Brandt Response
Our
readings for unit one focus on understanding how people's individual
literacy trajectories develop. Your response for the readings must
closely examine the arguments presented by Deborah Brandt in her
article titled "Sponsors of Literacy" and consider how the experiences
presented by both Sherman Alexi and Malcolm X could somehow fit within
Brandt's argument. How might the stories of Sherman Alexie or Malcolm X
complicate the claims Brandt puts forward? It is not acceptable to
simply say that Alexie and Malcolm X had sponsors and therefore fit into
Brandt's argument. You must consider one of the three separate
subsections Brandt presents and fit either Alexie or Malcolm X into a
particular section. Make sure your synthesis ties either Alexie or
Malcolm X to one of Brandt's sub-arguments (Sponsorship and Access,
Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards, or Sponsorship and
Appropriation in Literacy Learning).
This
task calls you to deeply analyze Brandt's arguments and then
synthesize a new set of data to help extend Brandt's argument. It is
important that you integrate the experiences of Alexie and Malcolm X.
Build context for your claims by delivering a sense of Brandt's claims.
Add new evidence from the experiences of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie.
Analyze the new evidence and connect it to Brandt's claim(s).
The best posts will demonstrate critical thinking and will thoroughly address the prompt. The most sophisticated postings will demonstrate an ability to synthesize Alexie's or Malcolm X's experiences as evidence for some of Brandt's claims. Postings that demonstrate innovative and unique approaches to this synthesis task will be rewarded.
In order to address this discussion board, you must complete readings on the following pages:
331-362
Whitney Barnes
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt makes the claim that throughout each of our lives we have been exposed to literary sponsors. Which are but not limited to institutions, schools, religious organizations, and so forth that have had a large lasting impact on our literary development. Both Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X were exposed to their sponsors in two different settings. Alexie had more of a traditional approach to learning than Malcolm X. Alexie was able to find a joy for reading and writing through his father’s love for literature. Malcolm X on the other hand found his endearment for knowledge while being imprisoned. Malcolm X and Alexie can be compared to the two secretaries that Brandt discussed, Carol White and Sarah Steele took the knowledge they had received in the workplace and than drew upon it. Alexie’s experience with literature stemmed from comic books and then developed into a deeper appreciation for more mature forms of writing such as the Grapes of Wrath. Malcolm X began with a dictionary and then elaborated on what he refereed to as a mini encyclopedia, and trail blazed an additional component to the civil rights movement. Both Malcolm X and Alexie were typecast to not accomplish much within their lifetime. Malcolm X was seen as a young black man in prison who would eventually become another statistic and Alexie, an Indian boy who was deemed inferior from birth. Yet, they took the same path of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez and expanded their outlook through self-initiated learning. Malcolm X can then be linked to Dwayne Lowrey in two aspects. They both had to undergo the transition from verbal expression to non-verbal expression; they had to begin to alter their thoughts into words. Lowrey and Malcolm X received little formal education yet their writings are still admired and analyzed for the eloquent way they were pieced together. Alexie and Malcolm X did not fall into the single story that society had categorized them in but took the approach that was not given nor considered to them. Brandt’s claim is further supported through the stories of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie by proving that not just literary development but life achievements in general are not solely based upon one’s economic, social, or ethnic background.
According to Deborah Brandt, everyone is exposed to literary sponsors. A literary sponsor can be any type of organization (schools, churches, etc.) along with many other things. These sponsors help shape each of us into who we are. Malcom X found his motivation in prison. He began by studying the dictionary, writing page after page until he knew the words. Then he would read the books from the prison library. When he was released from jail, many were surprised by his intelligence. They were even more startled to find out that he never went to school past the eighth grade. Malcom X did not fit the stereotype that the world had placed upon him, but broke out of it and learned to read. Sherman Alexie's story is different, but he too ignores his stereotype and learns to read. His sponsor was his father. Alexie's father could read very well, so Alexie wanted to read too. Indians were expected to be dumb and pitied by the outside world, but Alexie would not settle for that. He exceeded expectations and showed that he was intelligent. He knew that his race was not unintelligent, but that they were just following the mold they had been forced to believe about themselves. Both of these stories show that literary skills, as well as success in life, cannot be determined by one's ethnic background.
