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
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ReplyDeleteBrandt brings to the forefront the discussion of sponsorship and access in her article. She suggests that without the correct access, you can't succeed in life. With regard to reading and writing, she argues that without access to books or proper education, you are less likely to learn and grow in those areas. Those from a higher socio-economic status have the money and connections to get their children into private or better-known schools. For example private colleges, like Yale, produce successful students at a high cost. But, often times, one could buy a new foreign car with the amount of tuition that they pay. Brant claims that in most cases, one can buy intellect. Others with less money may go to lower-class educational schools and may be provided with a lower quality of education. This is called sponsorship and access.
ReplyDeleteIn Brandt’s article, she outlines the cases of several different people with regards to their success. She talks about Dora Lopez and Raymond Branch. Both were born in the same year and had educational experiences within the same town. Raymond, however, was from a wealthy family. He received a computer for his 12th birthday. He claims this helped him to succeed in school. Dora had to do her studies without the use of the computer, thus making her education and life much harder. She went through many jobs and worked her butt off to gain little success. Malcolm X also came from a less prosperous socio-economic background. Oddly enough, he claims to have gained his knowledge while being in jail. In his opinion, those in jail are encouraged to become rehabilitated. He was given a strong sponsorship from this most unlikely situation. This supports Brandt's theories. Malcolm had the opportunity to read many different books. In jail he had 15+ hours a day to focus on his reading and writing. In order to learn how to write, he copied the dictionary. This explained his vocabulary in speeches and articles. His situation proved that with strong sponsorship you can succeed. Sherman Alexie started off in an even worse situation than most children where he lived. He was born with water on his brain. Growing up on a reservation, where his parents had ever changing jobs, they were considered middle class. He decided to teach himself how to read from a superman comic. He decided to make simple writing structure apply to his life. His family was compared similarly to paragraphs in an essay. Each one was different, but linked by similar qualities. Alexie was the one to rise above his impoverished life to conquer the situation. This, however, didn’t come easy. He worked hard and read everything he could to rise above his weak sponsorship.
In the first example, Brandt argues that race, social class, gender, and region all have an effect on access to literacy. I agree with this statement. As seen in her example, Raymond Branch had much more access to literacy sponsors than Dora Lopez due to a variety of reasons. He was of higher social standing than Dora, his father was a University professor, he had more access to technology, his family had a higher income and thus more access to books, etc. Dora, on the other hand, was from a lower class immigrant family that was not as financially secure as Branch’s family. As a result, Dora had to work harder to gain access to her literacy sponsors. She had to buy her own books and get a job while in school to support her literacy needs. Referencing the excerpt from Malcolm X’s autobiography, it is seen that up until he went to prison, he had very little access to books or practice writing exemplified by his difficulty reading books and being unable to even write in a straight line. He was of lower social standing, did not have a permanent home to live in, and was an African American during the times of segregation. Those factors had a huge effect on his access to literacy sponsors because he did not have anyone or anything to sponsor him. That being said, desire and motivation also play a large role in an individual’s access to literacy. This is seen through Dora Lopez trying to learn how to read and write Spanish herself and by Malcolm X’s hunger for reading during his stent in prison.
ReplyDeleteWhat Brandt mentions in her article include different subjects such as sponsors, how education is tied to different racial and cultural issues. As Brandt stated, sponsorship and access is a huge issue. Malcolm X complicates this as he was in prison, the last place one would think that he has a good access to education. But through different tactics he used, he ended up being very educated throughout his years in prison. Sherman Alexie's story, however, can prove a point in Sponsorship and the Rise in LIteracy Standards, as his own father was providing the books that he liked to read so much. However, this can also complicate what Brandt tried to state as he taught himself to read, and no sponsor helped him learn how to read the words from the books.
ReplyDeleteBrandt makes the argument that literacy is based on several factors, including social status, someones monetary standing, and even race or gender. She tells the story of Dora Lopez who had to work extremely hard to gain literacy because she was Hispanic and female. Brandt plays this against the story of Raymond Branch, who from a very young age, had all the resources he could ever want as his father was a Professor. Couple that with the fact that Raymond is a male, and his literacy chances are much greater then Doras. Like Raymond, Malcolm X had the resources (Strange as it may be to call Jail a resource) to enhance his literacy. But like Dora, Malcolm came from a less then helpful background and had to work hard to become the well written/spoken man he was.Similarly, Sherman Alexie was constantly surrounded by resources to better his literacy and he took them. Unfortunately for Alexie, his community did not value his literacy because they only saw their own "Single Story". These stories tell me that while literacy is important, motivation is still a large part of it.
