This piece opened my eyes to something that I have never really thought of as an issue needing to be developed. I was shocked that I found such interest in the idea that what I might think, and what many might think is the definition of literacy and literature can be completely questioned.
The part that spoke to me the most was about when the author talked about what people are reading. I personally disclike reading... a lot, unless it is a magazine. I read them cover to cover and don't just look at the pictures. I love being able to relate to the stories and since they aren't long the keep my interest. When John Szwed commented that in lots of places that is considered a book, I thought that was crazy. I never thought of that as real reading becasue it isn't the kind of reading we are forced to read in school. It proved to me that I am still reading. Who is allowed to say what i am reading isn't as much of literacy as an encyclapedia?
From that point on in the story, I was realyy ingaged and loved how the author went one to talk about how literacy can be interpreted and the factors that can effect it. I never really thought about the fact that your social status, age, race, and more can effect your level of literacy.
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I, too, do not enjoy reading books. The first thing I did before reading was look at how long Szwed's passage was going to be. I was happy to learn that it was pretty short and, thus, I did not mind spending the time to read it. I did find it interesting that he really questioned what literacy is. Szwed states, "A boy, otherwise labeled as retarded and unable to read assigned texts, may have considerable skill at reading and interpreting baseball record books" (423). In this, he makes clear that literacy takes many different forms. The atypical literacy most people are used to has been developed through years of schooling as the only meaningful and useful method. However, whether it is writing a sports column or composing mucial lyrics, literacy, or better yet reading and writing, takes on many forms. It is not a limited resource.
ReplyDeleteHere is another quote I found interesting: "one can only violate the rules when one has mastered them" (426). I did notice, as a young student, numerous grammatical and syntax errors in books I read. Teachers had always discouraged me from making the same mistakes. But why then were these authors allowed to do it? I now understand that people must know that what they are writing is "a mistake" for it to have the same power and meaning. Otherwise, without mastery of writing, it just looks sloppy and gives the appearance that they are uneducated.
I agree with u, it opened my eyes to i just didn't thought it was not such a big problem. I don't like to read books either, but i like to read news papers and mostly because i am big fan of sports. I like to read the sports page. But i don't know this was different.
ReplyDeleteUnlike you, I do really enjoy reading. But not the books we are told to read in school. It is rare that I find a text interesting when offered in an educational setting. Before reading this article, I didn't think I was much of a "reader." Because the reading I do is just leisurely, I don't do it to advance my intelligence I do it for fun. I like how Szwed makes it a point to say this is okay. Literacy comes in all different forms.
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