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt states how nobody is just born literate but how people are sponsored through places and things such as institutions, bookstores, newspapers, and even like in Malcolm X’s case prison. However it is the circumstances combined with these “sponsors” that make a person literate. We see this happening in many of Brandt’s self explained stories of people that have limited access to literature such as in Brandt’s subsection of “sponsorship and Access” which tells the story of a women named Dora Lopez. Dora a Mexican American women who taught herself how to read and write in Spanish, which was something neither her brother nor her cousins knew how to do. The significance of this story comes from the limited amount of resources Dora had while trying to par take in her self-teachings. Which we can compare to Malcolm X’s claim on how he began to learn to better his literacy from re writing the whole dictionary and studying each word. Both cases show two minorities with little to no sponsorships became to achieve more then what society, as a whole would expect from them. We see this again when comparing Dora Lopez to Sherman Alexie. Alexie born and raised on an Indian reservation grew up as an outcast of his peers because of the fact that he enjoyed reading, and didn’t want to live up to the expectation of others referring to Indians as dumb and uneducated. This holds into account of how Dora Lopez wanting to learn her native language, without her parents asking her to go out and buy books from the book store on how to read and write and Spanish. Such as Alexie how had a choice not to pay attention and learn in class, took on the challenge of not being another statistic on the reservation. Instead he used his father’s book collection as a resourceful place to read and obtain a higher literacy. As we can see Deborah Brandt’s claim on how people no matter where there from or what class standing they happen to be in, it is up to the person and the resources that they use around them to shape they way that they acquire literacy.
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt wrote an article titled “Literacy of Sponsor” where she details how everyone is exposed to literacy sponsors. Some literacy sponsors that she profiles throughout her article are very influential people, and include parents, siblings, teachers, and mentors. The author also describes the influences of famous figures, institutions, books themselves, and the effects of access to technology.
ReplyDeleteA combination all of these diverse factors from each sponsor is how each person’s literacy is shaped. For example, Malcolm X was able to find his primary literacy sponsor while he was in prison. While he was serving a ten year prison term, he would read the dictionary and was able to self-educate himself. He would read all the pages of the dictionary until he knew every word. He became educated to the point where he was asked what college was alma mater was. People were very surprised when they learned that he actually did not go to school past the eighth grade.
Another example, Sherman Alexie’s was born on an Indian Reservation. Alexie’s father was able to read extremely well and Alexie looked up to his dad and wanted to follow in his footsteps and learned to read too. Most people thought that Indian’s were dumb and uneducated. Alexie was able to look past the typical stereotypes that people placed upon Indians and was able to show that he could be intelligent and educated.
Both of these examples took the same path as Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez by self-educating themselves. These people were able to take responsibility for their own educations. They showed others that they could be educated even though society thought otherwise. Both of these stories show that each of these two people had different sponsors but had a desire to improve themselves throughout their lives.
Andre Diouf
ReplyDeleteDeborah says that every single person is exposed to literacy sponsors in this life. There are various types of literacy profiles from books to people and etc. You could find it just about anywhere. A example , is Malcolm x's jail experience. He wanted to improve his literacy so bad that he started to write down pages of the dictionary. He would read the words everyday. He saw and learned new words he's never even heard of or seen before. people just assumed he wasn't very intelligent, just because of his background and where he came from. He proved them wrong. Another example is Sherman Alexie's story. Alexie was a Indian nobody expected to be successful. He started reading at an really early age. His dad influenced him a lot by reading many books. He loved his dad and his dad loved to read, so he also loved reading. He was smarter than all of his peers. People assumed he wasn't very bright just because he was an Indian. People assumed all Indians were not very educated. Malcolm x and Alexie's stories and both good examples of brandt's points. It shows it doesn't matter where you are from or what you have. They both persevered and proved people wrong. They both took advantage of the literacy sponsors they had in front of them and it took them a long way. Never judge a book by its cover
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ReplyDeleteJoseph Cagno
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt states how important sponsors are to our learning how to read. She points out that our sponsors are very influential in what we read and write. Brandt talks about how tough it is for low income people to access the right tools to gain literacy sponsors. This was just the case for Malcolm X, he didn't have the money nor the resources to gain literacy sponsors until his got into prison. When Malcolm X went to prison he learned to read and write by copying a dictionary over and over. After he began to understand the books he was reading he learned a lot about major african american people of his time. Some of the sponsors that X had included the Norfolk Prison Colony, and Mr. Muhammad whom gave him the tools and insight to seek further knowledge on the controversial topic of the African American movement.
