From Scribner to Brandt: Making Sense of Literacy

Antares Lance
Sep 7, 2015
2 min read

Upon reading Scribner's formulation to "Literacy in Three Metaphors", I first asked the question as to whether this aricle was going to be informative or opinionated. Throughtout the beginning of her article she expresses the questions of "What Literacy is?" and how it is a problem of pressing national concern. Her definiton is represented through the idea of an "umbrella definition". In all honestly everyone has their own definiton, however the one they give doesnt seem to grasp my understanding what literacy can and cannot be.

"What lies behind the definitional difficulties this statement decries?.... They suggest that literacy is a kind of reality that educators should be able to grasp and explain, or, expressed in more classical terms, that literacy has an "essence" that can be captured through some Aristotelian-like enterprise."

-Scribner

This in questions makes me feel as if literacy is only achieved through the idea of education. That literacy is complied of many systems of intrinsic and individual qualities. She the captures the idea of social media and organized activities being a main priority in the face of what literacy really is, especially when it comes to individuals. She also grasps the questions in which " Is literacy a social right or a private power? " When I try to understand the vital idea of this saying , it reaches to the thought of writing being taught in many different ways. It can be through social interaction as well as academic interpretation. That what school teaches you, is indifferent in terms of what you can learn outside of the classroom.

Next, I found in Brandt's "Sponsership and Access", I looked onto the idea of what help me become literate? In other words, I realized that in most cases I was becoming better at reading or writing becuase of school; becuase of the classes I took in school and the struggles that came above it. Through the use of technology and helpful sites I was able to understand lectures, sample writing propmts, and other communicative material. This honestly helped me the most becuase it was literacy skills underwritten beyond the naked eye of the individual.