Annotations - Literacy: A Lineage

The author opens by describing the hardships she would face, if it hadn't been for her "literacy guardian", her father. The author begins by sharing with us a personal tradition shared by her and her father. She tells of the Sunday morning bike rides they went on, and how the bell tower. She also tells of the poem etched at the bottom of the bell tower, and how her father would "inevitably" read it aloud to her. She recalls how she had memorized the poem, so often read to her by her father. After the author recalls how her father has inspired and encouraged her love for reading and writing, she tells the story in chronological order. She uses vivid details such as "I would recite the poem to myself, even when the weather was cold and my breath made the air foggy." ( Page 133, paragraph #1) This, and many other details as well, help paint a vivid picture in the readers' mind. The author focuses on her own personal experiences from her childhood, and how they affected her later in life. The author writes from a first person point of view, letting us know she experienced these events first hand. On page 135, the author expresses the main points of the story. She tells how the event has affected her writing, and how she will continue to receive joy as long as she lives, from the love for language and literature, that her father has passed onto her. At the very end of the narrative, the author quotes the poem, that her father had recited to her, as a child, which connects the beginning of the story to the end.