Literacy: Its Development and Importance in My Life

I think that it is my (maybe) the longest essay in the world. To start with, throughout my childhood, my interest in reading and writing has varied from time to time. They were never my strongest points and normally I would encounter difficulties in school. However, as “the next generation child” of the family, I have the mission to excel and go beyond in my literacy journey. Hence, most of my time would be spent reading and writing longest essay ever without any form of interest. This way of study had affected how I read and write interestingly.

Growing up in Vietnam, my mom used to read many stories for me. Most of them were folk tales about mythical characters. They always caught my attention due to the fact that it excited me to imagine. My parents both enjoyed reading because they consider it is the best way to learn. I then grew up with a mind full of fantasy and imagination.

From prior experiences, I always favor reading over writing. While reading, I can imagine and imply myself into whatever I’m diving into. Whereas writing is a little different, it obligates the writer to use words to express what they are conveying. For instance, when I’m reading The Little Mermaid, I totally can picture a beautiful girl with a half human half fish body. She has an ill-fated life because instead of the fish tail, she desires to walk with human legs. The Little Mermaid then falls in love with a prince charming and she on the land and she would exchange everything to be with him, even her beautiful voice. But ridiculously, the prince is in love with someone else. The poor little mermaid embraces her disappoinment and jumps into the deap ocean.

Unlike reading, writing has several crucial components. It requires impeccable grammar (well, most of the time), vocabulary, research information, etc. Moreover, you have rules to follow when you write. On the other hand, there is none in reading. I used to take the IELTS test which is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. I did a beautiful job on the reading section. However, the writing section was another story. The writing test was timed, and the prompt was new. I did not pass with a sky-high grade at all. The reason why is not only I was incompetent of good writing but also I always had a problem with starting my paper. I usually find myself sitting there and daydreaming about what I was going to write. But that was it. I did not write any longest essay, any ideas down, I did not have an outline or even think of how my essay structure was going to be. I could not finish on time of course. My incomplete essay was lacking both content and grammar. It clearly is shown that I did not have time to revise my essay. It has taught me that when I’m stuck on a writing assignment, I need to do exactly what Lamott says “In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts'. I relate to this quote because, in order to have an impeccable final draft, the first draft is needed. It does not matter if the first draft is bad because the main purpose of it is having the ideas down to the paper and help the writer organize thoughts. But certainly I did not know that back then, or at the time I took the test. However from now on, if I stuck, I start brainstorming, gather ideas, and write a shitty rough draft.

I am always an OK writer when I do not rush myself. I have good grades on reading assignments since I quite enjoy reading. However, I usually do whatever to meet the minimum requirement for the essays. In Vietnam, I used to be taught how to write differently. The teacher always expected the student to write as much as possible. The more the better. And surely, that one student has the longest essay, gets the highest score. I did not enjoy that type of writing. It was entirely about inserting irrelevant information to the essay to meet the word count. The teacher stated that “You need to go around and around many times before go into the main point”. That is why the paper is so long. I always considered that it is unnecessary to add “padding” only to exaggerate a simple story.

When I came to the US, I was shocked by the way I’m supposed to write. In the beginning, I thought it was just the difference between cultures. But it was more than that. It expresses how the citizen of this country, the United States, communicate as well. My EAP II teacher always tells me to be objective, to go straight to the main point, then starting to develop and give examples. She told me that “ You are a good writer, however, there are areas that need improvement. It is necessary to start with a little background information, then mention the key point, and start to develop.” During the writing process, though it may seem simpler than the way I was taught back in my country, I struggled. I found myself going around and around and kept including nonsense things in my writing. The first writing was bad. I did not get it at all. I was so disappointed. I kept questioning myself, “Where did I do wrong?”, “I met the word count and made the claim, what did I miss?” I blamed everything for the excuse that English is not my first language and I’m not fluent in it. Anger and disappointment always surround my writing since. My EAP teacher seemed to notice my attitude toward these writing assignments. She once told me to have a meeting with her so we could both figure out what was going on. She and I kept on meeting for several weeks. The professor walked me through the writing process that is supposed to be appropriate in this country and explain why. First, it was tough to get through. But then gradually, I got used to it and slowly transferred the ideas on my mind to the paper. It was ugly at the beginning of course. I figured out I need to go to the tutor to improve more. Then little by little, my writing becomes better through time. As Wardle and Down say, “You’ll find the college writing instructor who assigned this book probably believes a very different story, one based not on teachers’ rulebooks but rather on observation of successful writers and how writing, reading, language, and texts actually work - how people actually experience them” (3). This quote associated with my case because not only it demonstrates prior experiences impact on my literacy journey but also it appeals how people would read my writing in different perspectives based on their experiences as well.

It is undeniable that literacy is crucial not only academically but also socially. Throughout times, my literacy ability has developed due to many prior experiences. It helps me to learn better and understand more about different aspects. I have learned to overcome the language barriers and culture shocks that exist between my home country and the United States. Specifically, reading helps me to approach writing properly. Although there is always room for improvement, I feel like I have come a long way with my writing journey, I had an experience of writing the longest essay ever written. I am more confident to spark my ideas across clearly without being reluctant. Maybe someday I will write the longest essay in the world.

Works Cited

• Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Draft” Writing about Writing: a College Reader, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Dough Down Bedford/St. Martins, 2017, pp852-857.
• Wardle, Elizabeth, and Doug Downs, editors. “Threshold Concepts.” Writing about Writing: a College Reader, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Dough Down Bedford/St. Martins, 2017, pp1-11.