The more we dive into defining “literacy” the more lost I become. It’s like this intricate maze that was always there, but because I never asked the right questions, I hadn’t known existed. In the Hamilton reading I thought that the section about “Literacy on the Body” was interesting. It states, “the large amount of writing which can be seen on people’s clothing…brandnames, writing as patterns on clothing, tattoos and body painting. It also includes badges which identify people”.

It’s amazing to think that the writing that people choose to put on their body IS LITERACY. So many see script on someone’s arm and immediately label that person. They belittle them and put them in small and demeaning categories. Judging someone based on a quick glance is such a shameful and sad thing, but we all do it without realizing it. Tattoos are so interesting to me because most of the time there are layers and layers of meaning behind that phrase or word that someone chose to permanently put on their body. But at the same time there are many who will see it and not even take the chance to read it before putting a label on that stranger. If you were to see a younger man walking on the side of the road with a skateboard in his hand and tattoos covering his arms it wouldn’t take you long to label him then look away. But the minute you see a police officer with a badge on his chest and the hint of a shoulder tattoo under his sleeve you react differently.

Tattoos have many functions, some that I’m sure I haven’t ever considered. They could be a reminder of a darker time, a word of encouragement that at symbolizes a pivotal moment in your life, a mark to remind you of how far you’ve come, a small part of a loved one that you want to carry around with you forever, or something that you simply never want to lose. The functions of a tattoo are endless and powerful.

I’m not really sure if this is even relevant, but I wanted to add it anyway. In my classes this year it’s becoming more and more apparent that our generation and just the world we live in enjoys labeling. We label to make ourselves feel better and we label to put our minds at ease. We label people because it makes us feel more comfortable. I do it too, but at the same time I don’t understand why this is. Why is it our immediate tendency to label, name, or categorize people? Why do we have to have a name for something in order to feel more comfortable with it?

Hello everyone, my name is Katie Woodward and this is my second year at Chico State. I’m from Yuba City and for those of you who have been there I’m sure you’ll agree that there is absolutely nothing there. Except of course for the annual Sikh Parade, which brings thousands of Sikhs from around the world to our small little town. I chose Chico State for the trees and I absolutely love it here. Unfortunately, at the end of my first year at Chico I felt even more lost and confused than when I first moved here. Because of that, I decided to adopt a kitten to make myself feel better. (Which of course only proved to my mom how irresponsible I truly am.) I have been reading A LOT of memoirs lately. I guess I’m hoping that someone else’s hard learned lessons will point me in the right direction. Or maybe it’s just comforting to know that other people feel just as messed up as I do. But the main reason I love them so much is that I find it amazing that someone has chosen to so openly and bravely reveal to the world all of those mistakes that the rest of us try to shove to the back of our minds.

I found Szwed’s writing quite interesting. I don’t believe that we should be able to label certain pieces of writing as not being “adequate literature”. When considering that we all come from different backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, religions, etc. It seems ridiculous for us to all have to follow strict rules that tell us how we should form what we want to say on paper. When we write our goal sometimes is to get it all out there. Sometimes it will come out jumbled and disorganized, but we did it. We got our story out there for those that might need to hear it. When we participate in class discussions it quickly becomes apparent that we all have unique thoughts and ideas even though we all read the same article. So why should writing and literature be put into a box when we all grew up hearing our teachers tell us to not be afraid to think outside of the box.