Joshua Chandler Mr.

Borrero English 1101 October 2, 2012 Defense Essay Instead of going with the original plan of a speech I decided to work with the genre of music. From the time I was a child to now, music has been a huge portion of my life whether it be willingly or by choice. I feel like music is one of the best ways of expression for an individual, and throughout my life it has had its significance with my literacy experience. The purpose of this paper is to correlate the genre of music with my past and current literacy. I dont quite remember this but as a baby my dad would sing gospel songs to me every night before I went to sleep to help me go to sleep. During the ages from 2-3 years old, every Sunday I would wake up, and the first thing I would hear in the morning would either by my dad singing or the sounds of Christian music being played throughout our loud speakers. I honestly looked forward to this every Sunday because I loved hearing my dad sing because it was always something nice to wake up to. The sound and vibrato of his voice never ceased to put me in good spirits to start off my day. No matter what, music surrounded me at an early age. As a grew a little older I decided to follow in the footsteps of my father so I began to sing as well. Prior to each of my Dads sermons, he would ask me to perform my notorious song selection which became very repetitive overtime. At first I was expressing true emotion when I sang but having to do it every week became too much of a routine and I lost my passion for thing I loved to do so much. When I attended Living Word Christian Academy as an elementary
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school student my passion fired right back up again when I joined the school choir. At first I was very shy and didnt really sing to my full potential, but my choir director brought it out of me by making me the lead singer after 2 months. This was and honor and a privilege in which I was determined not to let him, my fellow choir mates, or myself down. We would travel all over the suburbs of Chicago singing for various churches, banquets, fest, you know name it. Singing and baseball was all I knew at this point and I was very content with it to say the least. Even when I played sports and I couldnt get away from music. At the start of the baseball season our team would generate chants to distract the other team or support another teammate as he went up to bat. Majority of the time I would be the composer of these chants because everyone thought I had the best rhythm of the team. Over the years my teammates and I made up chants from songs we had previously heard on the radio to just things that had to do with our everyday lives. Either way, music and rhythm never left my side. Eventually singing wasnt enough and I wanted to expand my musical talents so I joined the band. Surprisingly I picked up on playing the trombone very fast and I was able to play a solo in our schools first ever band recital. Not only was I proud, but my family and friends were as well. My parents decided that school wasnt enough for me to express my musical interests so they would take me around to nursing homes so I could sing to the elderly. Seeing the smiles on their faces and just knowing that my singing could brighten up their day a little is a feeling that was indescribable to this very day. At that moment I knew that music could be used for so much than what I had previously known . At this moment in my life I would wake up and go to sleep thinking about music and little did I know things were about to change drastically for my music and I.
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My choir director informed my parents and I that the director of a recording group by the name of the Soul of Children wanted me to sing for them in the upcoming month. This was news I would had never dreamed of receiving but my dream came up short when my parents told me I wouldnt be able to join because we were moving to North Carolina over the summer. I can remember the feeling I had in my stomach that day and it was one of disappointment, nervousness, and anger. I couldnt believe my parents would take something so special away from me just to move to a state we knew nothing about. Around this time I would listen to songs that reminded me of Chicago and the great experiences I had with my community, friends, and family. Music became a form of release and closure for the all the animosity I had for the upcoming situation I was about enter. When I moved to North Carolina I had nothing in common with the other children because singing wasnt the cool thing to do at my new middle school. I decided in order to make friends I should continue instead of making progress within my music. Before I had moved to North Carolina I had put baseball on the back burner so my skills definitely werent what they used to be, so I came up short on making the team. This was a very disappointing time in my life and the only thing I could resort to was music. Every day I would go home and lock myself in my room and just sing until I couldnt sing anymore because it was the only form of release that made me happy at the time. Eventually I didnt care what my peers thought and I joined the school choir once again. My choir mates made me feel welcome and secure, which this was the first time I had experienced this since I had moved to North Carolina. Music helped me open up to new things and people, which has become very significant to my literacy.

