Literacy narrative in context - Essay Example

In his narrative text, Baca recalls that “From the time I was seven; teachers had been punishing me for not knowing my lessons” (Baca, 3). Nevertheless, that limitation did not stop him from becoming a high caliber writer, despite Baca’s recollection that “Ashamed of not understanding and fearful of asking questions, I dropped out of school in the ninth grade” p4. Therefore, my essay, “Growing Up and How I Did It” can be written better, through the extensive application of personal experiences, explained into details to form a complete life narration that can then comprise a narrative.

Jimmy Baca’s text presents the elaborate way through which personal experiences and the components of a person’s life can be transformed into an inspiring and motivational content, which then can be applied by others to gain insights on how to make accomplishments in life, even without having sufficient resources at an individual’s disposal (Baca, 4). However, it is the text, “A Rationale of Textual Criticism” by Tanselle, which introduces new insights on how constructive criticism can be applied to make a written work of literature better, through applying either the positive or the negative approach to improve a written piece of work (Tanselle 20).

Therefore, through the application of positive criticism, my essay can be improved into an interesting story, considering that my writing experiences are unique in the sense that I learnt writing early while still in the kindergarten, which is not a requirement for children in this class. Through positive criticism as discussed by Tanselle, the early writing desire can be a basis of developing a narrative that revolves around many other unique or extraordinary experiences and characteristics, which then can form a basis of a motivational and inspiring text, like the one developed through Jimmy Baca’s personal life experiences, but only when combined with further constructive imagination (Tanselle, 33).. Tanselle has reduced this whole concept by stating that “those most emphatic in holding that the meaning of literature emerges from a knowledge of its historical context…are in fact hindering their progress toward their goal” p34.

Writers are destined to fail in developing some influential piece of written literature, “if they do not recognize that artifacts may be less reliable witnesses to the past than their own imaginative reconstructions” (Tanselle 34). Additionally, negative criticism can also be applied to improve my essay and develop it into a reasonable and inspiring narrative text, considering the much resources and opportunities I have at my disposal, yet there is nothing to show for it. Through placing the wasted opportunities into perspective, such as the time wasted during my childhood playing tag with my friends and the access to valuable resources that I have heard in the course of my school life for sharpening my writing skills, the experiences can be drawn to form a narrative that advises others against misusing or underutilizing the valuable resources at their disposal.

This would then form an impressive narrative, which will change the notion that I do not have adequate writing skills, as portrayed in my essay, “Growing Up and How I Did It”. Tanselle rightly puts it that “the act of reading or listening to receive a message from the past entails the effort to discover, through the text (or texts) one is presented with”, p18. This is an indication that through the application of sufficient effort towards discovering the content of the past, there is the