Writers and artists widely use literacy as a tool to situate characters and readers alike to understand a theme or message. When this is done, a situation known as a literacy event is created. One of the most powerful tools to use in art, the literacy event is often used in writing to bring a character to understanding on a certain subject or theme of life. However, it is possible for a writer to use literacy in a piece to establish a literacy event with the reader of the piece. This is a powerful use of literacy in which it is almost never noticed happening to the reader. In their works “Digging,” “Tips from My Father,” and “Sonny’s Blues,” Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Davis, and James Baldwin (respectively) use literacy to create a literacy event not only in the works – but with the reader as well.
In their respective pieces each author uses literacy in a different way, but for the same purpose. To understand how they use literacy a reader must first understand what literacy is. Literacy is a very simple thing to understand though as it is used by everyone every day. Literacy’s precise definition ranges from the ability to read, write, and use numeracy all the way to the higher level of organization as a community to function and solve problems together. Because literacy plays such a role in daily functioning, it requires learning continuously to adapt properly. This not only makes literacy an important part of life – it becomes absolutely necessary.
To give literacy an easy context to work with it can be said that literacy is, at its core knowledge and potential. Imagine seeing a stop sign, registering that it means to stop, and then stopping because of understanding the stop sign’s meaning; this is literacy. Not only...
... middle of paper ...
...use literacy as a form of technology to bring the characters in their works to an understanding. This understanding is like the crane where the heavy load is showing the reader how literacy can communicate the ever persistent quest for understanding one’s self. Because we as human beings are so used to using literacy in our everyday life we don’t even realize that this is happening, and that shows how effective of a tool literacy is – so effective that it goes unnoticed, it is merely second nature.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” The Seagull Reader Stories. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York:
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2008. 29-61. Print.
Collins, James. “Literacy and Literacies.” Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (1995): 75-93.
Print.
Davis, Carol Ann. “Tips from My Father.” Kelly. 81.
Heaney, Seamus. “Digging.” Kelly. 148-150.
Finding a definition of literacy is not as easy as it sounds. The Webster definition says that to be literate is to be” able to read and write.” But to some researchers, this definition is too simplistic, leading to multiple models of literacy. Most Americans adhere to the autonomous model, which falls closest to the standard, dictionary definition. Believers in this form say that literacy is a cognitive activity that students learn like any other basic skill. It has a set of proficiencies that one must master in order to be capable of decoding and encoding text (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). A competing theory is the ideological model, which claims literacy is intrinsically linked to culture, and therefore what constitutes a “literate” individual is ever-changing. Society is the largest influence on literacy, according to this thought, and it is affected by politics, religion, philosophy and more (Alvermann, 2009; SIL International, 1999). These two are just the tip of the iceberg. For example, some studies recognize “literacy as competence,” which is a “measure of competence to do a given task or work in a given field,” (SIL International, 1999) such as being computer literate. Although more researchers are recognizing and exploring multiple literacies, the one that most influences American schools is the autonomous, cognitive model – the ability to read and write. For many, it seems a simple task, but millions of adolescents are struggling or reluctant readers, and there are many reasons why young readers have difficulty with reading. XXXXXX------NEED HELP WITH THESIS STATEMENT HERE PLEASE—(This paper will focus on the effects of low reading skills, some of the possible causes of reluctant and struggling readership...
The fear of reading literature and not being able to comprehend the ideas presented forces readers to create a deeper meaning through annotations, as expressed through Billy Collins’ use of comparative imagery and aggressive diction in “Marginalia” and “Introduction to Poetry.” Collins’ choice to
Grammars. Grammar errors. You are missing an “s” at the end of a plural because it is not singular. Whatever the rules are I still don’t get them. As you can see this paper is probably full of grammar mistakes more than anything else. Being a bilingual student is very hard to distinguish the differences in what is grammatically correct or grammatically incorrect. Not to mention, my definition of grammar is that it sounds grammatically correct in my ears, therefore, I don’t know you what you are talking about. Up until this moment, literacy to me means learning how to write grammatically correct unlike Sherman Alexie, article on Superman and Me, definition of literacy. As for Alexie meaning of literacy is the importance of being able to read and outlived the stereotype by declaring that, “we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world...They refuse and resist. ‘Books,’ I say to them. ‘Books,’ I say...I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives” (3-4). The author has a story that built up his definition of literacy while my
In a world dominated by technology, reading novels has become dull. Instead of immersing into books, we choose to listen to Justin Bieber’s new songs and to scroll through Instagram posts. We have come to completely neglect the simple pleasures of flipping through pages and getting to finally finish a story. Sherman Alexie and Stephan King’s essays attempt to revive this interest in books that has long been lost. They remind us of the important role that reading plays in our daily lives. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” for instance, demonstrates how being literate saved the narrator from the oppressive nature of society. The author explains that even though he was capable of reading complex books at an astonishingly young
Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 5th ed. of the book. Boston: Heinle, 2004.
