Download - Literacy History Coffin Week 3
-
7/24/2019 Literacy History Coffin Week 3
1/5
Running Head: LITERACY HISTORY ESSAY 1
Literacy History Essay
Daniel Coffin
Concordia University, Nebraska
Submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for EDUC !!
November ""th, !#"$
-
7/24/2019 Literacy History Coffin Week 3
2/5
WRITING INSTRUCTION: LITERACY HISTORY 2
%rom a youn& a&e, ' have loved to read, ' have been fascinated by (ords, and '
have been a patholo&ical liar) 't (as inevitable that (ritin& (ould come to take an
important place in my life) %rom middle school, throu&h colle&e, and into my
professional life as a teacher, my history as a (riter has taken a fe( interestin& turns,
but the throu&h line remains the same* (ritin& has been for me a means of self+
actualiation, a creative act in defiance of po(erlessness, a (ay to reach out to people
around me for attention)
' (asn-t kiddin& about bein& a liar) '-m not proud of it, but ' look back on my
preadolescent behavior (ith a bemused detachment) ' lied as easily as some breathed)
' (as cau&ht in my lies more than once, but ' &ot a(ay (ith it more often than that) 'n
my defense, ' lied not to seek unfair &ain, but to entertain) .hat (as the harm in
embellishin& a story if it amused the audience/ 0it by bit, ' learned not to strain the
limits of credulity) .hy did ' ever think that my second &rade teacher (ould believe my
dad and ' found dinosaur bones in my backyard/ 'n this informal storytellin& laboratory, '
learned the value of makin& my tales believable) ' learned 1ust ho( far ' could stretch
the circumstances ' (as recountin& so they (ould be po(erful (ithout bein&
preposterous)
' had a really a(k(ard adolescence) ' didn-t feel like ' fit in any(here) 0y the time
' hit middle school, ' realied that ' had to cultivate some means of appealin& to people
around me) ' (asn-t athletic, ' (asn-t attractive, my parents (eren-t (ealthy, and (hile '
(asn-t a dolt, neither (as ' particularly bri&ht) .hat (ould be my an&le/ 't (as around
this time ' discovered Dungeons & Dragons, (hich ' (ould play (ith my friends) %or a
lonely kid cravin& e2citement, adventure, and a social pastime, it (as a revelation) 3y
-
7/24/2019 Literacy History Coffin Week 3
3/5
WRITING INSTRUCTION: LITERACY HISTORY 3
friends thou&ht ' (as funny and creative) ' be&an to take over the 4Dun&eon 3aster5
responsibilities, and ' (ould spend hours fillin& notebooks (ith stran&e places, fabulous
treasures, terrible monsters, and (icked villains for my friends to e2plore throu&h
fantasy role+play) 'n those notebooks, ' could create entire (orlds out of (ords)
3y friends reacted to my creations so favorably, ' started (ritin& stories + the
kinds of stories ' (ishes (e could read in school but never did, full of darin& heroes,
fantastic locales, and epic adventure) 't (as around this time my parents bou&ht a
personal computer (ith a (ord+processin& pro&ram, (hich ' could use to type up and
print my stories, (hich my friends (ould pass around) 6hese copies (ould eventually
make their (ay back to me (ith comments from my friends + this part (orked, this part
not so much) ' learned from this e2perience to appeal to my audience) 6he friends of
mine (ho read my stories kne( (hat they liked + more scares, more &ore, more humor +
and ' kne( that if ' &ave them (hat they (anted, they (ould keep readin&, and ' (ould
&et the positive attention ' so desperately craved) 6his attention to audience (ould
serve me (ell as a (riter later in life)
0y the time ' reached colle&e, ' had quit (ritin& stories) 't (as a &oof, a &ame,
not somethin& to take seriously) ' had the skill to (rite passably (ell, but ' didn-t really
have anythin& (orth sayin&, and so ' let it &o) 7s part of my ma1or, ' (as required to take
a (ritin& course, and the only one that fit my schedule (as creative nonfiction) .e read
The Color of WaterandAngelas Ashesand The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine Flake
Streamline Babyand started draftin& some of our o(n (ork, talkin& about our o(n lives)
' (as surprised to find that even (ith my relatively sheltered life, ' mi&ht have had
somethin& (orth (ritin& about) 3y second surprise of the class came (hen ' &ot my
-
7/24/2019 Literacy History Coffin Week 3
4/5
WRITING INSTRUCTION: LITERACY HISTORY 4
second piece of &raded (ork back from our instructor (ho told me succinctly, 48ou-re
talented, but you-re lay) .ritin& doesn-t 1ust happen) 8ou have to (ork at this if you
(ant to create somethin& (orth readin&)5 ' had never had an instructor be so blunt (ith
me, but the criticism (as (ell+deserved) ' had become complacent and self+satisfied,
and ' (as not serious about the craft of (ritin&) 3r) 7llen sho(ed me that ' could be a
(riter if ' chose, but that choice (ould entail real discipline and (ork in order to perfect
the craft)
't (as not to be) 3oney problems and a &eneral lack of direction in life led me to
drop out of school not lon& after, and my conflictin& feelin&s about school and (ritin& led
me to put do(n my pen for the better part of a decade) ' eventually (ent back to school,
finished my de&ree, &ot my teachin& certificate, and settled into the life of a middle
school En&lish teacher, (hich kept me busy enou&h (ith lesson plannin& and paper
&radin& that ' had little time for pleasure readin& or (ritin&)
't (as earlier this year that my collea&ue and ' started our students (ritin& daily
in (riter-s notebooks as part of our (ritin& curriculum) 6o model (hat ' (anted them to
do, ' sat do(n at my desk for our fifteen+minute free(rite and started (ritin& in my
notebook) 6o my surprise, ' (rote (ithout stoppin& until my timer (ent off) 't felt &reat) '
had a fe( hundred (ords on the paper that ' didn-t realie ' had in me) ' took my
notebook home that ni&ht and continued fillin& out that piece into three or four pa&e
narrative) 6he ne2t (eek, ' (rote a short story in a lull bet(een classes, after the baby
had been fed her last bottle and put to bed, but before ' (as tired enou&h to &o to sleep)
' posted it in %acebook because ' (as proud of it, and ' received a fairly positive
-
7/24/2019 Literacy History Coffin Week 3
5/5
WRITING INSTRUCTION: LITERACY HISTORY 5
response from friends) 't (as the first piece of creative (ritin& ' had done in over a
decade)
't (as only then that ' realied (hy ' should have been (ritin& + to e2plore my
thou&hts, to fi&ure out ho( ' felt about events in my life, to make sense of my ne( role
as a father) ' didn-t need to be a famous published author) Even thou&h ' (ould never
publish, there (as still value in puttin& pencil to paper to &ather and shape my thou&hts)
7s ' &ro( older and 9hopefully: (iser, ' look for(ard to sharin& my e2periences
(ith (ritin& (ith my students and my dau&hter, so that they can come to find the
practice of (ritin& as entertainin&, empo(erin&, and enli&htenin& as ' have) 'f nothin&
else, maybe someday ' can sit do(n to a &ame of Dungeons & Dragons(ith my
dau&hter and be daled by the (orld she has con1ured up from her ima&ination)