In the reading, The Sponsors of Literacy by Deborah Brandt she talks about how literacy was received and withheld from people because of socio-economic classes. Brandt claims that there is a connection between literacy and economic development or as she refers to them as sponsors of literacy which can either help, sensor, or withhold all together the ability to be literate. Literacy provides an upward mobility or at least the means to move upward in social classes and without literacy there is no means to gain an edge. In her interviews of Raymond Branch (European American) and Dora Lopez (Mexican American) Brandt found that even though both were born in the same year and had moved to the same town when they were younger Branch was introduced…
Instead of that, people, institutions and circumstances sponsor literacy. Moreover, it people actually acquires literacy. • The word “sponsor”, we may think it as suggesting support or assistance. However, Brandt also discusses more than those aspect of literacy sponsor. She points out that literacy sponsor are not always altruistic, and they may have their…
In an opinion piece titled “Reading You Loud and Clear” to the Aronlea Scutineer on the 2nd of Febuary 2015, J. Rodd worryingly addresses the issue of falling literacy rates around the country, urging people to recognise the issues it may cause and the merits of strong literacy skills. Rodd’s central argument is that literacy rates are too low and are continuing to drop. She presents the current situation with statistics and accompanying imagery. It clearly explains the key information in a way that is easy to digest; illiteracy rates for high-school graduates, juvenile offenders, prisoners and those in poverty are worryingly high. Stereotypical clothing is used to put each role into a clear group that could be understood without reading the caption.…
Everyone has a person, or persons, who influence their writing in some way. Deborah Brandt, professor in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote an article defining the sponsors of literacy. She states a literacy sponsor as, “people, institutions, and circumstances that both make it possible for a person to become literate and shape the way the person actually acquires literacy”(Brandt 331). The movie Finding Forrester greatly expresses the way in which literacy sponsors can shape someone’s life. The main character in the movie is a sixteen-year-old boy named Jamal who is from the Bronx in New York. He is a very intelligent young man and a gifted writer. The fact that he goes to a poor school with students who are mostly unsuccessful affects the showmanship of his intelligence. He feels that if he shows how smart he is than he will be made fun of. After taking a test his superb scores gave him the opportunity to get a full ride scholarship to a prestigious prep school called Mailor-Callow where he can continue to play basketball. Throughout his journey he has many literacy sponsors. Some of his main sponsors are his family, his friends, William Forrester, and his English teacher Mr. Crawford.…
“The politeness that afflicts me is not civility, which is an urbane quality compatible even with cynicism”(ll.5-7). Klinkenborg's choice of vocabulary is what separates his essay from others. He chooses powerful words like cynicism and afflict instead of common words that are used daily so that the message portrayed is more dominating. “Not consoling enough? Then try this." (ll.131-132). The constant use of questions by Klinkenborg helps erect a base that he uses to urge on a desire to take his words to heart and make his tone that much more powerful."The men and women who speak so unrelentingly of 'our children's children.' Who are the children whose children are going to usher in the future? Are they the 30 percent of American children now living in poverty? What kind of future are they imagining?"(ll.76-83).The occasional use of questions makes the reader more engaged so that Klinkenborg’s distinctive tone stands out further and the image of politicians being ignorant about the current state of their generation is illustrated easily in the mind.…
Our very first lesson is to become literate in the language we speak from reading alphabets to novels, we try to achieve literacy. Many people have come to believe that there are many ways to achieve literacy. However, some of the greatest public speakers and writers did not achieve it through the way most people did. This is illustrated in the literary work of Malcolm X, Sherman Alexie and Anne Lamott. According to these people, literacy isn’t achieved by simply going to school. It’s achieved through great determination and through great persistence.…
In his writing about the ‘Other People’s Children’, Jonathan describes the views that people gives to those children who study in the abandoned schools that they view as educationally inferior. He discloses the argument from many who consider these children not to qualify for any post high school education. Therefore, the only solution for these inner-city school children is to acquire training for low-level jobs that they will eventually do. They are not privileged as the wealthy suburban that are capable of going to colleges and becoming better people in the future. Kozol states that those giving such opinions about these children are the same people against the idea of spending much money on educating the poor inner city children. He states that the underprivileged children and…
In conclusion these examples will help his audience see that the lack of literacy reading has affected our young adults tremendously, in their workplace and social life. The decline has affected many things and it is very important that we bring literature…
It’s Knoblauch’s goal in his essay to show that there isn’t only one definition of literacy. His theory is that there are 4 senses of literacy and he not only defines them, but explains in detail what language is implied by each sense and how the group defining them use these different ways of literacy in everyday life. Knoblauch’s point is that there is no wrong or right way to view literacy but that is more than one way. The groups defining the 4 types are based on their belief system and what they value. The first sense is functional literacy. I would say this is the way most Americans view literacy. It’s basically being able to read and write at a level that makes a person capable to live fine in a society where writing is a big deal. If you have functional literacy, it’s easy to fill out job applications and to participate in activities where you are given writing instructions. It’s basically the low man on the totem pole. People with this literacy have little power in both social and economic groups; you probably wont see someone with only this literacy as a CEO or business owner. The second definition of a literacy being used today is Cultural literacy. This group is more advanced than the functional literacy group because they can not only read and write at a level high enough to survive, they read high culture literature and other types of writing that will help preserve their cultural beliefs and values. They have a more proper language. The next form of literacy would be the personal growth literacy. It’s to my understanding that their type of writing helps them find themselves. It exercises their imaginations and expresses their feelings. Poems may be a popular type of writing; songwriting maybe. And the last is critical literacy, critical meaning its of the most importance to sound smart and know what your talking about because it’s almost as if it’s a means of power, which makes sense. It isn’t often that you see a CEO or owner of a company using…
When people work effectively together as a team, the benefits can be experienced by people at different levels within the organisation and by partner organisations as well. There are different challenges and benefits to different kinds of teams, but some potential benefits and challenges are common to all.…
In this essay Kozol speculates just what he thinks the negative results are that stem from being illiterate. He tries to inform his audience of the normal daily tasks that are not able to be accomplished due to illiteracy and how subsequently, one may feel as though they are…
The long range remedy for restoring and improving American literacy must be to "institute a policy of imparting common information in our schools." In short, according to Hirsch - the answer to our problem lies within the list. Hirsch's book explains the importance of the need of a higher level of national literacy. His main argument is that cultural literacy is required for effective communication and the "cooperation of many people..." Communication is what Hirsch sees is essential for success in today's society.…
The topic aligns with the MA-ED: CIR program essential question and is related to literacy;…
Social bond theory was created by Travis Hirschi and it is a form of social control theory. Social control theorists are more interested in explaining why someone is not being deviant rather than why they are. In this theory it is expected that deviance will occur at some point. Hirschi's social bond theory explains that deviane is expected to occur because crime is easy to do; you do not need any special skills to commit crimes. Everyone has the same amount of motivation to participate in deviance. Social bond theory is made up of four bonds; attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Each bond is a bond to conformity and that keeps individuals from doing deviant behavior. Hirschi argues that the strength of social control a person has is what differentiates people who committ offenses from those who do not.…
In the essay “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society”, written by Jonathan Kozol. The essay was published in “Reading for Writers”, and in the city of New York in 2013. The main argument that the essay brings forth is that life for an illiterate has been really hard and they are not treated equal compared with the rest literate people. To further explain my last sentence Mr. Kozol has pointed out things that it shows us how back than illiterate people were not treated equal. Here are some examples of ways they were not treated equal including with voting, education, bills, healthcare, housing, travel, and so on.…