Jill's web page of literacy biographies

 jillm@elmhurst.edu

    Key to literacy

Welcome to my literacy page. I have enjoyed talking to people about their literacy stories, and I have also enjoyed reading and hearing about my classmates interactions with their subjects.

As an observer, it has been interesting to see how each person responds to literacy, what motivates individuals to become literate and how each person's story is unique given their individual circumstances. 

Literacy biographies:

1.  Background info: Larry Fricke did not have the literacy opportunities most children have in DuPage County. Despite his humble beginning, today he is well-read and enjoys the many social connections he has made throughout life and as a development associate in the Office of Advancement at Elmhurst College, where he has been a full-time volunteer for 23 years.  I hope you enjoy his story.

         Larry Fricke 

Audio file: Larry's story: Education, education, education

literacy bio Fricke final.doc 

 2.  Background info: To describe how Myrna Petlicki, 63, became a professional freelance writer is simple -- "I has just always had a way with words," she says, but that's not to say she didn't work hard, either. Myrna can't recall when she learned to read or write, because she feels she always did. For Myrna, writing has been a lifelong obsession.

literac bio Myrna Final.doc 

Seminar Paper: 

Myrna Petlicki did not have support from her parents to excel academically, and yet, she is an adept professional writer and editor. Although she didn't have a supportive upbringing, I explored some of the literacy characteristics that were innate in Myrna and perhaps in many writers, such as self-efficacy, and what characteristics are necessary for a professional writer's success. 

Seminar Paper 1.doc