Literacy Autobiography

“You have asked me what I would do and what I would not do. I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence the only arms I allow myself to use-- silence, exile, and cunning.” - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce1

It is an understatement to say that Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is my favorite

novel. I remember the first time I read the novel - how the pages felt on my fingertips and how

my eyes rolled effortlessly from page to page. When I first read the above quotation, I felt a

strange exhilaration that only literature provides us. This quotation marks a new beginning for

Stephen. Language is no longer a tool used by his church, parents, or politicians to indoctrinate

him into worlds outside of himself. Now, language is his method of creation. He wants to

redefine what it means to be an Irishman and what it means to be himself. I realized that Stephen

and I share the same moment. As a Sophomore in college, my literacy was transforming in the

same way. I learned I am no longer a passive consumer of novels, philosophies, histories, and

news. Instead, I am a creator. Social justice - the reconstruction of political, social, and economic

realities - begins with how I use language. I can add new voices to outdated narratives, express

discontent, and reconstitute the meanings of words. Stephen and I believe that our literacy can

change the world. Although I try not to succumb to world views as naive and bold as this one, I

believe that this mindset is fitting for an aspiring teacher in her 20s. I want my students to grow

up with the audacity to challenge the realities established by age-old narratives and rejuvenate

the world with their dissent.

Preschool and Early Elementary Years

Candace Williams

1 Source of all quotations (http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/prtrt11.txt)

“Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo...His father told him that story: his father looked at him through a glass: he had a hairy face.”

My oldest memories are of my mother reading to me. She would come home late from

work and I would try to stay up to see her. No matter how tired she was, she would let me pick

out a book from my shelf, and read it out loud to me. I always begged for a second story and she

always obliged. My family members took an active role in the development of my literacy. They

engaged me in conversation, labeled the world around me, and made sure that I could read and

spell simple words before I entered Kindergarten. My sister would teach me how to spell my

name as we watched television. My mother would point out objects during outings and helped

me remember their names. My father bought me a black chalkboard and a desk. He would give

me reading and spelling lessons before dinner. One of the few memories I have of Kindergarten

is of my boredom during a reading lesson. My Kindergarten teacher would say words like ‘car’,

‘dog’, and ‘cat’, and ask the class to identify the first sound. Not only could I identify the first

sound, but I could identify the first letter, and spell most of the words. I loved learning and books

more than recess. I do not remember any struggles with literacy in the early grades.

Late Elementary Years

"His evenings were his own; and he pored over a ragged translation of The Count of Monte Cristo. The figure of that dark avenger stood forth in his mind for whatever he had heard or divined in childhood of the strange and terrible. At night he built up on the parlour table an image of the wonderful island cave out of transfers and paper flowers and coloured tissue paper and strips of the silver and golden paper in which chocolate is wrapped. When he had broken up this scenery, weary of its tinsel, there would come to his mind the bright picture of Marseille, of sunny trellises, and of Mercedes."

Candace WilliamsBLIS IPosition PaperDue: Monday July 7, 2008

I grew up in rainy Seattle. In the winter months, my bus would reach my house in near

darkness. This meant many hours indoors spent with books. I remember when I graduated myself

to chapter books in the second grade. My mother and I were walking around the mall. She would

always let me pick out a book from the bookstore. I saw the grand Goosebumps display and

knew that I had to have one. The titles and covers seemed so interesting and profound. I chose

the red one - Goosebumps number four - Say Cheese and Die. I started reading the book in the

car on the way home. I took my book to school the next day for my classmates to see. They were

jealous. Their moms would not let them read Goosebumps. I finished the book and bought a new

Goosebumps each month - all the way through number 31. I remember finishing a few books a

week in the 3rd grade - my teacher scrambled to keep our classroom library stocked. In the 4th

grade, I loved historical fiction (Time Enough for Drums, Johnny Tremain, My Brother Sam is

Dead, and The American Girl Series (Addy)), biography and autobiography (The Year of the

Boar and Jackie Robinson), every Jules Verne novel ever written, and non-fiction books about

space travel (I aspired to be an astronaut in elementary school). By the 5th grade, I was hooked

to John Grisham and Michael Crichton novels (my 5th and 6th grade teacher, Mr. Foley, would

ask to borrow my hardcopies when I was finished reading them). Mr. Foley let me do

independent reading assignments and gave me access to a special library in the corner of the

room. I did not fit in at my junior high school (grades 7 - 9). I continued to read every night and

explore new genres. Classes were a breeze - all of my teachers wanted the five paragraph essay

format.

High School Years

Candace Williams

"All the leisure which his school life left him was passed in the company of subversive writers whose jibes and violence of speech set up a ferment in his brain before they passed out of it into his crude writings.”

In the 10th grade, I transferred to an all girls international boarding school. My GPA

dropped by over one full point during my first quarter - I struggled with the school’s heavy

emphasis on reading and writing. I found myself reading a few hundred pages a week and

writing multiple essays each week. I remember my first history essay - a 10 pager about the lack

of economic theory behind the Great Leap Forward. In the 11th grade, I wrote an essay entitled

Hamlet: Angry Existentialist? I explored Shakespeare, Marquez, Woolf, Allende, Camus, Sarte,

Conrad, Fuentes, Neruda, Locke, Mill, and many other authors. I wrote one-act plays for my

drama class, edited and contributed to the school newspaper, and authored grant and travel

proposals for clubs. I went through intellectual phases - I was an existentialist, a utilitarian, a

modernist, and a post-modernist. I plunged into a sea of literacy. In college, I pushed my literacy

to a new level by authoring research papers for academic conferences, debating internationally,

and taking challenging classes. All of my literacy experiences, from the story I was told as a

child, to constructing narratives during a debate round, have influenced my beliefs about literacy

and how I will approach literacy in the elementary classroom.

The Teacher I Will Become

I want to provide my students (upper elementary) with challenging literacy experiences

that show them the power of their own words and give them access to new worlds. I do not have

a wide range of pedagogical tools yet, but I know that my students will have access to literature

that is challenging and relevant. I also want to make my students published authors - their work

Candace WilliamsBLIS IPosition PaperDue: Monday July 7, 2008

will fill as much wall space as possible and I will use every opportunity possible to bind their

works into “real books”. I know that many of my students will be struggling with literacy. I want

to balance whole language instruction with explicit spelling and vocabulary instruction. I like the

idea of letting students show their understanding of literature in many different ways, creating

interesting projects that link literacy to other disciplines and home life, involving parents, and

creating peer learning groups. I want students to assume the roles and have the experience of

being authors, researchers, and readers.

Candace Williams