In my own experiences, i have found that i learn something the best when i want to learn it. if I’m interested in something and do it on my own then it is something that i love to do. Forcing someone to do something even if they love to do it can cause them to not enjoy it. Specifically by forcing a student to read or write for example in school can cause them to have a bad experience with it. Alexander presents in her article “ the popularity of the victim narrative in student texts indicates that students associate school based literacy practices with oppression and even cruelty” (618). Some students may enjoy reading or writing on their own time but if someone is forcing them to do so, especially with material they don’t like, the student may have no interest in it. We can evaluate an example of this in Emily gagnons literacy narrative “The Wizard of Oz Saved my Brain”. Emily read nearly every night with her father but when she was forced to read in school she despised it. Emily states in her narrative “My love of reading disappeared when it came to reading in school” (1). This can be associated with nearly anything. By doing something unforced, on your own time it is pure. You do it because you love to, but as soon as someone starts to make you, that love can be lost.
Literacy narratives can create an identity for the author of the narrative. Based on different experiences the author goes through, their identity can shift. One of those factors is the environment in which the students are learning. As alexander states “students of differing socioeconomic backgrounds invoke the child prodigy narrative differently” (620). Placed in an environment where an identity of literacy scholarship is valued a student is more likely to want to succeed in the given field. To compliment that statement there are students who start out thinking they don’t have an interest in succeeding with literacy who have a change of heart. This can all be a factor of a few different things. One is the positive influence of a sponsor. Paige hibbard speaks in her literacy narrative of how the norm in her family is not to attend college. She went through much of her schooling thinking that she would never attend college but with the positive influence of her teacher, Paige’s identity changed and she was the first in her family to attend college. Paige explains in her narrative “I thanked Rosanne, she changed my life” (3). Having a teacher that takes a special interest in a student can have a major positive impact on the students life. Another factor that will lead an author’s identity to shift is the simple way in which they learn to read or write.
