The Scarlett Scar

When I have to say that the most disaparaging experiences in discovering and learning literacy have occured in my later years (or atleast I remeber these!). I was assigned to read "The Scarlet Letter" in the eleventh grade. I iinitially deemed this text as an alright story. Yet, when the teacher and class discussed it in a group, it turned the experience sour. I attended a public high school,yet this particular teacher was very religious. She was of a Christian denomination, she let this be known and made no qualms about it. This teacher used the classroom as her pulpit, and verbally discouraged those who did not agre with her. This teacher also verbally condemned the main chracter Hester Prynne for adulterous acts. There was no discussion about the themes, the context, the environment, history, moral, or human nature brought to topic in the book.
Furthermore, a paper i wrote on this book was marked down because I discussed the danger of a "crowd mentality", blindness of a "moral" people, and the influence of religion.

This experience actually made me very self-concious from expressing my thoughts. It also made me confused about the process of critical reading and understanding a text. I was old enough to disagree with my teacher, but not comfortable enough to express it. The teacher made the process of reading or writing any works in her class very unnerving and disappointing. She made it clear in a very intimidating way that only one person could be right, and that would be her. The most disturbing part, to me, is that I still have a negative feeling when I hear about Hester Prynne, or the Salem Witch Trials. I loathe the books I read in that class, because of the overall experience.

High Five to Brutus

By Devon

When Brutus killed Julius Caesar I felt like he also killed Shakespeare. I do not like reading Shakespeare. How is a high school student supposed to appreciate that type of literature?

In the tenth grade I had to memorize a section from the play Julius Caesar and say it in front of the class. To me it was boring and torture. I was ready to find Shakespeare’s grave and curse him for writing all those plays and books. In the ninth grade the class read Romeo and Juliet. I remember telling my teacher, “The book would have been great if all the boring drama was left out and all the exciting fights and dying was the only thing to read about.”

Although my freshmen English teacher showed us the recent Romeo and Juliet movie, which was not the greatest, I appreciated that he tried to have us enjoy Shakespeare. My sophomore teacher did nothing to make the topic interesting. Maybe now since I am older I might enjoy it if I try reading it. But every time I hear the name Shakespeare I want to say, “Okay, next topic of discussion.” Hopefully the professors of the English 475 and 476 (Shakespeare) courses can make the subject more entertaining than my tenth grade English teacher.

Demographics and Literacy

By Devon

In John F. Szwed’s article The Ethnography of Literacy he wrote about how times change and so do people and their ideas of education. He also wrote about how literacy affects countries, the different ways individuals learn, how the education system’s role for students, and what is being considered as “literature” today. The first thing Szwed begins with is that everyone agrees that literacy is one part of an education that is needed to be successful. He also mentioned that third world countries push in learning literacy to become better developed and that because the United States’ level of individuals that are not literate is rising, that is why the poverty percentage is also rising.

What was also interesting was that now days less individuals are reading classic novels and are also writing less books and more people are reading things like tabloids, newspapers, captions on the television, and other things. These things often require the education of elementary age students. That is why people are becoming illiterate. Szwed also mentioned that the most common influence on people becoming literate besides the influence of schools were those of church and family life.

This then leads to some families blaming schools for not educating their children and schools blaming the parents for not helping the children learn. The author mentioned a case about black students being told that the words used in their poetry were misspelled and incorrect. The school did not take into account the language varieties the students may have. This also causes problems when the aspect of bilingual students comes into the picture. There are areas that are populated by bilingual students more than other areas, so this can also have an effect on literacy in schools.

While reading this I remembered learning about African American English (AAE) in my linguistic and anthropology classes; that people make the mistake by saying AAE is uneducated English. But I feel that some schools do not understand where some students come from (meaning lifestyle) and that many individuals cannot use the lack of support from school or family as an excuse to give up.

Chapter 9: Moll/Gonzales - Sean

In Chapter 9, “Lessons from Research with Language-Minority Children”, both Luis C. Moll and Norma Gonzales discuss the various ways in which bi or trilingual students and their classroom environments make use of the cultural diversity in their lives and lessons to better allow them to critically think about and analyze questions and situations presented to them.

This, in turn, leads to their theory of “Funds of Knowledge.” The theory explains that different cultures and families have a wealth of knowledge and experiences from which they can draw on information they’ve gathered through their lives, and pass it on to their children.

By sticking to the language that the children know best, and in utilizing the knowledge they may have attained from household learning as far as using it for instruction, teachers are able to actively allow students to critically think about different problems given to them during class. This lets students form their own ideas and connections on how to address new situations in their scholastic career at an early age.

