Uses of Literacy

In the Cornelius article, as well as the Lu article, those looking to attain a certain level of literacy are met with breakthroughs that change their view of literacy. For slaves, this was marked by the transition that comes with attaining literacy. Sella Martin described it as a “click of comprehension” the first time he was able to both read and comprehend written words (Cornelius 71). In the Lu article, she described a similar feeling upon realizing “social class” and the adjective “classy” are actually similar concepts. The distance between the two had been accentuated by the separation of “home” and “school” ideals, as well as English being a second language for her.

In both scenarios, reaching a new understanding involves restructuring the way they see and use literacy. For Lu, it was steeped in connotations and the ideology behind words. For many of the slaves in Cornelius’s work, it was about consolidating and expanding a new skill.

In both of these instances, however, these revelations are coming at what would be, to most of us, elementary-high school levels of achievement. How does restructuring come into play at higher levels? What sort of learning has caused you to restructure your literacy, or how you view it? How do these instances of restructuring change the way we pursue certain literacies?

In the article “When I Can Read My Title Clear,” Cornelius discusses how slaves had the desire to learn to read and write but were punished when their owners found out. They had to be extremely secretive about learning to read and write because the punishments were extremely severe. For example, Henry Wright’s father learned to read with the help of his master’s son, which he was told to keep to himself, because if the white men in the community found out one of the slaves could read and write, they would cut his fingers off. These severe punishments instilled fear in many, but also promoted secretive learning among those whose “sympathetic owners” allowed them to learn.

My question regarding this reading is why do you think slave owners were so afraid of the slaves learning to read and write? From what we have discussed in class, reading and writing seems to be a positive thing; it is something that promotes mental growth and forward, critical thinking. It is an outlet for us to release our deepest thoughts and calm the mind. Do you think the answer to this question revolves around power? Equal rights? Or do you think it is something broader or more personal than that?

In the Cornelius article, much of it discussed the “rights” given to slaves in the 1800s in each state, and the discrepancy in between. He references a Benjamin Russell in South Carolina who says “we were taught to read… it was against the law to teach a slave to write”. They went on to say that reading was taught against the law there, but there seems to have been no flexing the law when it came to writing. Upon reading this, my initial reaction was disgust. It felt that the community was okay with educating slaves, as they knew that they were able to learn those skills, but did not provide them with the means to express themselves.

With this thought, I had the question of “How is the skill of reading impaired without the ability to write?” For these slaves, who were surely silenced on a daily basis, writing could have been their outlet. The fact that they were taught to read is very fortunate, but still being denied writing seems very cruel. I imagine that – with the skill of reading – a slave in this time period could have benefited from this outlet or means of communication, at the very least.

The Lu article is all about the struggles between traditional classroom settings and the home. I found the stories and examples used interesting because they showed (especially the Marxism scenario) how even government and political ideologies affect literacy. However, I was most intrigued by something towards the end of the reading.

Later in the article, Lu talks about how both her and her husband are proud of how their daughter is doing in school, but they are worried that her very fluency will “silence” her in the scene of reading and writing beyond the classroom. I found this part interesting because (as a young college student myself) it makes me think how much classroom time is needed to perform your intended job later in life. So, my question is, what is more important, the ways of the classroom or more “on-the-job experience?” What is more important in developing into a white collared worker? Explain.

While reading the Lu article, a sense of familiarity overtook me. This struggle between what the school told her was true and what her parents showed her reminded me of a struggle we talked about earlier in the semester: the literacy practices of the Amish.

The article we read regarding the Amish did not talk about the views some of the young adults have if they leave the Amish community and return, but we touched on it a bit in class.

Do you think that the experiences and internal conflicts the Amish would have after leaving the community for a while and then returning would be similar to the struggle and conflict Lu discussed? If so, how? If not, why not and how do you think that the struggle or conflict would present itself?

