Literacy Behind Bars

       For homework this past week we had to read a literacy narrative from Norton's Field Guide to Writing. I  chose the literacy narrative called Literacy Behind Bars. This was an interesting narrative about a man who taught himself how to better read and write while in the solitude of his cell in Charlestown Prison. The narrative was very thought out and had great organization. It began with him in jail being very bored to  him then reading large novels each day to past the time.
       During the story he also expressed how he taught himself to get better and reading and writing. He said that each that  he would copy the dictionary. He learned many new words that he thought h=that had never existed. He also improved his penmanship due to him writing and continuing to practice at each day for hours and hours. After many days of copying and copying he managed to copy the entire dictionary! His word base broadened tremendously and he could better understand the meanings of novels. To this day he said that jail made him a better reader and writer.