ReplyDeleteWhen Brandt discusses Dwayne Lowery she focuses on how he had to adapt to a certain literacy expectation. Lowery was expected to learn legalistic terms and ways to continue on with a job that used to require no such thing. Due to the changing literacy in labor union related affairs, Lowery had no choice but to become well acquainted with these ways to be successful. This is very similar to Malcolm X having to educate himself in prison through reading and writing using a dictionary, in order to be up to par with the literacy expectancy of that time. Through his own doing he surpassed this literacy expectation and became a very well educated man, even causing people to ask him if he went to university because of his excellence in literacy. Both of these men were presented with a challenge of rising to the literacy expectation of their time and or occupation. Brandt also discusses the topic of race affecting literacy, just as Alexie does. In Brandt's example Dora is from an immigrant family and chooses to teach herself to read and write in Spanish, she does so by buying novels and communicating with relatives in Columbia. In the same way Alexie teaches himself to read by delving into his fathers books and also by using comic books. Both of these individuals choose to break their standard of literacy and aspired, and succeeded, in doing so. In both of their cases they had zero sponsorship yet managed to rise above the norm and set new standards of literacy for those who want it.
ReplyDeleteIn Brandt's article she outlines her view of sponsorship and how it effects literacy. She defines sponsors as "any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy-and take advantage in some way. She describes individuals such as Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez as those who have been influenced directly by sponsors. Brought up at exactly the same time, in the same city, Raymond and Dora endured much different experiences when it comes to reading and writing. Raymond's well connected, well-educated family was able to provide him with necessary tools to learn more efficiently. Dora, on the other hand, was not given the same tools to help her learn, instead, she taught herselff to read and write in Spanish, with bare minimum tools given to her by her father. While these two were both pursuing projects of self-initiated learning, Dorah had to reach much further for the material and communicative systems to support her education in literacy.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X and Sherman Alexie are two similar stories continuing in the subject of sponsorship. Malcolm, orphaned as a child and living in a series of foster homes, dropped out of school in the eighth grade. Oddly enough, he taught himself to read and write in prison. Reading up to fifteen hours a day, Malcolm accomplished an understanding of literacy and even gained a very large vocabulary ( copying the dictionary) by the time he got out of prison. The only sponsor that might have interfered with his learning was the prison library where he received his books; otherwise, he was his own sponsor. Sherman, on the other hand, grew up in an Indian Reservation where all children were expected to be inadequate in the eyes of the non-Indian. His father read vicariously, and because Sherman loved his father, he wanted to read just as much. He first learned to read comic books such as superman, and continued on, reading novels by kindergarten, which bothered his classmates who could barely read Dick and Jane. Sherman's sponsor would most likely be his father, as well as himself through self-initiated learning.
In Brandt's articles one of her subtopics is about Sponsorship and Access. I believe that this point most closely relates the Malcolm X reading. Malcolm X grew up in the streets, and worked in the street. He said he was hustler, he didn't have the opportunity or need to learn to be a literate individual. When he went to prison, he needed to be able to express himself fully in writing, but he lacked the skill and knowledge to do so. He was fueled by wanting to express himself well in words to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. Being in prison forced to read and write, something he had never had to do before. Malcolm X had two sponsors I believe. One was Mr. Muhammad, who through communicating with Malcolm made Malcolm want to learn. The other is the prison, which provided the setting and everything Malcolm needed to learn and learn well. Malcolm X would probably still be a street running hustler, but he went to prison. Prison provided a whole new type of access. Yes, prison took away certain things as well, but it also provided the access for Malcolm X to learn how to write, and gain knowledge of himself through reading.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Brandts subject matter of sponsorship and how it effects the literacy of a person, I most closely relate with the excerpt from Sherman Alexie. I do believe sponsorship and access to literature played a key role in Malcolm Xs life (e.g. a sponsor being Mr. Muhammad and the access to all of the books in the prison library) I believe that the idea of sponsorship, or lack thereof, deals more with Sherman Alexies piece. Alexie was a gifted child and started reading at a young age. If his dad didnt have such a huge interest in books and bought a piece of literature anytime he possibly could, Alexie would have never caught an interest in reading. Being a Native American living on a reservation also amplified the struggles of finding a sponsor to excel ones literacy. Alexie explained in the passage that Native Americans where almost taught to be inferior to the white man and not be very successful in life. This being said I believe that Alexies and Malcolm Xs pieces fit perfectly within the ideals of sponsorship and acess that Deborah Brandt put accross
ReplyDeleteDuring Brandt’s writing, she speaks of literary sponsorship and gives a few example of how it works and some things that may affect ones literary development. While reading, the account that stuck out most to me was about a boy and a girl named Raymond and Dora who were born in the same year and in the same town. These two people had lived near each other for their whole lives and one of the only differences was their socio-economic background. Raymond was from a wealthy family who had enough money to buy him a computer. With the computer came an easier way to complete and understand schoolwork. On the other hand we have Dora who came from a lower class and fell far below Raymond on the socio-economic totem pole. Dora had struggled to learn all she needed to because she barely had enough useful resources to complete her work and this made her experience immensely more difficult than Raymond’s. We can take those stories from Brandt’s writing and make connections with Both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie. Malcolm X would be more closely compared to Dora, someone who came from a low background and was lucky to get the resources they could. Malcolm X had an advantage though and that was the artillery of books in the prison library. Although no one wants to go to prison, it does change some people and many people go onto learn more there than they did in school. Malcolm taught himself the definitions to words by copying down the dictionary as much as he could and that helped him to read and to write in a more effective way. We also have Sherman Alexie who could be loosely compared to Raymond from Brandt’s writing because they both came from a more fortunate socio-economic background. However, Sherman had race against him. He grew up on an Indian reservation and although to our society, we wouldn’t have found his family middle class, in the reservation, even though his parents switched minimum wage jobs a lot, they were considered middle class. His father loved to read and he thought that he would love to read just because his father read, and so he taught himself how to read with a superman comic. He had a more oppressing challenge to face when it came to exhibiting that he was smart. In his society, it was expected for an Indian to be dumb in the face of a non-Indian but he knew he was smart and said he was arrogant and didn’t let that oppression stop him from doing what he loved. All of these stories showcase how important sponsorship is when it comes to reading and writing and how that sponsorship can effect one’s ability to break those walls they are facing or to take advantage of what resources they have.
