-Alexander refers to the “literacy success story” as a cultural narrative that many student writers borrow from in their own literacy narratives. How does Alexander explain the appeal of this particular narrative? Which, if any, of the Rising Cairnstories you’ve sampled conform to this narrative? Provide support for your answer in the form of details from at least two narratives. If none of the samples you read conform to the narrative, skim 3 or 4 more to see if there are any in Rising Cairn; report on your findings.
One of the most common topics when the students write literacy narrative is “literacy success story”. The focus of this literacy is on the future outcomes of success such as getting good grades and earning more money. The reason why this narrative is appealing to many is because the upward mobility literacy myth has long been settled into our culture. We can easily encounter media portraying a person who gained success through achievement. Another reason for this is the success literacy is based on the idea that no matter what one’s background is he can gain self-esteem and material success. I found some literacy success story in the Rising Cairn. At “How English got turned around” by Shamus Gorman, he met a teacher who would never put an extra effort for the students. This lead him grow negative mindset toward English. This changed when he met a new teacher who had the opposite characteristic than the old teacher. Under the new teacher’s guide, Shamus could change his mindset toward English and could gain confidence which resulted in better school life. His mindset toward English had changed in a positive way. This is the reason why I could relate his story to literacy success narrative. I read similar story written by Michael Tuzzo. His attitude toward English changed in a similar way with Shamus. His grade went up from D to A and getting good grade is one of the factors in success stories.
-The “literacy success story” is an example of what Alexander and others call a “master narrative.” Use direct quotation to define “master narrative,” then paraphrase Alexander’s explanation of why the master narrative she calls the “literacy success story” is problematic, both for students writing them, and for researchers interested in understanding literacy (PRO TIP: if you’re having trouble finding the passages where Alexander explains why the literacy success story is problematic, pay attention to her use of pivotal wordsand voice markers. Look for pivotal words that signal contrast and change and voice markers that signal her disapproval of the master narrative she calls the “literacy success story”).
Many scholars say that connecting literacy and success is faulty and overly generalized myth. Success literacy can empower people but it is also based on the ideas of harsh realities. Actual reality challenge and contradict people’s assumptions about the connections between literacy and success. This inaccurate characteristic of literacy narrative can be referred to as a “master” narrative. A scholar views master narrative limiting because of their normative, institutionalized, legitimizing, and canonical tendencies. The only way to change this is to recognize this master narrative in real life experiences. Another flaw of the master narrative is its over simplification. Students can be affected by this in classes. For example in history classes most of the textbooks are simplified lacking the specific context of the events. They often receive information that is inaccurate, simplistic, and disconnected from the actual reality.
Alexander suggests that “little narratives” offer alternatives for representing one’s literacy experiences. What are “little narratives”? What kinds of people tend to write them? Why are “little narratives” useful for students and literacy researchers? Find at least two examples in your sample of Rising Cairnstories and summarize them here. What makes them “little narratives” in your view?
Little narratives are less generalized and more individualized in contrast to the master narratives. They contain multiple truths, not only one truth. Little narratives are often told by certain groups such as women and minorities. It tends to be more about particular groups and is contextually bound. Students can understand more complex context through little narratives. For example in history, little narratives focus more on specific connections between the events instead of giving a whole vague picture of an event. Also they are more multiculturally based and this makes people realize how diverse world they are living in. What I found about little narratives are more context based. Their role is supplementing the master narrative. In my literacy narrative, the main idea was “literature interpretation should accept different point of views”. I came up with an event when I took literature exam in high school. My answer at multiple choices exam was not admitted but it was finally accepted as an answer after some discussions with the teachers. The lesson of this little narrative was “literature interpretation should not be evaluated as an multiple choice exams”. This idea became the base of the main idea of my narrative.
