Short personal narrative about your experience as a reader and/or viewer of news stories, current events, social media, etc. Where do you get your news? Who do you trust as sources of information? What stories are you following? What current events have caught your attention?

Writing Prompt

Your first writing assignment invites you to compose a Literacy Narrative focused on News and Media. Your narrative should be written as a first-person account of something you consider significant in your experience with News Media. In considering your "literacy" journey, keep in mind that you can't possibly include everything in a short piece of writing. Before you begin drafting, you may want to isolate a specific eventa memorable encounter with a news headline or breaking storythat will bring focus to your narrative. What descriptive details seem important to include for your reader? What about your own experience do you think would be shared--or, possibly surprising--to your reader?

You are welcome to be creative and experiment with the organization of your narrative, but do keep in mind that ultimately you are composing a story for an interested reader. Once you have chosen a specific, memorable event in your experience with media literacy, it may be useful to consider how you thought about "News" before and after the event. How did the experience change you? What are you left wondering? What would you want a reader to take away from your story? What specific critical insights or reflections on the media give your story a sense of purpose?

Creating a Structure

Your final media literacy narrative should have an original title and an introductory paragraph in which you lay out your general point of view. The main body of your narrative should be anchored by a specific event (an encounter with a news story) and should include several paragraphs that provide context, description, and ultimately the main idea or insight you wish to share with your reader. Finally, your narrative should a conclude in a way that leaves your reader with something to think about with respect to our shared experience of the contemporary media landscape.

Point-of-View

Keep in mind, all narratives have narrators. Your story will most likely be narrated from the singular, first-person point of view ("I")but keep in mind how you might also use the plural, first person point of view to connect with your reader ("We")