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Experiences and situations reflect in many individuals writings and how they comprehend different pieces of literature. The drastic move that I had long dreaded became a positive attribute to my literacy for the rest of my life. Being in chorus didnt completely open me up to my true voice but it did help me express myself a little more than I had done previously. This became a crucial factor in myself and as well as my writing. I became more open when I wrote pieces of writing and I definitely had more to talk about due to my many experiences I had with chorus and the individuals who surrounded me. My parents decided to attend another church and as soon as stepped into Sunday school the first question I was asked was Josh are you able to sing? Without hesitation I replied with a confident yes and they asked me to sing for them that night for youth group. I practiced every hour up until church that night and when I sang for the youth and the director, the other kids were highly and impressed and this made me feel welcome and appreciated. Instantly I became the lead singer of the group and began performing for the church as I had previously done when I lived in Chicago. This made me feel like home again even though the environment was completely different. This was an aspect of my life I grasped and utilized with myself all the way to literacy. There may be times where the genre of reading isnt something I typically was familiar with or the writing style required is one that is definitely not my strong point. But adjusting to situations and making them comfortable for myself as a reader or writer is the best way to be prosperous and productive. Going into my teenage years, music picked up heavily in my life again and it didnt seem like it was going to leave anytime soon. Being in the youth band at church I learned to play

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piano, so eventually I became the lead pianist and vocalist. Just like I had previously done in my home state we began to travel to different churches around the county and sing for them for morning worship and night services. We even started our own youth night, once a month, for any youth who wanted to attend in the surrounding area. Even though I was performing for different groups of people, the will and drive never changed. I can recall the missions trip we took to West Virginia Christmas and we performed for the people of the surrounding area whom were in need. It brought me back to moment when I sang for the elderly at the retirement homes. Once again, I was put in a different situation but I used the same tactics to achieve the same outcome. Not only did my music pick up in church and in my community but it did in school as well. I remained in choir but I experienced something different I had never been through before. Instead of being one of the lead guys in chorus I was put in the background by my choir director. He didnt have confidence in me as my past directors did because my voice wasnt as strong as the other guys in my chorus class. Even though this was discouraging, I used this situation to better myself as a musician and vocalist. This also benefited my literacy because when I was put into a situation that would potentially bring me down as a reader or writer I wouldnt give up. I can recollect numerous of times I would get writers or readers in attempts to complete both tasks, but its situations such as these in that allowed me to go the extra mile. I also picked up on this by doing musical theater. I recall having to play the role of Seaweed in the county musical Hairspray and while reading the music for his part I became extremely nervous because I would have to hit notes I had never done before. Was it challenging? Yes, but I persevered and expanded my vocal range just in time before the show and had some of

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the best performances of my life. Music threw many challenges in my direction but each time I never let my doubts determine the outcome of the situation at hand. As you can see the genre I chose has played a crucial role in my life and its constant presence has affected my literacy as whole. The one thing I received from this genre that has really impacted my view on literacy is the will to always persevere and learn something new. Life will always throw you curveballs as well reading and writing will tend to do. Literacy always brings up the opportunity to learn something new and sometimes its not always a simple task. Ive had prosperous and dreadful experiences, but instead of just living for positive moments, music has taught me to also utilize the negative. Within my narrative I want show my reader the rocky path I had with literacy which ended in a positive outcome, and I thought what better to do it than a CD with a list of songs that will sum it all up. Music, I feel like is one of the best ways of expression and many people are familiar with this concept. Whether yourre on stage performing a song or in the car jamming out to Drake or Adele, literacy is being portrayed someway or somehow. This genre has taught me many things about comprehension, reading, and writing as whole and the one point I want to portray to anyone who reads this paper is to know that yours and my literacy experience hasnt ended. Its just beginning to reach its peak and theres always a new experience that can and will affect your mode of literacy.
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