a photo of me on picture day at a school for special needs kids. I was enrolled into the school as I became mute for a considerable amount of time at home and doctors told my parents I may either be autistic or the constant switching between English and Spanish at home had confused me. In the picture I am not smiling but I have a straight face, the same straight face I had when I went mute

For better or worse, who and what impacted how, when, and why you developed your languages and literacies? Who in your family, at school, among your peer group, or in your community played a part? How did your particular situation or experience shape your literacy? That is, what sorts of issues, experiences, organizations, or life circumstances played a part? What kinds of languages and literacies did you gain from those people and your particular situation? How? Why? Explain.

My family significantly played a role in my not learning Spanish as I grew up. At first, my family stuck to only speaking to me in English so that I wouldn’t have a hard time in pre-school after being in the special needs school. As I grew into elementary school, I was made fun of and given a hard time for pronouncing Spanish words funny and wrong. From middle school to this day, I am shamed and criticized for not being fluent in Spanish which makes me feel disconnected from my culture, causing me to want to learn it less.

In what ways do you see your language, reading, and writing capabilities as having social consequences or impacting your life circumstances—that is, what advantages did/do you have and what disadvantages did/do you face as a result of your language and literacy learning?

Because I learned English primarily, I developed good literacy skills in public speaking and writing, better than my cousins and peers who do no speak fluent English. I alsodid not have to juggle Spanish and English growing up which is something I know my cousins had a hard time doing and it made their lives in school frustrating

How might your experience with language and literacy connect to larger social realities (e.g., of your life, family, generation, gender, race, culture, nation, geographic location, historical moment, etc.)?

In a way, as bad as it sounds, I feel as if I am respected/welcomed by white people more for being fluent in English and not having an accent. This however makes me feel privileged and isolated from my Hispanic culture