Daniel

Hello, my name is Daniel Holmberg and I am a Chico native. Yes, I was born and raised here, and I can’t wait to leave. I plan on obtaining my bachelor’s in Organizational Communication this summer, and then, who knows? Maybe more schooling, we’ll see. I enjoy playing music, golfing, writing, and many other things. Family and friends are very important to me.

 

What is reading? When asked this question, I think the typical answer is somewhere along the lines of reading a book, or in this day in age, reading through the digital screen. Part of what Szwed is asking us to do is to challenge what is considered “proper” and “improper” forms of reading and writing. He is asking us to view literacy in more abstract terms, to the point of asking, what is not literacy? Does a poker player not “read” his opponents? Is a graffiti artist’s work not considered a form of writing? These are just a few examples of what we may dismiss as improper forms of literacy. Being literate involves communication and comprehension, in whatever realm you may find yourself in.  I am literate in many realms, but illiterate in many more. I am entirely illiterate when it comes to reading sheet music, but I am literate when it comes to “reading” the greens on a golf course. But it is our tendency to dismiss these forms of reading, and default to the standard forms of reading and writing because we live in a society that values standard forms of education (i.e. institutional education). It is imperative that we challenge this paradigm. Questioning what we consider as the standard or correct form of literacy is the first step in changing what we value as a society. Or is it the other way around?