ReplyDeleteSponsorship and access both play key parts in literacy. Social class and race have a big impact when it comes to being able to access books or computers. Brandt addresses these issues in her example depicting social class and the effects that access has on literacy. In one of Brant’s examples, she talks about a hard working girl named Dora. Dora was an immigrant with little family wealth, which caused her to have to work harder to gain access to books. Brant also talks about Raymond in her example. Raymond, unlike Dora, had plenty of access to books throughout his life. Raymond’s father was a professor at a University, which allowed Raymond access to technology like computers and books located on campus. Dora had to work through school to pay for her schooling and her books. Raymond was given a computer when he was twelve years old; this helped him acquire literacy more easily. Sponsorship and access both played a key part in Sherman Alexie’s literacy as well. Sherman grew up on an Indian reservation where his classmates ridiculed him because his classmates believed all Indians to be illiterate and "stupid." However, Sherman’s father was an avid reader of many different genres and these books helped Sherman to gain literacy knowledge at a young age. Sherman proved his classmates wrong by taking it upon himself to make his education and reading a priority.
ReplyDeleteIn Brandt’s argument, she talks about how your race and social status play a big role on your access to being literate, as well as, having the proper education. She says that without a proper education or access to books that you will not be able to learn and grow in reading or writing. Brandt backs up her argument by showing some examples; like Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez. Like how Raymond had more access to technology and books than Dora because he had a higher social status (wealthier) than Dora and because his father was a college professor. However, Malcom X and Sherman Alexie both break Brandt’s argument for they were of very low social class, were of a minority race, and did not have access to a proper education. Malcom X was born during segregation and was a black ex-convict, but he made sure to better himself in prison by reading everyday whenever he had time and became one of the most influential speakers in history. While Sherman lived his whole life in an Indian reservation, his parents working odd jobs, and no one to really teach him at his school. He taught himself how to read because his father was an avid reader and he wished to be like him. Sherman is now back at the reservation teaching other Indian children how to read and write in the hopes to “save” his people.
ReplyDeleteIn Brandt’s article she makes argues that literacy is based on sponsorship which comes in many forms. Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie fall underneath one of her subsections however, they do seem to complicate her claims.
ReplyDeleteBrandt claims that there is a positive correlation between literacy and systems of opportunity. She expresses this through the comparison between Raymond and Dora. Raymond had a wealthier family which attributed in various ways to his literacy. Unlike Raymond, Dora was not as fortunate and had to extend herself to acquire her literacy. She did this by teaching herself how to read and write in Spanish through her mother who worked at a bookstore. This is similar to the way Malcom X obtained his literacy. Malcolm X had to learn in harsh conditions by avoiding guards during “Lights out” time just to be able to understand the dictionary. His self determination to understand himself helped him overcome challenges in his life. However Malcolm X experiences, complicate Brandt’s points about how race and economic affect literacy.
Brandt also claims that literacy can be appropriated in multiple ways. She showed this through the case study of Carol White who took her clerical skills and used them in her work as Jehovah’s Witness. This corresponds of how Sherman Alexie used his logic of boundaries (reservation in United States, each family member in the family, etc.) to understand paragraphs. Also, how he appropriated pictures and actions in his comic book to words. These influenced the writer who he became. Nonetheless, Alexie’s backgrounds also contributes to the complication Brandt’s points of race affecting literacy as he was an Indian living on a reservation. Likewise Alexie’s experiences contracted Brandt’s point of increasing literacy standards as there wasn’t much expected of Alexie (Indian children were expected to be stupid).
