Where Have You Been? Where are You Going?: Reconsidering Literacy Narratives in the Context of Neuroscience Research

 Here is an amazing article [click title below] by a colleague of mine Dr. Irene Clark in it she references the article published on this site by our former student Enrique Solis

Where Have You Been? Where are You
Going?: Reconsidering Literacy Narratives in
the Context of Neuroscience Research
 

Irene Clark
 

Abstract
This article argues that literacy narratives should be viewed as an important
genre in composition courses, and in other courses as well, because they can help
students consider and reconsider who they were, who they are, and who they
want to become, both as individuals and as members of a culture or commu-
nity. Engaging with neuroscience scholarship, critical race theory, and counter
story, it maintains that recalling “stories” of literacy acquisition can provide stu-
dents with transformative insight into educational inequities, entrenched power
structures, and challenges that may have impacted their previous involvements
with literacy. Because writing a literacy narrative involves reflection about pre-
vious “scripts” associated with literacy and education, it is a genre that can be
enlightening for all students, those from privileged as well as from disadvan-
taged backgrounds, enabling them to critique the cultural, political, and social
forces that have impacted their educational experiences and to replace damage-
centered scripts and traumas with affirming insights and plans. The article uti-
lizes current research in neuroplasticity to provide support for this perspective,
in that it demonstrates that different identities are manifested in the brain.
Examples of students’ work are included.1
In order to enter this particular literary community, I
had to first give up a huge part of myself. Now, as I grow
and come to fruition as a writer, I feel encouraged to find
a way to rediscover and utilize those passionate parts of
myself that I previously worked so hard to suppress.
—Enrique Solis, “Delving into a New World,” (p� 301)
I realized how different my family was from the aver-
age American family . . . but two months later, my mom
signed my sister and me up for a free after-school com-
puter course and got us each a library card, ensuring that
her children never had to go through that again.
—Charlie

originally published in 

Clark, Irene. WPA: Writing Program Administration, vol 47, no 2, 2024, pp 84–103.