Kayla – 

  • Sponsor as a withholder
  • “Sponsors, as I have come to think of them, are any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who … recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy – and gain advantage by it some way.” (Brandt, 556)
  • “Freshman year of high school my English teacher, Mr. Stritch, was the person who ruined writing for me. (Kayla, 1)
    • “Having Mr. Stritch as a teacher freshman year of high school as well as junior year of high school, really destroyed my confidence. (Kayla, 3)
  • The narrative shows how Mr. Stritch acts as a sponsor as a withholder in Kayla’s life due to him ruining her writing experience and destroyed her previous confidence through a negative attitude and non-helpful critique.

Sam –

  • Sponsor as a facilitator
  • “Sponsors, as I have come to think of them, are any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model.” (Brandt, 556)
  • “There was something about her patience and encouragement that made me feel that with her help, I could get the hang of this.” (Sam, 2)
  • Sam’s narrative shows how Miss Fostor acted as a withholder through facilitator due to her teaching and encouraging him. Due to this positive attitude and environment he loved writing at the time, which supports Brandt’s definition of a sponsor as a facilitator.

Blake –

  • The identity of victim
  • “The popularity of the victim narrative in student texts indicates that students associate school-based literacy practices with oppression and even cruelty. When asked to reflect on past experiences in the confines of the literacy narrative, they rememeber these experiences that haunted them and took away their freedoms. (Alexander, 618)
  • “So I sat in the classroom by myself rereading my essay over and over and still could not figure out what it was missing. … I remember looking out the window and seeing all my friends playing at recess … I was so mad I missed recess.” (Blake, 1 and 2)
  • This narrative portrayed the identity of victim due to Blake believing that his freedom of recess was taken away from him through him having to stay in for recess. He felt oppressed and even singled out in the process of revision.

Hannah – 

  • The identity of a rebel
  • “They refuse to portray themselves as helpless victims. Instead, they choose to dismiss the values and assignments of the mainstream education, while often displaying what they consider their true literacy talents.” (Williams, 344)
  • “I was so proud of my paper, no acceptance letter or B minus was going to change that. I did everything I could to go above and beyond. Teachers are always so hard on students, no matter what we do or how we act. … Write what makes you happy, that’s the paper to aim for.” (Hannah, 2 and 3)
  • Hannah’s narrative shows how she possesses a rebel outlook on English in general due to her negative experience with her essay about her brother. How she no longer looks and strives for a great grade due to the system not working and how instead she writes until she feels confidence. Not only this but she also values enjoyment in writing.