In The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me Alexie shows how his father is his sponsor by encouraging reading and writing. Alexie’s father gives him superman comics and Alexie recognizes the actions in the pictures and matches the words. Alexie’s father has still stood by his side as his classmates ridiculed him for reading so much. A smart Indian during his time was unheard of and was considered and outcast. Alexie’s father has shaped Alexie into the man he is today. Although Alexie had a very encouraging father he did have what Sarah Steele had. Steele had a workplace that she utilized as a community to gain skills from other employees. She says how working someplace can just change the way you think. Alexie did not have a encouraging community that help him develop his reading and writing skills.
In her paper Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt brings forth the notion that a person’s proficiency in a subject is influenced by their environment. She tells of Raymond Branch, who showed enormous interest in then-developing computers from a very early age. Branch spent so much time imitating the programmers in his father’s science lab that his parents bought him his own personal computer at age 12. He would spend his teenage years in local electronics stores learning about the latest in both hardware and software technology. This would lead him to graduate university and become a professional software engineer. In a similar way, Sherman Alexie was influenced at a young age. Alexie talks about how his father loved to read and would bring home books from local pawnshops every week. In an effort to be like his father, Alexie taught himself to read using the pictures in comic books to guess at the meaning of words. This lead to Alexie reading adult-sized novels while his classmates were struggling with picture books. These two stories link back to Brandt’s topic of the link between aptitude and opportunity. Both children were encouraged by their parents to pursue their interests. This sponsorship is what allowed Branch and Alexie to develop their skills far faster and more effectively than would otherwise be possible.
ReplyDeleteBlakley Wilcocks
ReplyDeleteIn "Sponsors of Literacy," Deborah Brandt put forth the idea that simply no one was born completely literate and that the there have been sponsors in our lives to help us accomplish our own level of literacy. She states that you can find where to build your literacy profile by reading books, essays, short stories, etc. but you have to look for these materials. For example in Malcolm X's story, He states that when he was in jail he became envious of this guy named Bimbi because of how literate he was. Was Malcolm X just going to sit in his jail cell and hope that something will come to him or he just magically just improved his literacy profile without doing anything? No, he went to the jail library and tried to start reading a book but when he couldn't read it, he got a dictionary are started coping it word for word until he could read that book. Malcolm X's supply of sponsors were very slim but the access to books were in vast quantities. If Malcolm X didn't have his sponsor Elijah Muhammad and the author of the books he read (which Malcolm X considered them to be his sponsor also), he wouldn't have been that person that he was when past on.
Brandt states in her sub-argument, "Sponsorship and Access," that there is a statistical correlation between high literacy achievement with high socioeconomic and majority-race status, but we shouldn't consider social groups literacy practices but the route of access they take to get literature. So with Malcolm X being a black man and imprisoned, you would expect his access to be very slim but it wasn't. In Malcolm X's prison, there was a library that was said to make universities jealous. Concluding, that when there is a great access of literature, the literacy profiles of that area should be exceptional.
Christopher Parker
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt understands that people have to learn, the only difference is in the ways we learn. According to Brandt, people use sponsorship in order to accomplish this. One aspect of her argument is sponsorship through access, where education and literacies are either hindered or spurred on by a number of factors such as race, income, or social status. Sherman Alexie and Malcom X both experience their learning through access, although in different ways. Sherman Alexie is a Native American who learned to read early on in his life, but he didn’t just learn, he was enthralled by it. His father was an avid reader and was one of few on his reservation to be well-educated. His father had lots of books, giving Alexie access to reading at a young age. While the rest of his classmates struggled with simple text, Alexie was reading on a high level. Indians weren’t expected to be smart, causing Alexie to be ridiculed in his society that discounted education, yet he persevered and made reading and writing popular with his society. The case of Malcolm X is a bit different than Alexie’s, but Brandt’s argument still holds true. Malcolm X was seen as a failure and wasn’t expected to get anywhere in life just because of his race. Dropping out of school in the eighth grade, and arrested at the age of twenty, Malcolm X was beginning to fulfill everyone’s stereotype of him. He then sparked an interest for reading and writing while in prison, learning under his mentor Mr. Muhammad. It opened his eyes to the world, and encouraged him to teach himself to read and write. Malcolm X wrote pages of the dictionary to learn words and would read all throughout the night in his cell. He had no real access to education until in prison where books were plenty and he had to all the time in the world. Brandt’s theory of sponsorship through access is shown with Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X who had taught themselves to learn in order to prove that their race could be more than what everyone expected.
