On “Proficiency” by Shannon Nicholls
This is your first Conversation post. Please review instructions for Conversation, and start writing.
Answer 4-6 of the questions below:
- How does the author feel about her writing abilities?
- How does the author feel about standardized tests?
- Retell the author’s journey as a writer.
- If you were Mrs. Brown, the author’s English teacher, what would you say when the author asked: “How can I get A’s in all my English classes but fail the writing part of the proficiency test twice?”
- Has there been a time in your life when you doubted your abilities as a writer or in general? Explain.
- How do you feel about your writing abilities?
Support your answers with evidence (at least 1 quote + 1 example) from the text and reply to at least 1 classmate.
2 thoughts on “Conversation 1: Literacy Narrative”
How does the author feel about her writing abilities?
The author is optimistic for her writing ability since she was always being complimented on her skills and achieves excellent grades in class. When testing in school, she is shocked to learn that she might not be as bright as she believes she is. The author grows to hate writing as she keeps failing the proficiency test at school.
How does the author feel about standardized tests?
The author initially had a positive attitude regarding standardized testing since she was sure of her ability to pass, but as she continued to take the test, her motivation and confidence decreased. In the text it states that, ” Failing the second time made things worse, so perhaps to protect myself from my doubts, I stopped taking English seriously”. The author let the testing failure affect her overall effort in school, and she stopped studying and developed a strong dislike for the test because of not receiving her ideal score and overall not belieing in her capabilities .
If you were Mrs. Brown, the author’s English teacher, what would you say when the author asked: “How can I get A’s in all my English classes but fail the writing part of the proficiency test twice?”
If I were the teacher, I would console the girl by explaining that she is experiencing testing jitters, which are entirely normal for a student her age. I would also help her with her problems and give her advice rather than ignore her at the time. As a teacher, you understand those standardized tests are not relevant and do not affect your class grade.
Has there been a time in your life when you doubted your abilities as a writer or in general? Explain.
Yes, there was a moment in my life when I questioned my writing ability; like the author, I had testing issues due to me not getting enough sleep the night before and failed my English Regents the first time. I was furious at myself for failing such an “easy” test while my peers passed, and I felt foolish. When given the opportunity to repeat the exam in the summer, I was able to pass it.
In this short story “Proficiency” the author thought her writing skills was the best, and other people would agree too, but when she took the “Proficiency” test she had failed. She was confused on how she can ever fail that test if her strong suit was reading and writing. She thought maybe I wasn’t the problem, it’s the people grading my test but in the back of her mind she stills blame and doubt herself, she lost the love for Writing and reading, something she was once good at is now something she is now insecure about. If I was mrs, brown I would of told her “maybe you need to change the way you write, and try something different, a Different style ” maybe all her essay was numb, and had no feelings in it. Honestly anything can be the problem. But I could agree with the author reading and writing became so different and people start to judge your writing piece, you start to hate it. Every time I fail I would slowly lose the happiness and confidence I once had. Now I’m scared to write, and even scared for other people to grade my writing. I wanna get better in my writing skill, but it’s to the point where I don’t wanna write no more and I hate it. I think I’m a wonderful writer but is my writing piece really enough? And that answers lives rent free in my head every time I write.