Tyson 1

Kattie Tyson
Professor Rebecca Agosta
UWRT 1101-035
1 October 2015
Literacy Narrative
My parents exposed me to reading and writing at an early age. I remember my mother
pointing to letters and slowly mouthing out the words as I sounded them out alongside her. Cuhcuh, ah-ah, teh-teh. Cat! My father would always read me stories like The Little Engine That
Could every night before I went to sleep. His dramatic tone and sound effects always kept me
interested. My mother showed me how to write my name by writing Kattie on a piece of paper,
and I would try to imitate it. These short recollections show my early access to reading and
writing.
English seemed to click from the start. I recall taking a writing test in the second grade
and scoring the highest out of everyone. We were given a prompt which I do not remember
now - and were told to use it to write a story. I remember looking around the classroom
nervously, as all my other classmates had already taken off into their stories. I began to
brainstorm and used the best idea I could think of to write about. As I started my story, it felt like
the words began to flow from my head to my paper. I finished in no time and was astonished to
find out that I had the best score. I felt very accomplished and excited. From that point, writing
came easily to me.
When I was assigned writing assignments all throughout school, it didnt even feel like
work. It came so naturally to me. I seemed to struggle with many other subjects, but writing was

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my strong suit. Almost like my comfort-zone in school. Im not saying I never got a case of
writers block every once in a while, but for the most part, I did well with writing.
Although I had a smooth start in writing, I did not accomplish it alone. I consider my
parents one of the biggest influences on my writing and on the way I communicate. Vincent
Cremonas, My Pen Writes In Blue and White, talks about how his parents different dialects
impacts his writing and speech. When I think about my parents dialect, I think more about the
way they say things and how that affects my writing and speech.
My father, a pipefitting company owner, sees things realistically. He is a businessman.
Very straight forward and to the point. One of his famous sayings is, Chicken pays the bills,
(the pipes his company puts in are often located in chicken plants). He does not beat around the
bush when he is speaking to someone. His realistic way of thinking is almost to the point of
being pessimistic. A sticker on his computer actually says, My daughter and my money go to
Clemson, referring to my sister, who goes out-of-state to Clemson University.
My mother on the other hand, is more optimistic. She also owns the family company with
my father. She sees things in a more hopeful perspective. Her speech is very comforting and
makes you feel better. I always tell her Im going to fail or I cant do it and she replies with,
Kattie, no matter what, it is all going to work out. You arent going to fail anyways, you are
smart.
Cremona states, I, myself, have taken the plain, frank, honest words of my father and
joined them with the proper and formal words of my mother to form the dialect that I now speak
(206), which reminds me of how I do the same. My speech is sort of a combination of my
fathers bluntness and my mothers optimism. I think that this helps my writings and when I am
reading.

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I see things in my parents two different perspectives. Take my views on writing for
example. Frankly, though my fathers view, I see writing as just writing. Words on a paper. Not
much to it. Reflectively, through my mothers view, I see writing as self-expression. A way of
getting a point across. This helps when there is a time for writing more simplistically and to the
point (journals), or when there is a time for writing more reflectively or complicated (blogs). My
parents dialects go hand-in-hand with the way I write and speak.
My parents have greatly affected the way I communicate, but there have also been some
outside influences, such as teachers and peers. I recall in the fifth grade, one of my English
teachers always corrected my speech, which was improper in her eyes. She was the very picky
type of teacher and things had to be just perfectly according to her standards. I would ask, Can I
use the restroom? and her reply would be, I dont know can you? She insisted that we say,
May I use the restroom. As annoying as she was, my teachers smart comebacks always
motivated me to say things properly to avoid embarrassment again. She and many other
overbearing teachers along the way are the reason I speak the way I do.
My peers have also influenced my communication. Through them, I have picked up slang
terms/phrases. It is almost like a language within a language. Instead of saying, Okay, cool, we
might say, Word. Dont make fun of me because I know you have all said it. Another common
term that many people use is selfie. These words that I hear from people around me slowly
accrue in my everyday vocabulary. Although it is my everyday language, I know when it is
appropriate to use it and when it is not.
I know when to use the more formal vocabulary that I have learned and when to use my
everyday language. I speak more formally, like my teacher taught me, when I am presenting

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something or speaking with authority. I know I can use my everyday language and slang with my
friends or even family.
My access to different types of writing has also affected my writing style. Throughout
school, I was taught many different ways to write. It began with simple sentences in the lower
grades, building up to paragraphs, to short stories and so on. This access was not just because of
teachers, but because of the writing programs implemented where I went to school.
In middle school, my entire grade went through a writing program that taught us the
famous five-paragraph essay. We were taught how to do it. Introductory paragraph. Three subtopic paragraphs. Finally, the conclusion. Then, we were assigned to write one. After we wrote
it, we were given feedback and were taught how to edit. Exposure to types of writing, like this
one, is how school has given me access to different writing styles. Experiences like this has
shaped me into the writer that I am today, and I would have to thank my school system for that.
Fortunately for me, writing and reading hasnt been much of an issue for me so far. I
think this is because of my parents and their early influences on me. I also look to my parents as
major influences on the way I write and communicate. I have combined their dialects to form my
own unique dialect. I have also integrated the dialects of my teachers, peers, and the people
around me into my own. My access to different writing styles has directly influenced the way I
write. It is what has shaped my own writing process. Over the years, I have become an even
stronger writer, reader, and communicator because of the influences and experiences I have
described.

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Works Cited
Cremona, Vincent. My Pen Writes in Blue and White. (pp. 206-209)