My post today deviates a little from the reading this week because I really wanted to talk about my experience with my Literacy in Context essay.

I was very confused at first when Dr. Vee kept stopping each of us when we kept using the word “technology” last week. It seemed like one of those trivial things where she was just busting our chops for the sake of it, but I later realized that she had a very good reason for doing so. As I sat in Starbucks for 2 hours awkwardly staring at people, I realized that there are new sorts of literacy technologies and innovations made every day. Most notably was the lingo I heard the Starbucks staff slinging around. While at first it didn’t really phase me, I realized that nobody else in the entire place had any idea what they were really saying at all. As far as we were concerned, it may as well been a made up language.

This “New Language” wasn’t really new, but it represented a new form of communication and vocabulary that required a certain know how and understanding that the general population did not have. After seeing it in action I realized that technology isn’t just about new gadgets, but about new innovations and inventions that make your lives easier each and every day.

As I read through the Cornelius article I really began to realize how much I’ve come to take literacy for granted. I’ve come to recognize traditional literacy as something that most everybody does; that it was just another required part of education that we all had to go through. The biggest hardship I’ve seen some people go through in their literacy journey is a mild case of dyslexia. Seeing all the stories of people who not only struggled to read and wright, but risked being  mutilated and whipped for it really helped to put things in perspective for me.

I’ve always known that literacy wasn’t a staple for many people in history, but to see how hard some people fought to prevent some people from reading was really strange to see. While things in America are (seemingly) better, It makes me wonder if there’s anywhere that tries to subdue literacy like that.

Ever since it was brought up by Brandt in one of her articles, I’ve really been interested with the idea of sponsorship and literacy. Resnick and Resnick do a great job of evaluating several different eras of sponsorship throughout the centuries. From the call and response of biblical text in the 17th century, to the educational reforms for literacy in the 19th  century, the idea of sponsorship has always been in the back of my mind. Many people, children and adults alike, were struggling to become literate. Most of the time they just got to the point where they could hold a job or read the newspaper, and called it good. As time went on, many changes occurred in the educational system and literacy rates began to skyrocket.

While this seems like purely good news, something bugged me as I read it: Where is the baseline for literacy at right now? I grew up in the fairly affluent region of Hershey , where most kids were just bred to be pumped out to a nice college somewhere. The School always made sure that we maintained our blue ribbon status, and we were held to a higher standard of excellence because of it. While I developed great reading and comprehension skills from it, I never really stopped to think what it was like for someone who didn’t grow up in an environment like that.

My Interviewee is a young man who went to school in inner city Philadelphia his entire life. He expressed to me, in no uncertain terms, that most of his teachers didn’t really give a damn about building up a resume like that. He said it was more of a matter of just getting you up to the “required level” and then sending you to the next grade. I just found it strange how you read about all these elite french technical schools and think “Man, I’m so glad things are different now!” Only to have something like this make you realize that maybe some things still need to change.

In Fishman’s essay he describes the different kinds of literacy that the Amish community learns and uses in their everyday lives. I found this article particularly intriguing because I grew up in Amish country and have had multiple occasions to interact with them. While I’ve only had wonderful experiences with these people, this article did illuminate some things that I never would have even thought about before.

While the Amish have a tight knit community, and they’re by far some of the nicest people I’ve ever met, I don’t believe it’s fair for the child to have their parents show such a disinterest in their children’s schoolwork. Last week we read about Brandt’s idea of sponsorship. In this she discussed all the ways that sponsorship was used as a tool for literacy like The Bible, word games, and letters. However, while all this positive sponsorship was being brought into the home, the parents were exhibiting negative sponsorship by dissuading the children from doing their school work over their chores.

Even though the parents want to keep their culture strong in their children, do you believe that it’s okay for the parents to put their children’s education on the back burner just to  keep it that way?

I grew up in a home of gigantic nerds. Between my mom and dad, almost every nerdy pursuit was covered. My mom was huge into things like Star wars and Star Trek, while my dad was engrossed with things like comics and fantasy novels. They would always bicker about which nerdy pursuit was better, but the one thing they always agreed upon is that The Lord of the Rings was the best thing to ever grace God’s green earth.

When I was around 10, I really wanted to impress my parents and read their favorite trilogy. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of reading the LOTR novels, they’re long, they’re mostly boring, and they’re full of words that no 10 year old should or would ever know. My parents understood that it was difficult for even an adult to read, so they told me it was fine and that they would read it to me, or I could read it later. While this was a kind gesture, I was determined to do it. So I went and got the dictionary, and looked up any word I didn’t understand in it.

I’m proud to say that I managed to finish those books in a measly two and a half years.