Reading Response #11:
Brandt
Summary
With
“Sponsors of Literacy” Deborah Brandt insists that literacy isn’t something one
achieves on their own; rather that literacy is sponsored by a variety of entities–be it people, schools or a
specific set of circumstances. However, while these sponsors enable people to
become literate, Brandt insists that this does NOT mean these sponsors are
selfless or altruistic. In fact, Brandt notes, sponsors usually are entirely self-interested.
Pre-Reading
You see
promotional material for reading everywhere. Teachers encourage it, to the
point where they’re practically shoving it down your throat. Parents encourage
it, even if they’ve discontinued leisure reading entirely. The value of being
literate is immeasurable. That’s why it’s so heavily emphasized. There are
posters hanging in the hallways of every school. The library has all sorts of
promotional contests to encourage the youth to read. Being literate is
crucially important in today’s society. You’re affected vocationally, socially,
economically.
Synthesis
“Sponsors
of Literacy” reminded me once again of Greene’s parlor metaphor, though it was
Stuart Greene who created it. You sit for a while and absorb. You take in as
much knowledge as you can. Then you begin to formulate independent (as
independent as it can be) thought and from there you go on and contribute to
the conversation. Eventually, someone else will enter the parlor and the
process will repeat itself. It’s very cyclical. I think sponsors are cyclical
too. Millions and millions of children go to school or watch TV and gain an
understanding of the English language. Eventually they go on to stand in front
of those same chalkboards and cameras, and another couple million children
absorb what’s being thrown at them.
Questions for Discussion and Journaling
1) Brandt describes literary sponsors as “any agents, local
or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as
recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy–and gain advantage by it in
some way.” Literary sponsors are the organizations, people, websites, entities
you interact with that shape your literacy in ways similar to other
establishments, and in ways different to other establishments.
Applying and Exploring Ideas
2) I’ve definitely encountered both the withholding of
literacies and the overbearing encouragement (forcing) of literacies while I
was in high school. We weren’t offered books like The Catcher in The Rye and In
Cold Blood. I recognized that these were both very important and beneficial
literary works and I regarded them as necessary. Eventually I did end up
reading ICB, though not for any academic endeavor. Other novels, such as To Kill A Mockingbird, were required
reading for every high school sophomore. A really beneficial class I took while
in high school was a course called Best Sellers. In that class, we’d read books
that interested us and write about them. That was it. I found it greatly
satisfying.
Personal Opinion
I really
liked the idea that all literacy is sponsored, and not for entirely selfless
reasons. I’m not sure if I like it as much as I’m interested by it. It’s very
cynical, this idea that literacy is given to the youth for economic reasons,
for capitalism, for the prosperity of a nation. But at the same time it makes
sense, and is very necessary. It really does hammer down the idea that nothing
is independent–that true intellectual independence is simply mythical in today’s
society.
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