Michael Bingham

Professor Campbell
English 1101
9/8/14
Literacy Narrative
I can distinctly remember two occasions in my past that made me realize what
you can achieve through both reading and writing. The first of which was during fourth
grade when I had a big writing assignment that we had been working on over the course
of the year. In Kentucky, as a student, you have what is called a portfolio that will stay
with you all the way until you graduate high school; mostly composed of a big paper in
fourth grade as well as another one in seventh grade to track your progress. I moved to
North Carolina before I got the chance to go to high school in Kentucky so I dont know
exactly what the portfolio was composed of in high school. As for reading, I had never
really been a fan of it and never completely understood the point of it until I read the
book Marley and Me. These both were pivotal points in becoming the reader and writer I
am today.
For the writing assignment we had to write a four-page short story on any topic
we chose. I wrote Zookeeper. It was about how a little kid ran away from his parents at
the Louisville Zoo and ended up doing some Jackie Chan like stuff to get the zookeepers
keys and let out all of the animals including the Gorillas, Kangaroos, and Giraffes. On
first draft of this paper I didnt take it too seriously and just went through the motions. I
had never considered myself a good writer yet I had what I believe to be a pretty complex
vocabulary for a fourth grader at the time. The librarian was revising my paper and sat

me down to tell me that she saw potential in this paper and that she wanted me to start all
the way over with it. I kept the same story line yet made it flow together better and was
more descriptive in the key moments. The librarian motivated me the whole way through
and would give me key pointers on how to improve my paper. I wrote this paper along
with my other classmates and out of everyone in the school, only three students earned
the perfect score. I was one of them along with a girl named Katy-Beth and Connor
Hutcherson. Connor Hutcherson is Josh Hutchersons brother, the actor off of Bridge to
Terabithia and Hunger Games, and I ended up meeting him and getting his autograph
because I was recognized for that award. He had been my idol for a couple of years
because he was known as the legend at our school and nobody ever got to really see him
even though his brother was in our grade. I shook his hand and I instantly started to feel
myself get awkward and I didnt exactly know what to say so held out my shirt to him
and said, Please and he knew exactly what I meant. He wrote with a metallic silver
sharpie onto my black shirt I had received for the award and gave me back my shirt and
said congratulations and I was the happiest little kid in the world. At the time it was the
coolest experience I had at that point in my life. One of the best feelings I have
experienced so far in life is being recognized for being successful and it is very humbling
at the same time. This led on to me trying to be the best I could be at everything such as
sports, academics, and gaming. I know the last one is cheesy but it made me feel as if I
had to compete against everyone else and it was that instant gratification of feeling
successful once you beat someone but on a much smaller scale then winning a big award
or something of that nature. I lived for the times after I got out of school and could play
kids in a Madden game and beat them by a couple touchdowns just so that I could really

show them who the boss was. Experiencing other people praise me for success at this
young of an age made me realize how important it is to take pride in your work and to
have the will to always strive for excellence in all concepts of life. Not every time that
you do something great will people say something; if you make it a habit of being
successful, everyone around you will notice.
While growing up, I was raised with dogs by my side the whole way through my
childhood. My Mom would foster dogs while they were in the process of being saved
from being put down to being adopted by an owner. Therefore, there were always little
dogs and puppies running around my house. I came to be one of the biggest dog people
out there. These dogs were like family to me; they were furry brothers and sisters. There
were constantly new dogs being shuffled into the mix in my house and I had a certain
bond with almost every one of them that only pet owners could understand. I began
reading Marley and Me after my Mom recommended it to me after she had read it. She
had been trying to get me to read it for a couple months after she read it because she said,
it was one of the best ways to express how you feel about dogs. I didnt want to read it
because I didnt see the point in reading books other than in school and out of school I
only read what I had to such as the ticker that runs along the bottom of the screen during
Sportscenter. During the summer of my seventh to eighth grade year we decided to go
back to Wyoming to visit some family. We took the plane and I knew I was going to be
really bored because the only thing to do on the plane is read the SkyMall magazines and
I figured since I would be reading, why not read the book my mom had recommended to
me. I started the book and instantly fell in love. I could relate to the book so well and the
analogies were so descriptive that I could imagine everything that was happening and I

would find myself smiling into the book as I read it because I could see everything so
vividly. The author, John Grogan, used such good details that I felt as if I was a part of
the story the whole way through. I was a fly on the wall throughout the whole book and
knew exactly what was going on. I knew what the characters were thinking and I could
relate to it all because I have the same thoughts when it comes to dogs. While we were
visiting with family I would find myself sneaking off to read the book in peace and quiet.
I was so involved with the book that it was ridiculous. It made me envision situations that
nothing else could. The description during parts such as when Marley was about to get
neutered and the humor that John Grogan wrote with made me feel as if I was the one
enjoying the moment. His quotes such as A dog doesnt care if youre rich or poor,
clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and hell give you his, were some of
the quotes my Mom was talking about which would best express how you truly feel about
dogs. A book could put every one of my feelings towards something on paper and it was
an easy way to make sense of the feelings. I watched the movie as soon as it came out. I
was expecting it to be the best thing ever. I mean dont get me wrong; it was a great
movie and all. It just wasnt what I was expecting from the book. The book described
everything so much better and from the movie you couldnt notice every little detail like
you could in the book. The book described things so well that it made me mad to see how
poorly the movie depicted the situations. I didnt feel nearly as involved with the movie
as I did with the book. If you can write well then you can touch a lot of people and help
them put their thoughts onto paper and make sense of them.