In short, this is what both Luis C. Moll and Norma Gonzales are trying to get across in their article.

Dyson: Media & Literacy

In Chapter 20, "Coach Bombay's Kids Learn to Write...", Anne Haas Dyson presents language as a powerful influence on a person's sense of self and their place in society. Dyson explains that child language learning happens on many levels, is pulled from many sources, and is a complex and dynamic process. Dyson discusses child language learning from social, cultural, and scientific perspectives as she stresses that language learning happens in combination of all three categories. She places emphasis on the integral role that cultural resources, social resources, and media resources play in child language learning.

In the beginning of the article Dyson purposefully states that she "has no intention of reinforcing" a traditional outlook on child language learning that teachers and children have very specific and rigid roles (326). Instead, Dyson supports that children are very imaginative, innovative, and inventive (326). She focuses on the theory that media largely influences children's language learning. Dyson presents the role of media (pop culture, movies, actors, sports)as important in the child's world. Therefore, contemporary media must also be accessible to teachers as well.

Dyson focused on child language learning in the school setting of classes aged kindergarten through fifth grade. She collected and documented writing samples from over 1,000 children and conducted site studies on a focal group of children at a school in the San Fransico Bay area. Especially important to Dyson is the "quality of contemporary childhood". She feels that media and the contemporary world around the child who is learning language, is especially important to both the child and their teacher. Dyson also believes that children learn language through practices and activities in their everyday lives (328). She uses the example of Marcel who is almost seven years old and writes about the Dallas Cowboys in his school journal.

Dyson looks at child language learning as a complex and dynamic process with many factors involved. She supports that children “make their own choices from available meanings and practices” many of which may not necessarily be academic, but still play important roles in language development (328).

Raptors, Dragons, and Literacy, Oh my! - Sean

When I was growing up, I don’t remember any books that really had a long lasting impact on me. In fact, when I was young, I was more interested in reading about space and nature. I was terribly curious about the world around me, and did everything I could to try and learn more about it. I suppose that, because of my love of dinosaurs, I was attracted to a book called “Raptor Red” by Robert T. Bakker.

“Raptor Red” follows the story of a young female “Utahraptor”, the largest species of raptor, as she goes about her life. She has a splotch of red on her snout, and thus identifies herself as “Me…raptor…red…” which ultimately gives her her name. The whole world is fascinating because you experience it through the eyes of the dinosaur herself. Everything has a smell, or is a new experience. I’m not sure if it had a vast impact on me as far as literacy, but it did teach me a thing or two about writing. The senses are used more than anything else in the story, and to this day I try to pack my writings full of them.

Another book I distinctly remember was “Dragon Weather” written by Laurence Watt-Evans. The story follows a young boy by the name of Arlian. I wouldn’t want to spoil the book for you, but I will say that it is fantasy, and it is a very good read. This book took me on a real adventure. I’ve always loved dragons, and I still do. They may be fanciful, but they’re still my favorite animals. I picked up the book based only on the title, but came away with many complex feelings about life. The book impacted me so much that in my own novel (a work in progress), I named the main character’s father after Arlian as a sort of tribute.

While these books haven’t had a large impact on me as far as literacy, they have had an impact on me when it comes to writing creatively. They tugged at my very active imagination, and enticed me to read deeper. In the end, without these two books, I may not have been the writer that I am today.

The Things They Teach

There are many books I have read that moved me, enthralled me, and made me tick,yet I have to pay tribute to "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Burnett wrote two books that tickled my fancy as a young girl, "The Little Princess" and "The Secret Garden". I was given both as presents for birthday occasions from my parents. I remember both books were lenghty and had hard covers with glossy, beautiful sleeves covering them. This made them seem like an expensive and rare treasure to me, and I imagined thatmy father went to very far lengths and spared no expense in buying them. I felt like the richness of the books told me that I was special and important. I felt like I was a princess when I received them.

The central characters in both books are young females who are without fathers for some reason or another and have also lost their mothers to unfortunate circumstances. Both young girls are well-behaved, slightly timid, and are left to learn about the world on their own. Both girls are scared and lonely. Yet, they rely on their brains, their imagination, and their ultimate faith in mankind to overcome the evils of humanity and hopelessness. These books taught me that it is alright to be alone and scared. That perseverance and hope can create miracles. And that fantasy can become reality if you believe hard enough in it.

Books were held at great importance in my household. My mother loved reading and instilled an appreciation for all literature in my sisters and I. I often received gift certificates for books or music as gifts for the holidays. My mother knew I held a special affinity for reading. She took me to local bookstores for author readings and signings. She also searched high and low for the newest books by a favorite author of mine, Gary Paulsen.