Like my classmates, I am also interested in what I read for the Gere article, The Extracurriculum of Composition. I am taking note at when Gere talks about the history of the acceptable composition that we accept today. I found it interesting that the “extracurriculum” was a nonacademic tradition that led to the development of English studies.

So outside of the classroom, college studies were participating in these clubs that actually enhanced their composition and ultimately their literacy. This brings me to the idea of sponsorship and schooling that we have talked about before. What should you value more, the traditional setting of learning in the classroom or the extracurriculum activities that also enhance composition and literacy? Or are they equally important in developing into a literate person? Why?

I’m particularly interested in the extracurricular writing groups. I read Mints post on this where the question posed was “Do writing groups exist?”. I myself have not had much exposure to writing groups per say. Maybe it is due to my ignorance, but I don’t recall even hearing about writing groups at the University of Pittsburgh that focus on writing for fun. The Gere article as initially written in 1992 and then revised and re-released in 1994 if I am correct. I am interested anyone is or has participated in a writing group? If not, has there been a disappearance of writing groups that Gere discussed?

In response to the disappearance of writing groups, I have my own hypothesis. I wonder if the rise of the internet and social media could be a cause for the disappearance of these organized extracurricular writing groups. We live in a society were it is very easy to go online and write anything you want on any number of forums. Social media is on of those forums, although the writing on social media is usually much less constructive. Also on the internet anyone can critique anyone else regardless of their background or qualifications. So in some ways there might not be so much of a disappearance of extracurricular writing such as a shift to less formalized groups. I think this can be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing because more people can participate in easier ways but also a bad thing because writing on the internet usually receives less constructive criticism from qualified peers.

Do you think that extracurricular writing groups have disappeared and if so why?

In the Gere article, she describes the Tenderloin Women’s Writing Workshop, and Lansing, Iowa Writers Workshop in which they are groups of people of the community coming together to develop their writing with the help of each other. While reading this article I questioned her when she said that these groups are just a “tiny portion of the enormous number of individuals” that take part in groups like these (76). If this is such a large population of people how have I never heard of these groups? Have you heard of any? Gere claims a major reason we don’t know of these groups is because our history focuses on classroom literacy rather than outside the classroom walls. Do you agree with her points?

Along with this, I know at least ten book clubs, and zero writing clubs. Writing clubs does not even sound right to me. Why do you think that reading is able to be sociable while writing is personal? Would you want to share your writing in these clubs?

In both of this week’s readings we learned about women’s writing communities and informal education. In Anne Ruggles Gere’s  “Kitchen Tables and Rented Rooms: The Extracurriculum of Composition” the female writers in these roundtable groups speak of the impact coming together to write has had on their lives. As adults many reported of the importance of feedback and sharing their work. “You gotta get rejected and get applause.” (77) says one of the women, and this brings me to my question is feedback apart of the beauty of writing and reading (e.g. literacy)? 

I ask this question because as an aspiring writing teacher I am always looking for new ways to hopefully engage students in writing and reading. I know that composition can be a therapeutic outlet for students but in my experience it is hard to get my students to notice that themselves. So if communal feedback is an engaging part of read/written literacy I want to infuse peer feedback into my everyday lessons.

What I got from the Viera paper, last week’s discussion, and my personal experiences is that it is so hard for immigrants to come to this country and maintain their background successfully. The South Hills Azorean community talked about how the immigrants had a very hard time balancing their language skills in their native tongue and English.

I had a very similar experience but it also impacted my cultural roots. My brother and I have grown very distant because it feels like America has such a strong sense of its culture that it overpowers immigrants. Not only that, but many parts of America have a hard time embracing all cultural traditions and being open to all experiences. For example, growing up Kwanzaa was always mentioned as somewhat of a joke and “not a real holiday” as opposed to Christmas. We celebrated Christmas Break, not Hannukah or Kwanzaa or even a Holiday Break. There are certain “American Traditions” that are valued over the others and that makes it hard for an immigrant to blend in their culture into what they thought was the “Melting Pot of America”.

So how do we create an environment that fosters for healthy bilingual and multicultural growth?