ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on recent research from psychology and neuroscience to discuss the role of narrative and memory in the construction of literate identities. The process of remembering, which may seem instantaneous, actually involves creating narrative, in which one turn to cause and effect, setting, characters, and meaning to sort through and interpret the multitude of experiences and memories engage in every day. Memory and stories about reading and writing often enter into the classroom with the literacy narrative assignment, a common writing assignment in many US secondary and university courses. In particular, literacy narratives, in which students describe and reflect upon their experiences with reading and writing, are often assigned at the beginning of university first-year writing courses. Literacy narratives, like other memories, also illustrate the impulse toward coherence.