I recently read "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, which is about a platoon of American Soldiers in and after the Vietnam War. I am very intrtigued by the subject of war, but it is usually difficult for me to deal with the subjects that accompany it. The images and emotions haunt me, and I often stop reading books in the middle of the story. "The Things They Carried" so moving that I could not put it down, cannot stop thinking about it, and cannot wait to read it again. The book tells the story of war from a human point-of-view. The title is indicitave of all the material items the individual soldiers carry, but also the emotional and mental burdens they carry. I feel it is our responsibilty to try and learn the human side of war, from anyt side. "The Things They Carried" helps to stimulate a small glimpse of understanding, compassion, gratitude, and honor for all veterans and all who sacrifice for their countries.

When Children Learn

By Devon

In the article The Development of Initial Literacy by Yetta Goodman, she wrote about the learning process of literacy with children. Her research took place in 1973 with children ranging from the ages of two to six. Some of the main points she mentioned are the ways children seem to be learning, the surroundings, and the principles children use to become literate. The main way children seem to be learning is by being immersed into situations which will allow them to learn; either if they are learning by listening, watching, or speaking.

The way children learn also depends on their surroundings. According to Goodman, children that grow up in middle class families are more likely to have more confidence and become literate compared to lower class children. This is also because of “the attitudes and values about literacy expressed by other members in the social group” (Goodman pg. 317). What Goodman also points out is that through culture, family, and social groups, just by observing activities, children will become literate. But this needs to take place when they are young. Just by being exposed to experiences of parents reading stories, adults talking, and children going out into social activities is where literacy begins.

Children are like sponges. They seem to reproduce what they see and hear. This goes with Goodman’s principle of linguistics. As children grow up, they will overgeneralize with almost all words. For example children will add –ed to all words to make them past tense because that is the general rule that they grow up learning until they learn otherwise in school; like the word ‘goed’ instead of ‘went.’

Overall I enjoyed this essay by Goodman because this is a topic that catches my attention. I agree with Goodman and what she writes about in this article because in other linguistic and anthropology courses, I have learned that if children do not experience language by the age of five that they will most likely not be able to comprehend language and that the most that can be attained are words but not the knowledge to create sentences. That is why it is important that children are raised in a loving environment which puts education as a priority; that without a healthy environment where children are left to fend for themselves (like many of my students) education and becoming literate will be a burden instead of a pleasure and difficult to accomplish.

The Power of Books

By Devon

While growing up I remember reading many books, but the book which I remember the most is Animalia. As a child I loved animals; I still enjoy animals, but when I was young I loved looking at pictures of different creatures. One day my mother game me a book and when I saw the cover of Animalia I went crazy! There were so many animals and when I opened it, it made me even more excited. It was a book about the alphabet which had animals for all the letters. There were alligators, dragons, gorillas, tigers, zebras, and many more. I still have the book and look through it.

My parents love books and have a small library which my brothers and I enjoyed looking through. As a family we would read scriptures, sing songs, and read other books together. What I remember quite vividly was when I was five years old, I asked my father, “Where do babies come from?” He went to the family library and grabbed a small gray book which was titled, “Anatomy.” I then learned how babies were made in great detail.

Recently I finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I am working on reading all seven books in the series because fantasy is my favorite genre. I love reading about giants, trolls, goblins, dragons, and magic. One of my favorite books is The Hobbit. I enjoy these kinds of books because they take me to a world which I wish I could be a part of; to be able to go out on an adventure, camp, fish, hunt, and to survive on what nature has to offer. That is the power which books contain and provide to their readers.

Literacy is a Noun - Sean

I suppose the easiest way for me to start this is at the beginning. In the beginning, two small cells came together, and about eight months later I was born. Yes, eight. I was born six weeks early. I must have been very curious about life outside my little watery bubble to be in such a hurry to leave it. Ever since then, I’ve been insatiably curious about the world around me, and with that curiosity came a love of reading books.

The first books I remember were books I didn’t even read. At night, before I’d go to bed, my parents would gather my brother and me, and read books to us. They were simple books like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and other such books by Dr. Seuss. Later, I remember my father reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull to us.

Obviously, I grew older, and started reading books by myself. Some of my most favorite titles growing up were from the Dinotopia series. I loved reading about dinosaurs and other animals as a child. I also loved reading about space and the universe. My parents would encourage me to read aloud to them at night and would encourage me to read with feeling and passion. I like to attribute my learning of words to them and their constant encouragement.

