...Victoria Brooks English 101, Section 02 June 17th, 2014 “Personal Literacy Autobiography” (Edited for a better grade, fixing all grammar you edited) I know the definition of a literate person is being able to read and write. If that’s what we are really writing about here, that would be rather boring. You would be reading autobiography after autobiography about how students learned to read and write in Kindergarten or pre-school. Clearly that is not what you are looking for. I have learned over years of writing classes, literacy is so much more than being able to read and write. Being literate also involves being able to write down every thought and feeling, in hopes to perhaps give the reader chills. They feel so into it like it is their own thought or their own feeling. Also, being a strong literate person, to me, is going into a horrible situation and coming out 10 times stronger and more motivated. Personally, I do not really have a list of individuals that made a big enough significance in my life to change it. Well, no one except my daughter. I believe my Daughter, Sophia, made me a more literate person. Having her was a huge, meaningful event that shaped me into who I am today. It all started summer of 2012. I had just graduated high school that June. I knew I had to go to college, but wasn’t really that into it. I just knew that it had to happen because my mom and grandma had always said I had to go to college to get anywhere in life. The summer I graduated...
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...Hello Fellow Students, My name is Michael Bertleff Sr., you can call me Michael. I was born September 4, 1975. I am the middle son of three boys. I have 2 other brothers, Donald the oldest & Kristoffer the youngest. My younger brother & I are 2 years apart in age but our birthdays are on the same day, strange I know I hear it often. I was raised mainly by my mother for many years, so as you may have imagined my mother had it a little rough raising 3 boys on her own. I was always the joker of the 3, but I always knew one day that I would be something special some way somehow. I love football the Bengals for instance are my team of choice. I also like baseball & basketball. I grew up in Girard, Ohio until I was a freshmen in high school, then I moved to Youngstown, Ohio. When I received my high school diploma in 1994 I made my mother proud because the main rule in her house was to get our diploma. I went straight into the working man’s world after high school. When I made my first pay check I thought, I can do this forever & always get everything I ever wanted when I wanted it as long as I work hard to get it. As the years went by, which they did very quickly I realized life was moving very quickly & faster than I ever imagined. I met a fantastic girl Shannon in 1997, we were so happy together & as fast as we met we were finding out that she was pregnant with our first child Selena, who is (13). I was the proudest guy in the world to have 2 of the...
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...Natural Effects on a Boy Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions has the entire life of its author’s experiences, virtues, and detailed imperfections. Rousseau’s Confessions is one of the first notable autobiographies and has influenced many forms of narratives. It inaugurated modern day autobiography and inspired a narrative technic used in many great novels. Rousseau wrote this autobiography in order to tell the world about himself and express the nature of man. He did not want to be known by how people thought of him, but rather be able to tell people exactly what happened in his life and let them be the judge. Rousseau begins Confessions by stating, “this is the only portrait of a man, painted exactly according to nature and in all of its truth, that exists and will probably ever exist” (57). He included embarrassing experiences and personal thoughts from throughout his life to show every possible virtue of his life. He portrays what every boy encounters from mischievous trickery to entering sexual adulthood. The events that change his life and himself become a consistent theme while he describes his childhood, sexual cravings, and natural thoughts of a boy’s life. One of the most common subjects in Rousseau autobiography is the story of his childhood and the nature of a boy. Rousseau’s mother passed away during his birth, which strained the relation between him and his father. When they tried to speak of her the conversation would end with tears because his father saw Rousseau’s...
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...was not the answer to my problem a night before the 9th, I was so anxious; I kept wondering about what I was going to wear and how I was going to feel. ‘Oh Gosh! What if I fall off the stage?’ I thought to myself. I was really anxious about it and happy at the same time, I had mixed feeling. I woke up the next day as excited as you can imagine. The first very word I said that day was ‘Its Time’. I didn’t waste time to begin to get ready; my mom helped me pack some things that I needed for the day. I smiled every time I saw the suit I was going to wear; I had been picturing myself in a fully decorated suit since I was a little child. Time was not on my side, I quickly finalized what I was doing and took off. I got to the school premises about an hour before the ceremony started; I went up to where we were supposed to get ready and organize ourselves. I met a couple of my friends they all looked beautiful, I really wanted to take pictures with them but I really had to get ready, they were already dressed up apart from me. I swiftly unzipped my bag and started to dress up. “You guys have 10 more minutes to get ready” The vice principal called out from the hallway. Sweat dripped down my cheeks, I knew that I needed more time to get myself organized, I packed my braids up into a bun with the help of a student from a higher grade. I took a quick look in the mirror I wasn’t too satisfied with how I looked so I decided to add a little more makeup to my face, I still wasn’t satisfied...