An English professor of many years at the University of Michigan-Flint, Thomas C. Foster has delivered an impressive book: How to Read Literature like a Professor. This book is an invaluable tool for readers at any level that can be used to more easily identify and interpret the many symbols woven into books, short stories, poems, and other writings. In the book, Foster not only explains what common occurrences, such as rain or illness, can mean symbolically, but also gives numerous examples from the works of popular authors. While a quick glance at the title may not give the impression that the reading will be particularly enjoyable, a book cannot be judged by its cover.
A successful writer is he who is able to transmit ideas, emotions, and wisdom on to his readers. He is cable of stirring emotions and capturing the reader's attention with vivid descriptions and clever dialogues. The writer can even play with the meanings of words and fuse reality with fiction to achieve his goal of taking the reader on a wonderful journey. His tools are but words, yet the art of writing is found in the use of the language to create though-provoking pieces that defy the changing times. Between the lines, voices and images emerge. Not everyone can write effectively and invoke these voices. It is those few who can create certain psychological effects on the reader who can seize him (or her) with inspiring teachings, frightening thoughts, and playful games with the language. These people are true writers…
Heath, Shirley Brice. "Protean Shapes in Literacy Events: Ever-Shifting Oral and literate Traditions." Wardle, Eleizabeth and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin, 2011. 367-394. Print.
In the history of written literature, it is difficult not to notice the authors who expand their reader's style and manner of reading. Some write in an unusual syntax which forces the reader to utilize new methods of looking at a language; others employ lengthy allusions which oblige the reader to study the same works the author drew from in order to more fully comprehend the text. Some authors use ingenious and complicated plots which warrant several readings to be understood. But few authors have used all these and still more devices to demand more of the reader. James Joyce, writer of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, uses extraordinarily inventive and intricate plot construction, creative and often thought-provoking word constructions, allusions to works both celebrated and recondite, and complex issues and theories when challenging his readers to expand their method of reading.
Growing up in working class family, my mom worked all the time for the living of a big family with five kids, and my dad was in re-education camp because of his association with U.S. government before 1975. My grandma was my primary guardian. “Go to study, go to read your books, read anything you like to read if you want to have a better life,” my grandma kept bouncing that phrase in my childhood. It becomes the sole rule for me to have better future. I become curious and wonder what the inside of reading and write can make my life difference. In my old days, there was no computer, no laptop, no phone…etc, to play or to spend time with, other than books. I had no other choice than read, and read and tended to dig deep in science books, math books, and chemistry books. I tended to interest in how the problem was solved. I even used my saving money to buy my own math books to read more problems and how to solve the problem. I remembered that I ended up reading the same math book as my seventh grade teacher. She used to throw the challenge questions on every quiz to pick out the brighter student. There was few students know how to solve those challenge questions. I was the one who fortunately nailed it every single time. My passion and my logic for reading and writing came to me through that experience, and also through my grandma and my mom who plant the seed in me, who want their kids to have happy and better life than they were. In my own dictionary, literacy is not just the ability to read and write, it is a strong foundation to build up the knowledge to have better life, to become who I am today.
Literacy is defined as “the ability to use available symbol systems that are fundamental to learning and teaching for the purposes of comprehending and composing, for the purposes of making and communicating meaning and knowledge” (Stock, 2012), and it is one of the most essential skills that an early year student will learn. Literacy serves to provide the building blocks for the continued knowledge acquisition and general education of individuals of all ages; by working to understand and identify how and why literacy is taught using the structured literacy block format in Australian schools, and in identifying the benefits of utilizing this type of tool for teaching literacy in student’s early years, it will be possible to gain a better understanding of the organization, planning, and teaching approaches that are used in a literacy block approach. A sample standard literacy block will be provided, offering the means of understanding the applications of the tool, which will serve to further stress the necessity of this tool’s usage.
Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.
Winch, G., Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., & Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature (4th ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
Literacy is an on-going skill that teachers and students alike should commonly study and practice in all grades. Problems faced by teachers, especially teachers in higher grades, are not having the skills to be effective teachers of literacy. To effectively teach literacy across content areas, a teacher would need skills such as knowledge of the reading process and the ability to cultivate the knowledge gained in order to make informed decisions within their classrooms (Clary, Oglan, Styslinger,
This means that literacy, in the twenty first century, encompasses a number of skills beyond reading and writing in the form of digital literacy, multi-literacy and cross-disciplinary literacy. This essay will discuss the above forms of literacy by considering different perspectives in the following paragraphs. Further, the essay will discuss about the different methods of assessing these literacy skills in early childhood and primary school level by taking into account of Early Years Learning Framework and Australian