Collord – Hamilton and Taxes

I was interested about how “mass produced images of literacy practices are of interest to us because of our long-standing concern with the ways that literacy and those with literacy difficulties are portrayed…in the media…”(Hamilton 19). It was fascinating just how many similar images arose from a Google image search of “parent and child reading” that arose in class on Friday. Additionally, these images are always seen as positive images. I don’t know a single person (though there may be some) who would look at the ubiquitous image of a parent helping a child learn to read and view it with negative connotations. I had never really thought about how literacy is portrayed in the media and our perceptions as a society of (il)literacy. We see literacy as quite a fundamental aspect of our society, and put great emphasis on ensuring the masses aren’t incapable of simple reading and writing. We, collective America, furthermore tend to see illiteracy as exceptionally negative, disappointing, or beneath us as a society as sad as that might be.

I was, admittedly, a bit confused about Hamilton’s assertion that “the public image of those with literacy difficulties is often a negative one but we were not sure how this negativity was achieved or how to go about constructing alternative, ‘positive’ images” (19). It seems to me that illiteracy (and literacy difficulties) would inherently be viewed negatively as it creates a massive obstacle for understanding and participating in our literacy-based way of life. I was unable to see how Hamilton could overlook this facet of our literacy practices. Furthermore, I was really rather disillusioned by Hamilton’s suggestion that illiteracy or literacy difficulties might be viewed with “alternative, ‘positive’ images” (19). I feel that literacy difficulties and illiteracy are not things that should be viewed in a positive light. That would seem to perpetuate a regression in mass ability to understand, participate in and/or oppose a society rooted firmly in literacy. Certainly, however, those who may have literacy difficulties or who may be illiterate should not be viewed as individuals of lesser intelligence, just as individuals who maybe haven’t been given the proper chance to become “literate.”

I feel that literacy, at least in America, is a necessity. There are, of course, different and lovely cultures whose focus is not on its people’s ability to read and write (i.e. Papuan people), but in most, if not all, developed countries, reading and writing are crucial to being a successful citizen.

The image I chose for my portrayal of literacy was a picture of tax forms and a person filling them out. I will attempt to add the picture to my post.

This is culturally significant as every official job-holding American must pay taxes to the state and federal government. Taxes play a key part in maintaining American society. That being said, tax-paying individuals must understand how to read the form, read their W-2s, enter numbers, and answer each question appropriately. Taxes seem to require of each participant a rather solid foundation of literacy and an understanding of how to apply it. This is odd when you consider that taxes are required from every employed person in the US and not every employed person in the US is literate enough not to struggle with what it is tax forms are asking.

The participants for this are any tax-paying Americans. Now this becomes more interesting when you consider that the person in this picture might not be the specific individual who owes taxes, but rather a professional who does people’s taxes for them. While some people have rather more complex taxes to fill out than others, it’s still intriguing to ask what this says about our literacy regarding something as central as taxes.

The hidden participants for this act of literacy would be employers, state and federal government employees, perhaps tax assistance programs (Turbo-Tax) and of course, the ever-present IRS.

The setting in which this act of literacy takes place can vary. It can be done in the participant’s home, in a professional office, etc. The setting atmosphere, however, is probably slightly more stressful than average. The social purpose of filing taxes is to fulfill your civic duty, achieve a sense of contribution toward public works, government employees (i.e. local police) etc., and to remain free of criminal imprisonment.

Artefacts [sic] for this literacy act typically include a tax form, your W-2(s), a pencil or pen, the taxpayer, and some ibuprofen.

The activity: paying taxes.