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...My birth name is Andrew Michael Allien. I was born on December 28,1989, in Boston , Massachusetts , in Beth Israel hospital. I spent most of my childhood in the urban streets of Jamaica Plain, growing up in a family home of three, with only my mom and brother. We all stuck together through the hard times and struggle. My life back then was tough. I wasn’t raised with a father figure so I leaned on my own logic and understanding. I had a desire to fit in which led me to be enticed by gang life and violence. Following falsehoods in the streets, I was addicted to revenge and a slave to my own anger. I fought off the people around me who got in my way but there came a day were my lifestyle completely changed. There was a night I came from the hospital from a slight asthma attack. The doctor said for me to go home, that I was okay, but once I got home I knew something didn’t feel right. But I was keeping it to myself because of what the doctor had told me. Luckily, my mom’s friend had followed us home that day, which doesn’t usually happen because she is a nurse and my mom and her never hang out like that. So it seemed kind of awkward to me. It was her first time at my house but once we all went inside she randomly chose to check my blood pressure. It was above normal, so they rushed me to the emergency room and the doctors gave me a shot to lower my blood pressure. They said to me that if I hadn’t come back and went to sleep without knowing, I would have been dead. My life would’ve...
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...The page before Donald M. Murray’s “All Writing is Autobiography” warns readers that Murray’s opinion on writing is different from most other opinions. Prior to reading Murray’s article, I agreed with those opinions which included the rule: never use the word “I” in a formal paper. While writing this paper, I feel a strong urge to erase the words “I agreed” and rewrite the entire page in a more formal manner. Murray’s article changed my idea of the writing process by making me realize that every piece of writing is autobiographical whether or not an author is writing objectively through word choice, sentence structure, metaphors, and even punctuation. A reader can learn much about an author through his or her word choice. An author’s diction may seem more colloquial or more obscure and academic depending on his or her personality. Murray demonstrates how an author can use creativity by creating words when he uses the words “squenched and “companioned” in his poem “At 64, Talking Without Words.” Though these are not words one would find in a dictionary, they are understood by readers and aid in defining the author. Sentence structure is an important piece of writing. An author may utilize a run-on sentence or a one-worded sentence in order to create a point or emphasize one, however grammatically incorrect the sentence may be. Charlotte Brontë, for example, frequently uses run-one sentences in order to complete a thought without the interruption of a period. Authors may...
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...Autobiography Hi, I’m Morgen Owens. I’m in 11th grade at TCHS. I’ve grown up and lived in Reidsville my whole life. I’ve cheered since 6th grade, and it has always been something to I loved to do and something that I am very passionate about. I am very involved with my family and friends. I am very close with my family and this is where my crazy, scary, and horrific story begins. My story begins with what was suppose to be a fun family summer vacation. Me, my brother, my cousins and my grandparents were all going to our lake house for a week. We left on a Monday morning, we all got in the car and were ready to go. We were in the car for probably about two and a half hours, which felt like forever because there was so many of us in one...
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...I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by Black American women in the years following the civil rights movement: a celebration of Black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Angelou uses her autobiography to explore subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy. She also writes in new ways about...
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...HOW TO ANALYSE SOURCES ANALYSING OF SOURCES Historical criticism.-> Original document? How, when, and why did it come into being? Where does it come from? Who is the author or the cartoonist or the cameraman? 2 critical questions: Could the witness possibly have known the truth? Did the witness wish to tell the truth? EVALUATING OF SOURCES Authenticity? (are there factual errors in the source?) Reliability? (how long after the event was the source produced?) Bias/Prejudice? Subjectivity VS objectivity? Historians have an issue, the source is problematic (biased, emotions, etc) and the historian is a human writer. To guard oneself from being manipulated by bias sources, one must cross-reference. This means one must analyse a few sources and then synthesise their own conclusion. QUESTIONS WHICH ASK YOU TO COMPARE IN THE TEST OR EXAM Generally sources can have two characteristics with each other. They are either similar or they are contradictory/different with each other. One should consider the following aspects when answering these types of exam questions: What are the similarities(1) and the differences(2) between the sources? How do these sources complement each other(3)? Which of these sources provides a more accurate viewpoint on the topic(4)? QUESTIONS WHICH ASK YOU TO USE ALL THE SOURCES This is an eight mark question which comes prior to the essay. One is required to write approximately 10-15 lines;...
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...López de Córdoba, a Spanish noblewoman, wrote her Memorias, which may be the first autobiography in Castillian. Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur,who founded the Mughal dynasty of South Asia kept a journal Bāburnāma (Chagatai/Persian: بابر نامہ; literally: "Book of Babur" or "Letters of Babur") which was written between 1493 and 1529. One of the first great autobiographies of the Renaissance is that of the sculptor and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571), written between 1556 and 1558, and entitled by him simply Vita (Italian: Life). He declares at the start: "No matter what sort he is, everyone who has to his credit what are or really seem great achievements, if he cares for truth and goodness, ought to write the story of his own life in his own hand; but no one should venture on such a splendid undertaking before he is over forty."[2] These criteria for autobiography generally persisted until recent times, and most serious autobiographies of the next three hundred years conformed to them. Another autobiography of the period is De vita propria, by the Italian mathematician, physician and astrologer Gerolamo Cardano (1574). The earliest known autobiography in English is the early 15th-century Booke of Margery Kempe, describing among other things her pilgrimage to the Holy Land and visit to Rome. The book remained in manuscript and was not published until 1936. Notable English autobiographies of the 17th century include those of Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1643, published 1764)...
