Technical Communication - Narrative Essay

Literacy Narrative I hurried down the snowy path, it was getting dark and the trail was hard to follow even on a sunny day. It was mid-November 1989 in Michigan. We had our first snowfall and the leaves still peeked out across the ground. I could see my house through the trees, I was home. I stepped up onto our porch and knocked the snow off my boots as best I could. Opening the door, I felt the warmth cover my red cheeks, it felt good for a moment and then became too hot as I raced to get my snow-pants and gloves and all my layers off. I could smell brownies. I quickly located them on the counter covered with aluminum foil and still warm. I quietly wrapped a brownie in a napkin and made my way into the living room. The radio was on and 50’s music was floating around the room. I hugged the wall to my right and slipped up the stairs to my bedroom. I shut my bedroom door behind me and sat down on the bed. A large window almost as long and tall as my bed looked out into the world that was covered in snow and trees and a lake stretching into the distance where I could just make out a tiny island. I got comfortable on my bed and reached over to a shelf above my headboard and pulled down a large heavy book. It was red with gold borders on the front and back cover. I read the fading but still bright letters on the cover, The Lord of the Rings. I opened it and started to read, I read every day until I finished it on Thanksgiving. Reading this book was a profound moment in my literacy development because it got me excited about reading and expanded my imagination in all aspects of my life. I had never really looked forward to reading, only doing so when was needed in school. Other things were more exciting for me like movies and comic books, these gave me visual stories, while most books had no pictures. On a trip to the library with my family I was browsing the selections of paperbacks with interesting pictures, but the stories inside all seemed the same. Then I saw it, red and gold and sticking out between the paperbacks like a giant. This had to be in the wrong place. I opened it up and there was a map. What is Middle Earth? What language is this? I needed to find out what this book was about. I checked it out and started reading when I got home. Hobbits and wizards and a magic ring. I started to visualize what was happening and I could see the fireworks at Bilbo’s birthday party, I could make the caves as dark as I wanted and the orcs as scary as they needed to be. I was really enjoying this and was excited to find out what was going to happen. I got goosebumps a few times and when Aragorn revealed himself and drew his sword Andúril to the riders of Rohan I remember the hair on my arms stood up. It was evident that after gaining a newfound excitement in reading that this was going to affect other aspects of my life. Reading had opened my imagination to see things in my life from any perspective I could think of. The time in the woods soon became a journey to have picnic with Hobbits, to help Gandalf find a powerful staff, to hide from a pack of orcs or to simply try to walk into Mordor. I started visualizing my adventures and started drawing and painting my view of the words I was reading. I even started writing my own short stories. When I got a Lego castle set, I turned it into a Helms Deep battle. When I was older, I used the same imagination to plan and set goals. Imagining things from different perspectives, what would this look like when its complete or should I change this to a different color. I started making detailed and carved wooden signs, many inspired by The Lord of the Rings. I would imagine what kind of sign would the customer want, what would they connect with. I still go on walks in the woods and I still remember when I was young and found that giant book in the library that day. I have had many adventures and have read many books since then, but The Lord of the Rings will always be the book that showed me the excitement in reading and connected my imagination to my world.