Later, I read several books from the Wishbone series. I remember them mainly because the hero was a dog, and he could talk in his own head. I loved Sonic the Hedgehog as well, and read several of those books. My love of reading, I think, was the biggest thing that allowed me to learn the language. It was a way for me to learn new words, and also learn about the world around me. It was from reading books and stories that I gained an understanding of how the language fit together.

In the end, books allowed me to expand my knowledge of the language in my early years far more than any bit of teaching in school. My parents had a large part in pushing me to read, and introducing me to the language at an early age. If it wasn’t for their love and encouragement, I daresay I wouldn’t be nearly as competent, composed, and fluent in the English language as I am today.

Literacy as acceptance - Lisa

I initially had two motivations in the quest of learning to speak; to be accepted by my father and mother, and to fit-in with my community. I spent the first five years of my life in a small suburb in Michigan, in a tight-knit subdivision, on a very intimate street that contained four households; ours and three others that were also filled with children. Our small cult-a-sack housed a total of thirteen children and I was the youngest.

I am the youngest child in my family. I was born into a household with a mother, a father and two older sisters. My sisters and I were all two years apart, so when I was three years old, Beth was seven, and Kristy was nine. I initially had two motivations in the quest of learning to speak; to be accepted by my father and mother, and to fit-in with my community. I spent the first five years of my life in a small suburb in Michigan, in a tight-knit subdivision, on a very intimate street that contained four households; ours and three others that were also filled with children. Our small cult-a-sack housed a total of thirteen children and I was the youngest.

I knew that no other children on the block wanted to play with me. I had to be looked after, I was always causing messes, and I couldn’t even communicate with the kids, let alone the teenagers. I would mutter a word and I would get a mixed reaction. My sistersand the younger neighborhood children teased me and the teenagers half-teased yet half-prodded me to attempt to pronounce another word to follow. I had a speech impediment. I could not pronounce the consonants “r”, “l”, “w” or “s”. I was already a shy child, yet my own inability to pronounce words correctly and the experience of being teased” only increased the awareness that I did not quite “fit-in” with my neighborhood and my speech community.

Speaking never came easy to me, but reading and writing did. Reading was always encouraged in our household. My mother read to my family at all times. Before pre-school my mother always took me to the library to attend the organized readings and also to pick out books. The television was rarely on in our house, and if it was, it was on PBS or a type of educational broadcast. I attended Sunday school before pre-school and was often read to. I also attended religious study after school which played a tremendous role in learning to read various works outside a scholastic structure. At dinner time, one of us girls would have to pick a prayer from a book and read it aloud. A Book Mobile (a library on wheels) used to come to the neighborhood and we were allowed to pick out books just as a child would choose an ice cream treat from the “Ice Cream Man”.

I was taught to enjoy and appreciate literature at a very early age by my mother. I also recognized literature as a means of personal escape and communal acceptance. I knew that I was much better at reading and writing than speaking. I paid close attention to the teachers once I did get to school, I read “Sam I Am” books with fervor, and I practiced writing my letters over and over until they looked pretty to me, and acceptable enough to show my father.

The Path to Literacy

By Devon

As I was growing up I remember my parents reading stories to me. My mother went to Peru on a mission as a young woman and learned Spanish and when I was a child she would tell me stories in Spanish. She would also let me listen to Disney and other movies on record while I would fall asleep. By doing this my mother exposed me to the phonetic sounds of the English and Spanish language. My mother would also take me to the public library and let me check out books. Most of the time it would just be picture books with only a few words; mostly about dinosaurs, but as I got older I begun to choose books at a higher reading level. But of all the experiences I can remember as a child, the one that comes to mind was when I was about four years old. My father sat next to me and taught me how to read. He used The McGuffey Reader which he remembered using when he was a child. To this day I still have The McGuffey Reader and I plan to use it when I have children of my own.

Another influence on my journey to becoming literate was when I was in daycare. There would be story time and when I went to pre-school, I also had teachers that read to me. My memories in elementary school are basic; the teachers taught me and that is it. I can read so they clearly did their job.

The only other memories I have of learning how to read and write are when my parents had Japanese students in their home and I would read with the Japanese students. Another memory that comes to mind was when I was in the car I would read and say the words on billboards, buildings, road signs, etc. At first my family would always be confused why I would be saying random words, but they caught on to what I was doing, especially the times when we drove past a building and I said, “Economic Dancers.” Being young I misread the sign and my parents burst out laughing. My father corrected me that the sign said, “Exotic Dancers.” The last memory I can remember is that every Sunday I would go to church and at church and at home I would read scriptures with my family. I was also in Tiger Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts where I was required to know how to read and write otherwise I would have never been able to achieve the highest rank in Boy Scouts which is Eagle.