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...Ernest Chiam was born in 1957, the year which Malaysia got its independence. By the time, Malaysia began to develop and became stable as World War II was ceased and he was able to grow up in a peaceful environment without sirens of the enemy’s invasion. He is the fifth born out of six, with two brothers and three sisters. The first page of his life started in a middle class suburban household located in Muar, Johor. As a baby, Ernest was very chubby as well as adorable. He was raised on by his mother’s milk and therefore, since small he has a very close relationship with her mother. As both of his parents were school teachers, Ernest was raised up in a family that emphasized discipline and education. In that sense, he was especially forbidden to speak vulgar words, tells lies and smoke. Apart from that, he was constantly instilled by his parents the importance of education. However, unlike his siblings who are excelling in their studies, Ernest showed only a little interest in what had taught in school and he never did any revision. Therefore, most of the time, he just barely passed the exams. The only thing that amazed him is the natural world. The large and empty compound of undeveloped land and Muar River were both his favorite spot for wandering around and discovering. Besides playing games such as kite, gasing, marbles and catapult, his greatest entertainment will be sitting on the back of the buffalo and swimming in the monsoon drain. His obsess towards animals and natures...
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...------------------------------------------------- My Musical Auto-Biography Music 103 Giovanni Classen BMCC Dr. Bethany Reeves They say a picture is worth a thousand words. To me, composers paint a thousand pictures through melody, rhythm, and artistic lyrical ability. As I’ve grown, music has been a major part of my life; whether through culture and getting together with family, grabbing an instrument (I played the “Güiro”, a Latin instrument, in which I grabbed a metal object which resembled a comb and brushed it against an object with notches in it creating a ratchet like sound.), and just playing into the night. When I was younger, I was also a member of the choir where I attended church and catholic school, being an alto until puberty kicked in. So whether I was conscious of it or not, music has always found its way into my life. I like to say that music is in my blood. My father plays the guitar and sings in nightclubs occasionally throughout the city. I have a cousin in Puerto Rico who plays the Cuatro, a Latin 10 string instrument resembling a guitar; he also sings, performs, and sells his music. Two brothers of mine along with myself are also heavily involved with music. Coming from a poverty stricken neighborhood riddled with drugs, violence, and death, we used Hip-Hop as a tool for expression, giving voice to the issues while at the same time painting a picture for others to see what it’s like within our world. A musical event that I would like to write about would be my first mixtape release...
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...B. Society’s Child – My Autobiography In 1965 the civil rights movement was still at its highest. It was 10 years ago since Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to at white man in the bus. A lot had changed since, but some people could not stand the black, while others began to accept them as being equal with the white people – people were divided. Some did not dare to speak up about acceptance of the black, because they were afraid of being killed. It was the circumstances at that time, but the 15 years old singer/songwriter Janis Ian, was not afraid – at first. She wrote a song about an interracial romance, and not everyone found it acceptable. Janis Ian got a lot of hate mail, threats and even got shouted of the stage, but this only became a turning point for her life and singing career. Janis Ian’s autobiography is written as an article and is divided into columns. The main purpose of a structure build like an article is to inform the readers, and so do this autobiography. It also makes it very easy to read, and her messages also seem clearer. The text contains flashbacks on page 2, column 2 to page 3, column 1 and on page 3, column 2 to page 3, column 1. She uses the flashbacks as an information to the readers about the former circumstances. This gives us a better understanding of the situation. It is very important for Janis Ian that the readers of her autobiography understand how she feels, and feel compassion with her. She is very afraid of going back on stage...
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...Educational Autobiography I was born in Chicago spent at least five years in Berwyn, Illinois and then spent the last thirteen years in a town next to Berwyn, named Cicero. It is considered a suburban area, which is densely populated. Cicero is a largely Latino populated town, although many believe that it is slowly becoming more diverse than before. Although there are many hard workers in the town of Cicero many students are under the free breakfast and lunch program. Despite being a large town, many of the people are generally alright with one another and it is a community that wants to continue to grow and do better for itself. I have spent all twelve plus years in public the schools in my town, going from one school to the next as I aged...
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...My name is Bird Wohampack I’m 12 years old. I was born a slave but I never knew it till six years of happy childhood. I had no name so my name is Bird because when I was sold my owner thought I sounded like a bird so my name was Bird. I didn’t know who were my parents because when I was 5-year old I was locked up and chained. I was useless and hit most of the time because I’m a girl. I was being resold because I’m a useless person for my owner and I’m now 13 and I’m getting resold for $100. When I became 14 I was sold to a rich family it was the Jam family and they also had another slave called Hippo, they were white folks. During that time I became friends with Hippo Delhip, she was more like a sister to me because we talk a lot together...
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