Allison Kula
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt states that your literary sponsor doesn’t have to be a person, it can range between a number of different things. This claim was supported when Malcolm X told us his story about his love for books. Malcolm dropped out of school at a young age, after years of being told he wouldn’t amount to anything. When he went to jail he found a need to learn. He began with the dictionary and went from there, when asked about his alma mater later on in life he would just said “books.” I believe that this is an example of a lack of resources, just like in Dora Lopez’s story. She had to work to get what she needed, just like Malcolm. They weren’t handed what they needed, they went out and got what they could. Sherman Alexie found a love for reading and writing from his father’s love for reading. He stepped outside of his stereotype, the one where he was “supposed to be dumb.” One thing all these people have in common is that they each taught themselves. They each overcame obstacles to achieve their goals.
Joe Amico
ReplyDelete"Sponsors are a tangible reminder that literacy learning throughout history has always required permission, sanction, assistance, coercion, or at minimum contact with existing trade routes." - Deborah Brandt
This quote by Brandt shows exactly how she felt about literacy and the way it could be aquired. She has an idea that literacy is an aquired thing which is only learned through sponsors. These sponsors can be many different things such as family members, institutions, schools, etc. Brandt also said that she believed it was harder for someone of a lower income or poverty to aquire good literacy skills. This was the first parallel I drew between some of her story and Malcolm X.
Malcolm X was a black man who lived his life through a time of harsh racism. He was technically illiterate until the time he landed himself in prison. Eventually, Malcolm realized that it was reading and writing that would give him a sense of freedom, so much so that he started to copy the dictionary word for word, over and over. He started to read about African American, their existence, and their origin. It was books that took him away from his every day prison life. I relate this back to Brandt's argument as he himself in prison had sponsors around him. Mr. Muhammed and Norfolk County Prison were probably the two biggest as Muhammed gave him motivation to empower his self through literature and The prison gave him the oppurtunity and access to do so with their strong collection of books.
Alexie Sherman story was a bit of the same in some ways. Sherman also found a sponsor at a young age. His dad was the most influential in his life, as he wanted to be just like his old man. Eventually Alexie taught himself how to read through picture books, without even knowing the true meaning of words. He also defied the racial stereotype that was placed upon his people during that time as they were viewed as poor, and uneducated, alike Malcolm X.
Both of these two men took it upon themselves to learn how to read, but had sponsors along the way. Which relates back to Brandts quote.
The arguments presented in Deborah Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" include several theories about the process of learning how to read and write. Specifically, Brandt's article reads that other than the ability to self-educate, one's sponsors such as immediate family members, academic mentors, and other powerful influences are much more responsible for one's level of literacy. This argument is represented by the story of Malcom X in the sense that Malcom X gained literacy from sponsors such as prison, Mr. Elijah Muhammed, the Nation of Islam, and the civil rights injustices demonstrated by the "white man". Consequently, Brandt's argument is refuted by the story of Sherman Alexie. Instead of having several literacy sponsors, Alexie became literate from his own determination and self-teaching. Political, educational, and economic systems are a significant influence upon the the development of ones ability to read and write. Furthermore, the social class and status of someone contributes to one's opportunities to a more convenient ability to learn. This argument is true because the ability for Malcom X and Alexie to learn to read and write was difficult because the poor crime-infested community that Malcom X in which he lived failed to provide sufficient learning tools, unlike the other wealthier communities around him.
