Summary Of Does Writing Matter

In my College English class I was currently asked “Does writing matter”? When I first heard this question I immediately was going to say no, but I had a change of thought. It seems like the current topic of discussion is our modern technology. Often, when I think about technology, writing doesn’t even come to mind. I then remember that tv shows, advertisement, commercial scripts, instructions, directions, etc, all involves some sort of writing. Writing is everywhere and I do believe it matters. Writing is a good way to communicate, and relieve stress. It helps develop better literacy skills, whether it’s in school or for a job opportunity. Writing is an easy way to remember something important, and a good way to remember your emotions at a
certain time. Which makes it easier to discuss with someone. Futhermore, yes writing does matter because there are many positive benefits you can gain from it. The defintion of literate arts means the arts of literacy, which means a person’s ability to read and write. After reading past essays which were Pratt, Percy, Rodriguez, Freire, Morris and now Miller, it is seen that all these essays connect through literate arts. Literate arts are a form of communication. If you think about it, someone writes about something and then another person reads it. Then maybe, that person writes their thoughts on what they read, which makes the cycle continue. All the essays use literate arts to communicate their opinions on the topic of discussion they choose. Starting with Freire’s essay, he wrote about his disagreement concering the banking concept of education. “He states on page 216 that the banking concept is when “the students are depositories and the teacher is the depositor”. Freire expresses his thoughts on the banking concept when “he states on page 221 “Those truly committed to liberation must abandon the educational goal of entirely” and also “he states on page 221 “They must abandon the educstional goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world”. Through Freire’s essays, he describes literate arts to be good for posing a problem and displaying a message that he believes the banking concept of learning is not a good way to teach our young students. Secondly, I will discuss Pratt’s essay and how she wrote about thr contact zone and people’s differences.
In Pratt’s essay she talks about the history of people and culture. We as people read about history thus it won’t be repeated. When a person writes about what’s going on in their lives, they are creating their own history. Therefore, someday, people can read it and learn about what was going on in that time period. I’ve noticed in Pratt’s essay that she thinks that contact zones and imagined communities brings out the differences. However, Pratt believe that to learn about another culture is to read about them, rather thatn judge. Or come to believe that your culture is better than theirs, or theirs is better than yours. “Pratt states on page 329 “...exercise in storytelling and in identifying with the ideas, interests, hobbies, and attitudes of others.” Pratt uses her literate arts to be good for storytelling because she explained stories about different cultures. Pratt also explains how those different connnect with one another. On page 326 Pratt says “participants are in the same game and that the game is the same for all players”. “She also says on page 326 “when speakers are from different classes or cultures or one party is exercising authority and another is submitting to it or questioning it. As mentioned cultures connect, but it seems like they connect through a mutural game of
respect. Thirdly, in Rodriguez essay, he wrote about his acheivement of desire and how he sees himself as a scholarship boy. Rodriguez uses his lierate arts to distance himself from his parents as mentioned on page 341 “..his academic success distances him from a life he loved, even from his own memory of himself”. Or on page 341 “he states that “I remember too well that education had changed my family’s life. And also on page 343 “he says “I resisted parental pleas to “save lights” by coming to the kitchen to work. I kept so much, so often to myself”. He uses literate arts to become closer to his teachers as mentioned on page 341 “I came to idolize my grammer school teachers”. Rodriguez also uses literate art to become an better student. “He states on page 342 “I grew increasingly successful, a talkative student”. Rodriguez uses literate arts as to be good for escaping his troubles and expressing himself. Fourthly, Morris essay, he wrote about the “hooded man” and how images or pictures don’t capture the reality of what is currently going on. He also talks about how seeing is not believing, but believing is seeing. As an example, a man once thought he was the “hooded man” when he seen a picture of a “hooded man” because he remember he took a picture like that. Unfortunatelty, he wasn’t the hooded man and convinced people that he was. However, when the real hooded man came forward he explained his story and it was more believable. Soon after he seen a picture of himself as the hooded man, it became clear that he was telling the truth. Morris uses literate arts to be good for telling stories, which leads him into creating a quote concering his essay about the hooded man.