As we begin our work in Unit 1 of our course, we are looking at what Literacy is and how we can apply and understand it, as well as understanding how we as individuals become literate and what literacy means not just to each individual, but as a cultural, social, and contextual concept.
Reflect back on the Andrea Fishman piece and Deborah Brandt’s piece on literacy sponsors. In it, she describes how Eli Jr.’s contexts of literacy and what they mean to his culture. Fishman is also rhetorically analyzing the context of literacy as a whole, and argues that while to ‘mainstream’ culture Eli’s life may seem backwards or even simplistic, the concept of literacy to the Amish is seen as extremely important in a way that is almost foreign to outsiders. At the same time, Fishman’s words can also be rhetorically analyzed; she has a very obvious argument that she is trying to make in her ethnography of Eli and the Amish that goes beyond the family’s interactions and looks outward into how American culture teaches literacy and values (or doesn’t) value literacy beyond technical ability.
In this discussion, consider your own literacy history and past. How and why were you taught to be literate? Who or what influenced that literacy? You may want to consider things like economic factors (not just of your family, but where you lived and how much money was spent in your schools), cultural (anything from the overall cultural values where you lived to your family’s internal cultural beliefs), ideological (political, religious, etc.), and personal (who influenced your literacy?). You should also understand that literacy sponsors of this fashion are not always *positive,* but even “negative” influences can have unintentionally positive consequences. (For example, overbearing parents who want their child to over achieve may seem ‘positive,’ but may have a net negative influence on their children’s conceptualization of literacy and it’s importance).
Briefly describe your own literacy experience, and how it helped you become the person you are today. You want to again think beyond simply the ability to be “technically” literate–how do you feel like your education and upbringing influenced how you think about literacy and value your ability to be literate? How do you think it has prepared you for your ‘adult’ life? In what ways do you continue to pursue your own literacies? In other words, don’t focus so much on the exact ‘timeline’ of your skills, or the ‘finish line,’ but think more about who/what/when/where/how you were influenced in getting there, and why–you may want to consider what value your culture/parents/family/society places on literacy, why it does so, and how that’s influenced you to be literate (in any way), and how you now as an adult individual plan to interact with said ideas and values in the future.