ReplyDeleteThe argument that Deborah Brandt makes is that literacy is sponsored by people, circumstances, and institutions that make it possible for a person to become literate and shape the way a person acquires literacy. Although, with this argument an issue arises, that despite the democracy in education, equal opportunities are not available to everyone. As a child Malcolm X lived in several foster homes and eventually dropped out of school in eighth grade and got involved in crime. It was in prison that Malcom X had access to books which he used to teach himself how to read and write. Later in Malcolm X’s life Mr. Muhammad became a long-lasting sponsor for Malcolm X. The teachings of Mr. Muhammad led Malcolm X to read as many books as he could about slavery. As a minister of Mr. Muhammad’s the horrors of slavery became one of his favorite subjects.
ReplyDeleteSherman Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation and was therefore born into the belief that he would fail in school. However, Alexie was sponsored by his father who would buy used and sometimes new books when he had extra money. The story of Alexie is similar to that of Dora Lopez, who was sponsored by the resources that her parents could provide her. Lopez, Malcolm X and Alexie were all self-taught in the pursuit to go beyond what was expected of them.
In Sponsors of Literacy Deborah Brandt shares the idea that she believes everyone is exposed to literary sponsors during their lifetime that make it possible for them to be literate. Brandt’s idea was that no one is literate on his or her own but rather literacy is sponsored by people, circumstances, and institutions that shape the way the people acquire literacy. Brandt talks about how people with very little access to literature still manage to find motivation and have sponsors in the section “Sponsorship and Access” when she writes about a women named Dora Lopez. Dora Lopez is a Mexican woman who taught herself how to read and write Spanish. Not much of Dora’s family knew how to read or write either so Dora was extremely motivated to teach herself how to read and write. Dora had very little resources to utilize but did not let that stop her from trying to improve her literacy skills. The story of Dora Lopez compares to the story of Malcolm X because they were both minorities that took it upon themselves to self-educate themselves as much as they could. Malcolm X was extremely uneducated until he spent time in prison, where he broadened his knowledge as best as he could by reading and copying down the dictionary. After he learned how to read he always had his head in a book staying up super late just to read and learn more. When his sentence in jail was over people were astonished at the level of his intelligence considering he only went to school up to the eighth grade. Malcolm X proved his stereotype wrong by taking it upon himself and learning how to be an excellent reader and writer. When Deborah talks about Carol White and Sarah Steele in the section “Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning” it can relate to the story of Sherman Alexia. Carol and Sarah were two women whose literacy sponsors helped them later on with the knowledge and experience in their work place. This can relate to Sherman Alexia who was a Native American that had a found love for learning that all started with a comic book. The Native Americans were expected to be not as educated as other people but Alexia wanted to break out of the stereotype and be different. Although he was ridiculed in school Alexia did not let that stop him. Alexia went on to publish novels, short stories, and poems and even visits school to talk to and inspire other Native American students. All of these stories make a point that ethnic background should never be an excuse for someone to be not very educated. With the right motivation anyone can succeed in terms of his or her literacy skills.
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt teaches us about the sponsorships of literacy and the different subcategories that explain the different aspects of this. She specifically explains in Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning about how "A somewhat different dynamic of literacy sponsorship is treated here",(pg. 344). Misappropriation is using a literary sponsor for something it wasn't originally intended for. Sherman Alexie's experience is an example of this because originally he had started to read because his father. He had such an immense admiration for him that because his father loved to read he decided to as well. Later on in life his reading abilities and knowledge due to reading so much at such an early age led to him becoming a writer who individualized himself from the stereo typical Indian boy view. Something that he hadn't planned to come out of reading actually benefited his life in the end. While Sherman Alexie helped demonstrate that subcategory of Deborah Brandt Malcolm X helps to demonstrate the subcategory of Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards. Malcolm X had always been able to express exactly what he wanted to when speaking to people. He was easily able to move and and inspire people with his words until the day he needed to communicate in a different way. When Malcolm X went to prison he needed to learn how to communicate through words on a page. He soon learned that speaking in slang and writing in slang for someone else to read had to very different effects. The standard of writing was much higher then speaking and he needed to learn how to read and writing if he wanted to continue to get his point across. This was his sponsor in literacy. Deborah Brandt explains that sponsorships of literacy can come to us at any point in life; Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X prove just how different a sponsor can be in it's timing and effect on different peoples lives.
