Kayla:

In Kayla’s literacy narrative she identifies as a victim, and shares a negative experience she had with literature as a high school student. Her narrative can be categorized as a master narrative, because it has characteristics which are described in Alexander’s passage when she states “in one’s personal story has many of the same negative results, including naive and partial understanding of literacy and one’s relationship with it” (661). Evidence of these traits can be observed when Kayla says “feeling that my best work wasn’t good enough was honestly was devastating” (1). The negative and partial understanding of the literacy subjects is why her narrative can be categorized as a master narrative.

Sam:

In Sam’s literacy narrative he displays a literacy winner identity. Although he discusses a negative experience with literature, he has a positive experience with a literacy sponsor. A literacy sponsor can influence a student’s relationship with literature drastically. In this narrative Sam’s sponsor shows the positive characteristics of a sponsor. Brandt describes a sponsor as one who would “deliver the ideological freight that must be borne for access to what they have” (32). In this statement Brandt is stating that sponsors can share their beliefs, values, and knowledge in a way to help students of the practice. Evidence of such acts can be observed when Sam states “there was something about her patience and encouragement that made me feel that with her help, I could get the hang of this” (2). In this statement Sam is describing the positive influence his teacher or literacy sponsor had on him.

Hannah:

In Hannah’s literacy narrative she discusses how she took a tragic and scarring moment in her life and turned it into a positive growing experience through literature. In her story she shows evidence of being able to “adopt a particular identity within that narrative” (Williams 343). For example when Hannah states “In a blink of an eye, my whole life was changed, someone so meaningful was ripped away from me” (1). She displays ways of how she adopted a victim identity within her narrative.

Blake:

In Blake’s literacy narrative he discusses what he at the time thought was a negative experience he had with literature and his teacher or literature sponsor. However, reflecting on the experience later in his life he realized the important lesson which his teacher gave to him. For  example when Blake states “I see now it was because she knew I had the ability to succeed in my work, but I would rush through it and not worry about it” (2). Blake is displaying the positive influence a literacy sponsor can have on one’s relationship with literature. This concept is similar to when Williams states “figures who turned up most typically in people’s memories of literacy learning” (32) because it shows how an experience can be burned into an individual’s memory and influence how they feel about literature later in life.

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