Reading together

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Time photoOur course invites you to work with data collection and analysis, readings, and discussion around the field of literacy studies

Author: lconvis

My brain hurts

My brain hurts

If I got anything from Scribner’s article, it is that literacy, writing and reading, is probably the most convoluted thing to try to grasp in the world. This whole concept of “adapting a literary standard” amazes me, because it truthfully almost seems like a waste of time. Under “Literacy as Adaption”, she says, “Adapting literacy standards to today’s needs, personal or social, would be shortsighted.” I do not fully agree with this quote at all, because (from what I have gathered so far) is that literacy standards is trying to put into a simple term for what is, in reality, complicated. For example, the term illiterate is culturally not a good thing in American and people here tend to make fun of, feel sorry, even shun those who are so called “illiterate”. However, they are still making a living, doing things that maybe do not require them to read and write. In fact, what I have just described applies to a large chunk of the world’s population, which live just as credible lives as any of us. Still, I know it does not escape that being “illiterate” is become harder and harder for people to deal with in terms of the expansion of access to the internet and texting in the Western and more economically developed world. Nevertheless, that is still no write to stick them in a corner and name them something that people will use to make assumptions about them that may not be true.

I guess to wrap up, literacy cannot simply be the reading and writing that everyone assumes it is. Adapting literacy to anything is an automatic loose. I think we all need to view literacy as less of a standard and more of a way in which people communicate and understand each other, because all literacy is, is communication of thought, just with a different medium of doing so.

Good morrow my fellow literacy enthusiasts!

Good morrow my fellow literacy enthusiasts!

This is Leanne Convis and as you already learned in class on Tuesday I am very much an over achiever. In fact I still remember being 11 and my sixth grade teacher calling in my parents in for a parent teacher conference to discuss the fact that my being an over achiever was a problem, but clearly her silly words did not stop me. The truth is, is that being in Theatre my whole life I have been cultured and educated to believe that knowledge truly is power and believed that any art form embodies everything. You essentially have to be smart (and I mean every kind of smart) to be able to do it and do it well. I no, I do not know everything and I will not, but I would like to take the chance to try at least. Traveling has already helped me a lot. I have traveled a lot with my family and on my own and it has helped shape me just as much as traveling has. With that said, I have a great interest in books and writing and I am very traditionalist when it comes to writing in a journal, having sticky notes everywhere, and reading hard copies of books. Still, I do not oppose any other form of reading. I read newspaper articles, I go on reddit and buzzfeed when I need a break. I don’t have a facebook, but that’s a personal choice I don’t hate it at all or discredit it. I completely agree with Szwed that when it comes to reading a writing, who is anyone to say what is right and wrong. In the theatre, it is really popular to mimic the speaking and writing styles of that generation and these pieces that include lol, awk, totes are considered great and relevant works of art. The idea of literacy after reading that article wasn’t distant at all to me, it just was put in a different construct which I found interesting and cool.