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt shows her view of how people gain skills in literacy in "Sponsors of Literacy", and each person or thing that influences someone's literacy is a sponsor. People find sponsors in all different things and places, while some sponsors could be people, and others could be opportunities and materials. Like Raymond Branch in "Sponsors of Literacy", Sherman Alexie gained inspiration when he was very young, and his father proved to be his sponsor. He had determination and worked very hard to be as smart as he knew he could be, and went on to be very successful. In Brandt's argument of "Sponsorship and Access" she says that certain things can affect a persons ability to learn literacy, such as ethnicity or income. Malcolm X did not have much money, and eventually got arrested for robbery. This ended up giving him access to a dictionary which started the beginning of his career. Based on his race and social class, no one expected him to be intelligent or knowledgable about literacy. However, when leaving the jail, he was as intelligent as a college graduate. He had sponsors while in jail, and if the jail hadn't had a library Malcolm X might have never had the opportunity to discover his purpose.
ReplyDelete-Charles Meissner
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt makes the claim that sponsors are what helps people achieve literacy. She also states that a sponsor can take the form of many things, such as a person or institution. Also a person can be sponsored in many different ways, such as by access. Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie both justify Brandt's claim of literacy being achieved with sponsorship by access. Malcolm X says that being sent to prison made him feel freer than ever before. This was because in prison, he had access to an immense amount of educational and enriching literature. It was because of Malcolm X's extreme desire to better himself and his access to literature that he was able to gain the literacy and knowledge that impressed even the people taught in institutions. Sherman Alexie's rise to literacy is similar to Malcolm X's in terms of sponsorship. Alexie's father was an avid reader and book lover. So many books were kept in Alexie's house so he always had access to literature. Because Native Americans were "supposed to be stupid", the teachers and institutions Alexie went to did not emphasize literacy with him. Alexie relied and lived on the constant flow of literature that he had access to in his house. Supporting Brandt's claim about literary sponsorship and access being an effecting sponsor, both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie relied on their access to literature and successfully educated themselves despite their many setbacks.
Daniel Healy
ReplyDeleteAfter examining the arguments presented by Deborah Brandt in “Sponsors of Literacy,” I have concluded Malcolm X’s article titled “Learning to Read” fits Brandt’s sub-arguments of Sponsorship and Access and Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning. Sponsorship and Access represents Malcolm X’s experiences because when he went to prison he had access to the prison’s library. His access to books brought him to understand and love literacy and support his quest to learn about African American history. Malcolm X’s experiences also reflect Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning, learning to write and become more knowledgeable through reading books he appropriated what he had learned in order to defend the rights of African Americans. He appropriated what he had learn to fight the injustice that was occurring.
Sherman Alexi’s article titled “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” fits Brandt’s sub-arguments of Sponsorship and Access and Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards. Alexi’s article supports Brandt’s sub-argument of Sponsorship and Access because being of Indian heritage and living on an Indian reservation resulted in him not having access to certain educational advantages. First off he was not provided with the same mind set that the rest of America most likely had because his teachers expected the students not to be smart in the classroom. He didn’t have the advantage of being “taught how to write poetry, short stories, and novels.” When Alexi became older and more well know because of his literacy skills he went back to his and other reservations as a visiting teacher to teach the kids how to write. However, Alexi didn’t have this privilege as a child, so once again he didn’t have the opportunity of learning new things and trades. Because of Alexi’s success through his determination in continuing to write I believe he inadvertently raised the literacy standards of some Indian children. This would go along with Brandt’s sub-argument of Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards. When Alexi was a child in the reservation he wasn’t expected to push further in his education and he didn’t have a role model (other than his father maybe) that had been successful and risen from where he was in life at that time. But because of his success, young Indian children read of him and read his books therefore inspiring them to educate themselves further and maybe become writers too. This may have helped raise the literacy standards in a way that Indian children on these reservations would push themselves to write and to become more literate.
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ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt discusses literacy as something to be acquired by sponsors in her article, “Sponsors of Literacy”. A sponsor is defined specifically by her in the article, but basically is the person or organization that is responsible for teaching, or making possible, literacy of others. Brandt suggests that literacy develops in one of three ways: Sponsorship and Access, Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards, and Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning. I have included comments on Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X as they relate to two of her ideas.
