Originals
- Before we dig deeper into these narratives, it is worth introducing the texts that are being used for this research, as well as attempting to formally define what an outsider is, in the words of scholars as well as in regards to literacy narratives. The first scholarly piece used is by the author Bronwyn T. Williams, titled Heroes, Rebels, and Victims: Students identities in Literacy Narratives, and Williams highlights the arc of being an outsider by describing it as students who “wrote about themselves as being invisible or used metaphors about being unclean or outcast from the world of literacy” (Williams 344) and, if any reader already knows a definition of outcast in a broader sense, should not be surprised or confused by Williams definition at all. Kara Poe Alexander, in Successes, Victims, and Prodigies: “Master” and “Little” Cultural Narratives in the Literacy Narrative Genre, describes an outsider as portraying themselves as an outsider “in relation to something else in the story, such as literacy, pedagogy, other students, the school system, etc;” as well as having a “negative, apathetic, or hopeless attitude towards literacy; does not asign blame” (Alexander 615) and again, much like Williams, nothing extreme or new in defining what an outsider is. Alexander does offer some context as to where an outsider can be found in regards to the story, things like at school, with others students, in literacy, etc, and in addition, she offers statistical data for the most common cultural narratives of literacy, and as I stated above, outsider is the last, ranked eighth, having just five percent of literacy episodes. The introduction of the scholarly work from Alexander and Williams can be a reference point for those looking to see what an outsider, to see how common it is, and to see the context in which they exist. Now, to advance to examining actual literacy narratives written by students.
- The next narrative, has an far more different spin on the outsider type than Natalie did. Instead of being an outsider in a social setting, Jeremy Diaz is an outsider in relation to literacy. He was not always this way, describing himself as liking reading when he was younger, but as he grew up he started to lose all interest in reading. He credits this to being so good at reading, the “teachers didn’t really push me too hard because I was above where I needed to be” (Diaz 1) showing that the reason he became an outsider was because his teachers acted as negative literacy sponsors, withholding progressing in literacy from him as they didn’t pay attention to him since he was already proficient. His disdain for reading got even worse as his grew older, describing his like for reading reaching zero to none by fifth grade. However, in keeping with the subtheme of sponsors, one of his teachers, Mrs. Jimenez acts as a positive sponsor, pushing Jeremy to reiginite his passion for reading by questioning what he liked and what interests were, and in doing so, finding a book that he would like. She gave him one of the books in the Percy Jackson series, and, like Natalie, he was able to relate to the character because he was from New York City, like Jeremy, as well as being determined, caring, and unselfish. This immediate like for the books main character pushed Jeremy to find books with characters he liked. He says that he “knew that I liked that characters then it would make the time I spent reading a whole lot easier” (Diaz 3). He credits Mrs. Jiminez with getting him back into reading, but unfortunately, his opinion on reading itself did not change. He still saw it as a burden, but if he found a book or genre he liked, he wouldn’t mind reading. While a lot to unpack in comparison to Natalie, the most obvious point is that they both found books with characters they liked, and had traits they could relate too, and in a difference to Natalie, Jeremy had two direct sponsors, his teachers when he was younger, acting in both positive and negative manners to either regress his like for reading or push him forward, but ultimately, not fully changing his opinion on reading, thus relegating him to still being an outsider in regards to literacy.
Revised
- Before we dig deeper into these narratives, it is useful to introduce the texts that are being used for this research, as well as attempting to formally define what an outsider is, in the words of scholars as well as in regards to literacy narratives/ The first scholarly piece used is by the author Bronwyn T. Williams, titled Heroes, Rebels, and Victims: Students identities in Literacy Narratives, which highlights the arc of being an outsider by describing it as students who “wrote about themselves as being invisible or used metaphors about being unclean or outcast from the world of literacy” (Williams 344) and for most readers, will recognize that as a familiar definition of literacy even in a broad perspective not necessarily tied to literacy narratives. Williams recognizes those as outsiders who are seen as invisible or outcast from the world of literacy, this is especially important to recognize in the world of literacy part, as we will see in some of the narratives that literacy is the very thing that makes the individual an outsider. Kara Poe Alexander, in Successes, Victims, and Prodigies: “Master” and “Little” Cultural Narratives in the Literacy Narrative Genre, describes an outsider as portraying themselves as an outsider “in relation to something else in the story, such as literacy, pedagogy, other students, the school system, etc;” as well as having a “negative, apathetic, or hopeless attitude towards literacy; does not assign blame” (Alexander 615) and this definition is very similar to Williams, nothing extreme or new in defining what an outsider is. Alexander does offer some context as to where an outsider can be found in regards to the story, things like at school, with others students, in literacy, etc, and in addition, she offers statistical data for the most common cultural narratives of literacy, and as I stated above, outsider is the last, ranked eighth with having just five percent of literacy episodes. The introduction of the scholarly work from Alexander and Williams can be a reference point for those looking to see what an outsider is, to see how common it is, and to see the context in which they exist. Now, to advance to examining actual literacy narratives written by students.
- The next narrative, has an far more different spin on the outsider type than Natalie did. Instead of being an outsider in a social setting, Jeremy Diaz is an outsider in relation to literacy. He was not always this way, describing himself as liking reading when he was younger, but as he grew up he started to lose all interest in reading. He credits this to being so good at reading, the “teachers didn’t really push me too hard because I was above where I needed to be” (Diaz 1) showing that the reason he became an outsider was because his teachers acted as negative literacy sponsors, withholding progressing in literacy from him as they didn’t pay attention to him since he was already proficient. His disdain for reading got even worse as his grew older, describing his like for reading reaching zero to none by fifth grade. However, in keeping with the subtheme of sponsors, one of his teachers, Mrs. Jimenez acts as a positive sponsor, pushing Jeremy to reignite his passion for reading by questioning what he liked and what interests were, and in doing so, finding a book that he would like. She gave him one of the books in the Percy Jackson series, and, like Natalie, he was able to relate to the character because he was from New York City, like Jeremy, as well as being determined, caring, and unselfish. This immediate like for the books main character pushed Jeremy to find books with characters he liked. He says that he “knew that I liked that characters then it would make the time I spent reading a whole lot easier” (Diaz 3). He credits Mrs. Jimenez with getting him back into reading as she acted as a sponsor that pushed Jeremy back into the realm of literacy, and as brand would saw, pushed him away from being an outsider in the world of literacy. Unfortunately, his opinion on reading itself did not change. He still saw it as a burden, but if he found a book or genre he liked, he wouldn’t mind reading. While a lot to unpack in comparison to Natalie, the most obvious point is that they both found books with characters they liked, and had traits they could relate too, which has already been an common theme among the outsiders so far, and the way I view it, the characters in the books could almost act as indirect sponsors that pushed our characters back into the world of literacy and offered inspiration in terms of actual human behavior. In a difference to Natalie, Jeremy had two direct sponsors, his teachers when he was younger, acting in both positive and negative manners to either regress his like for reading or push him forward, but ultimately, not fully changing his opinion on reading, thus relegating him to still being an outsider in regards to literacy.
