Whitney Troutman Troutman 1

Dr. Jan Rieman

English 1102-073

February 6, 2011

I feel like I can add more to this paper, but I do not know what that is. My group did give me

some great advice and I tried to take it and add it to my paper. I still think this paper is simple,

but I sort of like it that way because it is how I normally talk to my mom (not using big, fancy

words). Making it in a letter format seemed to help me a lot because the words came easier to

me to make it more personal.

A Letter for Your Support (revised draft)

Dear Mom,

I have decided to write you a letter to tell you thank you for something you have done in

my past. Without you I do not think this would have happened. It is something that I take for

granted, I use it every day and because of it I am to write this letter to you.

As you know I am taking an English class this semester and you are aware of how much I

really do not care for this subject, but we have been learning about a topic. It is literacy and the

sponsors of literacy. It is a word that is common in an English classroom, but we really went to

the bottom of the topic. As a class and with the help of our professor the definition we came up

with is fluency in a given practice. The sponsor part is the people or items that helped you

accomplish that particular literacy. I decided to write to you because of an essay we were

assigned to read. It was written by an Indian author named Sherman Alexie. He grew up in a

place where Indian children were supposed to be stupid and dumb, but his father had a love for

books, just like you. Sherman began picking up his father’s books, looking at the pictures and
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pretty much taught himself to read and write (Alexie, pg. 445-448). Even though I did not teach

myself I was aware of your love for reading with all the books around the house which lead to

my literacy growth.

The most obvious literacy is the one that I want to thank you about; alphabetical

literacy.This is someone’s ability to read and write. I can think back to my first grade year when

it was just a dream for me to read. I know you are not the only one to thank; there is also Dad

and Mrs. Half, but I know you helped me the most.

You worked late at night while Dad was still working third shift and still sat down with

me every night to try and get the words to process in my head. My teacher and the assistant

worked just as hard and were ready to give up. Book after book I tried to read and then the

hooked-on-phonics stuff began. I know it must have been hard for you, but like I will mention

multiple times you never gave up and pushed through my stubbornness. Finally Mrs. Half

confronted you about holding me back a grade, but you would not allow it and just kept working

with until one day it clicked. I went from finally accomplishing “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What

Do You See?” to reading “The Scarlet Letter,” “Lysistrata” and many other books I was assigned

in class. Mom, I am sitting in a college dorm room writing a letter to you because you never gave

up on me to learn how to read which also helped me with my writing.

There was also one other thing that you rag me about that I do not let others hear enough.

A knowledge for the literacy of music. Yes, I know I wish I would have continued the piano

lessons you were giving me, but you taught me a great deal. I learned how to read music. I am

not fantastic, but I can do it. I can still piddle around on the piano and of course reading music
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helped me when I played the clarinet for a few years. Most importantly, you made the music

ability come that much easier to me when I played the hand bells at church while you directed.

While others struggled, I knew exactly what I was doing. The note I was supposed to play, the

volume, how to play four-in-hand and much more thanks to your music literacy background.

Again thank you Mom for what all you have lead me to accomplish in my life so far. I

know I am stubborn and hardly show affection to you, but I am grateful for the things you have

done for me. There are plenty of things that I can improve on, but know that what most people

compliment me on has been mainly taught from you.

Yours truly,
Whitney

Whitney,

This is wonderful, and I hope that you send a copy to your mom right away!

Your choice of a letter works very well here, and you have a keen attention to your
mom as audience. You show here that you have an understanding of multiple
literacies, one role a sponsor plays, and you tie your literacy history into some of
what we read this semester so far. Great!

You have your form, you have your content for the most part (I would like you to
think about how you rush through the books you learned to read—see marginal
comment), so now as you think toward revision, I want you to read your work aloud.
In this paper you seem to resist using commas where they may be helpful in
conveying how you intend someone to read your paper. Visit this site for some
helpful reminders about comma use: http://wrc.uncc.edu/Resources-for-Students/

Let me know what questions you have.

 Worked Cited

Alexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” Writing about Writing:

A College Reader.Eds. Wardle and Downs. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 445-448. Print.