Blog Post 1

Hi. My name is Danielle Mota. I’m from the small town of Gridley, Ca. I am an English Studies major. I transferred to Chico State last semester from Butte College. I’m interested in getting into editing and/or publishing as far as a career goes, but I am also considering some form of counseling as a career so I am considering minoring in Psychology.

In relation to Szwed’s article on literacy, I find my literacy to be split in two. I am literate in a formal aspect and literate in an informal aspect and I find it easy to switch between the two realms as we were discussing in class. I feel that literacy is a broad topic to cover since there is the formal and informal, and private and public settings to literacy. I don’t think that literacy can really be concretely defined, only as far as being able to read and write, but there are different writing styles and different ways in which people read considering all the languages and translations for words out there. I think that as long as we don’t mix our informal literacy with our formal literacy (as far as academics and the work place goes) then the way we write/communicate with others shouldn’t be made into that big of a deal. I know when to use text speak/writing or maybe I should say technology speak/writing (texting, Facebook, Instagram etc.) and when to use a more formal or academic way of speaking/writing.

I do like to read and write, but sadly not when I am required to do it, even though I do do it and can do it and am good at it (so I’ve been told, at writing that is). I don’t write as much for fun as I do read. I write poems once in a great while but that’s about it and reading I do more often for my own enjoyment but only when I’m on break from school. I read and write for school for the sake of having to do it and needing to do it but also wanting to earn a good education and earn a degree, and land a good job for myself when it comes down to it.

Going back Szwed’s article, something that I found interesting and that I agree with is when he said, “But the stunning fact is that we do not fully know what literacy is,” and what I agree with is that we don’t fully know what literacy is because literacy is different for everybody and maybe we will never fully know what literacy is because we are individuals and can’t fully comprehend or understand what literacy is to someone else that is not ourselves.