ReplyDeleteSponsorship and Access is the idea that a person’s economic and social environment play a pivotal role in the literacy development. Brandt contrasted two individuals that grew up basically in the same town at the same time with different social status and opportunities. One person with many resources (sponsors) for literacy enhancement. The other, while equally motivated to succeed, had more limited sponsors. She contrasted their level of literacy and suggested that their socio-economic status played a role. Although they had different sponsors early in their lives, they both capitalized on what was available and moved their literacy forward.
Sherman Alexie’s story of his rise in literacy seem to fit this discussion. Growing up on an Indian reservation his sponsorship was limited. He was encouraged at home to read and become educated; he was mirroring what was being modeled at home. He discusses at length his “different-ness” from the other young Indian boys on the reservation. He remembers enduring some bullying because of his intent to be educated. But he continued for this reason: to save his life. As he grew, he read as much as he possibly could. He gives back to his reservation home by visiting in the schools and reading to the students to motivate them and model literacy. He comments that many of the students participate in his activities with excitement because they, too, want to save their lives.
Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards is a discussion created by Brandt to discuss increased literacy as a means necessary for survival or to be more competitive in your field. Brandt uses a person named Lowry, minimally educated, at best. He was employed as an assembly line worker and became discontent and pursued management positions. Through a series of circumstances, and in order to better represent his union, he attended union training in Washington, D.C. His comment on this brief, yet intense training was as follows,
“When I got to school, there was a lot of reading. I often felt bad. If I had read more (as a high school student), it wouldn’t have been so tough...”
Brandt goes on to discuss Lowry’s progress in legal literacy as a necessity for survival in the world of Union representation; especially after the appearance of attorneys on the scene. In the end, Lowry was replaced by college educated attorneys to represent the Unions; not because they were more knowledgeable, but because they were more educated in legal literacy.
The story “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X supports this theory. X recounts his time in prison as a time he became interested in the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. He remembers listening to his teachings and wanting to know more, but his literacy level held him back. Although he had great communication skills with his peers in the streets, he determined to improve his literacy for the sole purpose at that time to communicate through writing to Muhammad. He states, “How would I sound, writing in slang the way I would say it, something such as, "Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat, Elijah Muhammad-" So he took his own initiative with the support of his sponsor, the prison of sorts, to gain knowledge and literacy skills so that he could communicate written and orally with those figures he most admired.
Ashley Cook
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt argues that people are not born with certain literacies. She claims that people are influenced by people or events in their lives. People, communities, and organizations can influence how a person's literacy expands. She calls these influences "literary sponsors." Her claims are proven by both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie. Malcolm X never finished school. In a single story setting, he would have been assumed to be illiterate. However, through his experience in prison, Malcolm X developed his literacy. He read dictionaries and was able to expand his knowledge. It was his surroundings (prison) that helped him develop his literacy. Sherman Alexie went through something similar. Sherman Alexie, born Indian, was by single story standards, considered "dumb." However, he was able to break that stereotype and found an interest in reading which stemmed from his father. His father became his literacy sponsor and encouraged Sherman Alexie's reading. In both situations, Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie were able to break the single story cliche by becoming who they wanted to be and not what society said they had to be. They were able to accomplish this goal with the help of literacy sponsors.
In Deborah Brandt’s article, “Sponsors of Literacy,” she discusses how people—such as teachers, parents, and institutions—sponsor literacy. In other words, people and institutions provide the sponsored with the necessities which allow them to become literate and shape what literacy the person acquires in return for personal gain. According to Brant, unequal literacy chances—such as rich versus poor, the difference between access to many books or no books—relates to large scale political and economical conditions in a sense that poor people tend to have less politically and economically because they have less access to literacy and sponsorship. Brandt also explains sponsorship in relation to the rising standard of literacy. She claims that an individual’s literacy learning transforms as it undergoes interactions with sponsoring institutions that fight for economic positions (which ultimately results in new forms of literacy). Although it allows for literacy to be passed down from generation to generation, it also results in a gap in sponsoring forms known as the rising standard of literacy. Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie both fit within Brandt’s argument in several ways. Due to their races, they are discriminated against. Their access to literacy was much smaller than those of other races, which resulted in them having a late start in their writing careers.
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