Summary & Response: Two Questions

The literacy narrative that I identify the most with is “Two Questions” by Lynda Barry. In the narrative, Barry states that as a child she enjoyed writing as well as drawing, but as she got older and was ‘forced ‘ to do it for school, she began to lose her enjoyment. She had to then find a reason as to why she was doing it and what kind of enjoyment it had brought her. Barry eventually learned that by taking away the two questions, she was able, once again, to make amazing pieces of art.

 I can easily relate to this story because I too, as a child, loved to write and draw. But as soon as I entered about 3^rd grade, it became a requirement, and it then just became something that I had to do, not something that I wanted to do.  After the first assignment, the others began pouring in, and I saw myself beginning to lose the happiness that writing previously gave me.

This narrative immediately grabbed my attention because of the variety of interesting images and comment bubbles. Compared to the other narratives, Lynda Barry made this one the most visually creative. The assortment of images, which included cats, octopi, people, and ghosts, made the 12 page narrative seem shorter in comparison to the others. In some cases, the images provided supportive, insightful messages, while others provided words of failure.