Multimodal Timeline

Writing a Résumé

Conclusions

Life-Fashioning Practices:

A Multi-Modal Timeline

Résumé writing is a literacy I have developed during my college career. I was gaining a lot of experience— in research, internships, and as a research assistant. Although I had written résumés before, I began to pay more attention to what I was doing when writing a résumé—selling my ability to do labor.

Obtaining this literacy is of course beneficial to my professional trajectory. Having a strong résumé that is well put together and neat will likely improve my ability to find employment post-graduation.

However, learning to better my résumé has also allowed me to reflect on my anti-capitalist ideologies and to better understand how exactly I am selling my ability to do labor in writing a résumé.

The various literacies discussed in this presentation have played a major role in my life in some way or another. Whether it impacted my academic trajectory, my professional trajectory, or my social and psychological development and progression, it stands to say that literacies truly are life-shaping practices.

Without gaining the literacies outlined in this presentation, my life would be very different, and very likely less happy. Reflecting upon these literacies has allowed me to gain greater appreciation and understanding for the roles literacies play in my life.

M. Alex Kaufmann

AFAMAS2367.01S

Driving

Writing College Level Research Papers

Learning how to drive, both the operation of the machine itself and how to navigate, have played an immense role in my late-adolescent development.

Earning my license around the age of 16 led to me getting my first job (which coincidentally introduced me to the career I hope to lead), as well as helped me befriend those outside of my town, and indirectly helped me become more responsible and mature.

It not only helped in my personal formation, but also in the treatment of mental illness. My car quickly became a safe place for me to go to (and often drive around in) when I felt (or feel) particularly depressed or anxious. This directly contributes to my wellbeing to this day.

One would hope this would have been learned in high school, but as I entered my first year at The College of Wooster, I found myself to be dreadfully unprepared.

Assigned a seven page midterm research paper for a Chinese history course, I had no idea how to proceed. Luckily, with the help of google, I found many resources that guided me in writing a historical research paper, specifically regarding style, citations, and quality and analysis of research.

Learning the basics came easy to me, as I had always enjoyed writing. Additionally, my writing skills have proven useful not just for my success in school, but for my professional success as well.

Writing Stories

Social Media

A Literacy Narrative

A very significant literacy that I gained around age seven was how to write stories. I was given a journal as a gift, and began to write not what was going on in my life as if it were a diary, but rather what was going on in my imagination.

I was inspired by many books and other media, from children's novels to National Geographic documentaries, my early writing was diverse in its subject matter.

This literacy, I believe, was important in formative ways that led to me to choose the paths I have followed—specifically regarding my interest in the humanities.

I am still developing my social media literacy, however I want to focus on its early development around the age of twelve. One of my first encounters with social media literacy was with facebook.

As an enthusiastic middle-schooler in 2008, I wanted to connect with my friends outside of school and when unable to see them in-person. Thus, I created a facebook account. Through using facebook, I learned new ways to communicate with my peers and family.

Encountering and enjoying facebook led me to branch out to other platforms such as tumblr, twitter, and instagram, through which I have expanded my social circle, influencing with whom I socialize in-person.

Literacy is gaining knowledge and ability with a specific subject or task.

This Prezi will take you through different formative moments in my life pertaining to different literacies.