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Simon Jackowski
Dr. Raymond
UWRT 1103-015
28 August 2015
The Literary Development of Simon Jackowski
My first experience, that I can remember, with reading and writing came in the early part
of kindergarten, this was not unlike most kids, and I am very fortunate to have had this
opportunity, especially when compared to Malcom Xs experience in Learning to Read in that
I did not do my reading in prison. I am sure this was not the very first time I ever read or wrote,
but it was the first experience to significantly expose me to literature. Before school I would
watch educational television and attempt to write, but doing those were of little significance
compared to the development I went through in school.
In kindergarten, we learned how to read and write from books with literary activities
contained within them. These were very simple but very effective. Inside the books were
elementary sentences such as, The cat ran, and I went to the beach. There were also writing
activities that had a ridiculous amount of room to write about twenty words in; you could only fit
five lines per page. My teacher was a strict but effective women named Mrs. Wheeler. She would
only let us pronounce the as thee instead of thu. This seemed unnecessary at first but in the
long run it helped me remember how to spell the. When I started writing in cursive, I practiced
it much like Rosaleen did in The Secret Life of Bees, Her name, Rosaleen Daise, was written

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twenty-five times at least down the page in large, careful cursive, like the first paper you turn in
when school starts(Kidd 27). This was a very effective method that I still continue to do today.
The first books I got into were the Magic Treehouse series. These were and still are a
very popular series of books for young readers. They especially enticed me because of their
interesting subjects, easy reading, and volume to choose from. The particular books in the series
that stick out in my memory are the ones about The Titanic and one about The Samurai. In
addition to The Magic Treehouse books, I was very fond of graphic novels, most notably
Garfield, Baby Blues, and Duck Tales; I would read these late into the night when I was supposed
to be sleeping but couldnt because the comics kept me interested and I wanted to keep reading.
Later in my literary development I read Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events. This
series was by far my favorite series Ive ever read. I always found myself rooting for the kids in
the book even though the author tells you they are doomed from the beginning and will end up
unhappy.
A literacy narrative is not just completely reading, it also includes an abundance of
writing. One event in particular comes to me as I try to think of a memorable writing experience,
writing my junior year research paper. Before writing this paper I have never wrote a paper more
than three pages long and I was very intimidated by the fact that I knew I would have to write it
eventually. Early in the semester my teacher announced we would begin the project the next day.
I then proceeded to ask, how long will this paper have to be?, six pages including a works
cited page, she replied. Initially, I had no idea what to write about, the theme was controversial
topics, but then I started looking at our options and chose one that interested me, concussions in
sports. A couple of days into my research on this topic, I realized there was not a plethora of

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information on it, so I decide to switch to a topic that I was sure had quality information from
multiple subjects, the use of stem cells.
Before drafting, we were required to transfer facts to sixty notecards, each one containing
a single fact, and they had to come from six different sources, I ended up finding ten sources all
together. After obtaining all my information, writing the paper was actually easier than I
expected. Although this method helped me greatly in writing that research paper, I do not
currently use it because it is not usually necessary. The only other time that I have used this
method was when I wrote my senior year research paper.
Technology has also greatly influenced my literacy. When I was younger I would watch
educational TV shows that, at the time, did not think were educational but looking back I realize
how much they helped me. Contrary to popular belief, texting has helped my literacy, mostly my
spelling. Before I was texting, around thirteen years old and younger, I was awful at spelling, I
am still not great but I have greatly improved. Words like apparent, conscience, and
definitely definitely would trip me up and I had to google them every time I wanted to use
them. I looked them up so much that eventually I learned how to spell them consistently.
Multiple studies have been performed that support texting helps the literary development of
those who do. A British study published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning found a
positive correlation between texting and literacy, concluding that texting was actually driving
the development of phonological awareness and reading skill in children.("Can Texting Help
With Spelling? | Scholastic.com."). The studies confirm that texting has a positive impact on
literacy. It has also been shown that kids who text actually read more than they did before texting
(Crystal). Lastly, texting can improve ones grammar because when they use abbreviations such
as m8 it makes them think about the word phonetically (Carter).

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My literacy narrative, as of now, is comprised of three significant chapters, beginnings in
kindergarten, learning to love to read, and writing papers. I would compare my literacy narrative
to a chore, such as brushing my teeth, doing laundry, and washing dishes. I dont necessarily
enjoy it but it must be done and I am pleased with the end result. I am not saying I do not like
literature just that it is not my favorite but it is very essential.

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Works Cited
"Can Texting Help With Spelling? | Scholastic.com." Scholastic Teachers. Scholastic. Web. 22
Sept. 2015. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/can-texting-help-spelling>.
Carter, Claire. "Texting Improves Children's Spelling and Grammar." The Telegraph. Telegraph
Media Group, 13 June 2014. Web. 22 Sept. 2015.
Couros, George. "Texting Improving Literacy?" The Principal of Change. 21 Aug. 2011. Web. 22
Sept. 2015.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Viking, 2002. Print.