As Alexander mentions, being an outsider can occur in many different settings, such as Natalies being socially, Jeremy Diaz’ is in regards to his reading. 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. In attempting to make this paragraph better, I tried to rework it and apply it more to the ideas of Williams and Alexander, and less to having it just be the second literacy narrative I talk about. I talked more about the ideas that are important in my essay, such as how Jeremy had literacy sponsors from my perspective, and also how his outsider perspective was that of in the classroom, rather than socially.
One narrative that relates heavily to Williams idea of shifting identities is by Blake Beverage. Blake has a similar story to Jeremy, at least in the sense that he is an outsider in relation to literacy and his school work. Blake’s recalls his mom getting calls from his teacher that “If I just took my time instead of rushing I would produce a much higher quality of work” (Beverage 1) and this translates to him that the main reason why he rushed was that he got overwhelmed very easily, and if he just got the assignment done, he had a weight lifted off his shoulder. He is an outsider with his writing and school work because he doesn’t attempt to take his time, just get it done. However, Blake would not be an outsider for long. One day, Mrs. Johnson keeps him inside during recess because he has a mistake on his paper. Instead of telling him, like she does for many other students, she simply doesn’t tell him until the very end of recess, when there’s no time left, and all he missed was a period. While this nearly enrages Blake, he quickly realizes that she “was holding me to a higher standard because she knew I had the ability to success in my work, but I would rush through it and not worry about it.” (Beverage 2) but Mrs. Johnson changes this, and too this day, Blake takes his time and thinks back to that moment when he considers rushing, no longer considering him an outsider with his school work, and with literacy being credited for that. This correlates directly to Williams idea of shifting identities, as he says that, “they discover, for better and worse, that they are not the writers they think they are” (Williams 343), and that is what Blake experienced, as he discovered that he could be a better writing and student as whole if he just took his time, thus him shifting from an outsider to a success story. Mrs. Johnson also acts as a sponsor that allows Blake to progress in his writing, and also progress in school work in general. The one area this is completely different too especially relating to Natalie and Jeremy, is this narrative applies to writing, with no reading involved. Similarly to the previous edited paragraph, I worked to connect this paragraph to the ideas of Williams and Alexander rather than just having be the last literacy narrative that I talked about. As a result, I connected it directly to Williams ideas of shifting identities, as Blake is a perfect example of that and one that ties directly to that idea. This helped strengthen my paragraph and give me another talking point, as well as affirming and adding to my whole essay idea.
When writing a literacy narrative, the majority of students written narratives fit into a predisposed category of narrative arcs, whether they intend too or not. Most students fit into the stereotypical archetypal ranks of a rise to success narrative, a hero narrative, a child prodigy narrative, etc. in essence, portraying themselves in a positive manner in regards to their relationship to literacy, and how it either helped them or benefited them in some way. On the contrary, far fewer students portray themselves in a negative manner. Many are left leaving out the stories of how their literacy experiences made them victims, how others withheld literary knowledge from them, etc. and while few and far in between, these stories often have a more realistic and truthful manner to them than the positive narratives. In positive narratives, it is very easy to exaggerate claims to elevate yourself in light of the reader, but there is nothing to elevate in narratives that highlight the struggles of literacy. I find exploring narratives that have an outsiders arc to be the most interesting, as they are often some of the most rare narratives to find, even in comparison to the countless types of positive and negative narratives. Everyone has been an outsider at some point in their lives, not just in relation to literacy. In school, at work, in social settings etc. and I find it fascinating how literacy is tied to one considering themselves to being an outsider. In digging deeper into outsider narratives, I will look to explore what is the root cause of why the authors consider themselves outsiders, and in addition, I will look at the role that literacy narratives played in relation to them. Did they aid in helping the author get out of the outsider persona and help them grow as a person, or did literacy put them in that hole? These are all questions I will look to answer as I explore some of the most rare narratives to find. In my introduction I – 1. Introduce the ideas of literacy narratives and the arcs involved 2. Show the weak points that are not explored 3. State my claim at the end.