In Brandt’s article she could have used Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie alongside her examples to reinforce her points of access and appropriation under her subsections.
An argument that Deborah Brandt wrote about is about sponsorship and access and I believe that Malcom X was Bimbi, who had made him feel envious because he had much more knowledge than Malcom. Not having the childhood, Malcom X was an orphan who ended up dropping out of school in eighth grade. Later on in Malcom’s life he had to go to prison. Malcom, because he was envious and trying to follow the conversations that Bimbi had he would find access to books and try to read as much information as he could with little success in the beginning. But through determination to surpass people like Bimbi and was inspired to re-write the dictionary to expand his vocabulary and knowledge since the dictionary was like a “miniature encyclopedia” to Malcom. Sherman Alexie on the other hand had his father, who was an avid reader; and because his father liked to read, like father like son, Sherman decided to read as well. Sherman had access to reading everywhere he went because he liked to read so much that he would just read everything and anything that had words or letters or numbers and that he was able to understand. Both characters were motivated and inspired to go further than others for knowledge because that’s what they desired.
ReplyDeleteIn Brandt, Sponsors of Literacy, she brings up different scenarios and examples of how political, social and economic influences can affect how you learn to read and write. She talked about how someone who comes from a higher social and economic class has the resources to have more and powerful sponsors, compared to someone who is not as fortunate and has to go out of their way for opportunity. Brandt brought up a point that Dora Lopez, who was part of the lower side of economic and social spectrum, that even though she lacked resources she used everything around her to learn to read. In the example of Sherman Alexie, who was born and brought up on an Indian Reservation, where being Indian meant you did not have the capability that other students had, you were thought of as unintelligent and could not be as successful. Alexie said he learned to read from a Superman comic book, and his motivation to read was his father as he described him as an avid reader (compared to someone of a higher class, this might have been foolish, but to Alexie it is all he had to start and work with). Alexie explained when he was younger he would look at his father's collection of books, and read them even if he did not understand what the words meant, but was still fascinated by them. At school he would be ridiculed and told that he would never amount to anything. He grew up and ended up being a writer himself, as well as a motivational speaker telling students how important reading and writing is. He became a sponsor himself, he had a story just like Dora Lopez from Brandt's writing, and he realized from a very young age how important reading and writing was.
ReplyDeleteHowever from a different perspective, some might argue Brandt's article contradicts Alexie's story. He only had his father who was an avid reader, but his environment in the classroom from his peers and how he was brought up, he was not supposed to immense to anything important. That can be damper on someone's motivation. Meaning sponsors are not as important as self motivation, which complicates Brandt's argument. In addition, your mindset and how you think is more powerful that the people around you, if you want something badly enough you can accomplish it.
Brandt's argument involving sponsorship and access deals with the obstacles that keep us from achieving a literacy background. She talks about how Raymond Branch acquired his abilities of literacy through his computer knowledge and just being in the right place at the right time but then adds that it can not be true that literacy is developed by luck as Dora Lopez actively searched to improve her literacy abilities. Malcolm X falls right into place with this argument as he got into literacy despite his shortcomings of being in prison and not knowing english. Even though he was supposed to be a dumb convict he surpassed that stereotype by spending all of his free time in jail reading and learning. It was due to his access to the english dictionary that pushed him forward in his knowledge proving that just because he did not have the high access of the upper class he was still able to reach new heights with his literacy proving Brandt's point.
ReplyDeleteIn the article “Sponsors of Literacy” Deborah Brandt mentions sponsorship as the main tool to a person's literacy, the way it shapes a person's mind to directing his or her intention on using literacy as the mean to support their stands in society. Brant presents “sponsorship and access” and the example of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez to show the differences between the high class and low class's access toward literacy, in the example Branch is deemed to success right when he was a kid and got more access to literacy, on the other hand Dora's status as a minority and living condition sort of play a big role in her access to literacy the hard way, but the thing is both were pursuing self-initiated learning. The same principles can be said about Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie, both are minority and stereotyped against, we have Malcolm X who is “illiterate” for the most part of teenage years and found access to literacy in prison and in there through self-initiated learning, he's determined to be intellectual and his sponsorship is his circumstance and the hatred against white men motivates him to take part in the civil right movement. Sherman Alexie breaks the stereotype of native American living in reservation through his joy of reading and writing. In Alexie's claim about Indian children were “expected to be stupid” we know that Indian is fed with the wrong sponsorship and how I think sponsorship might play a bad role in setting a bad attitude toward literacy for a certain group of people. Nevertheless, Alexie exceeded that expectation and broke the stereotype, we could say that he did it through self-initiated learning. “Sponsorship and appropriation in literacy learning” examples of Brandt also relate to Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie's experience. Brandt claims that act of appropriation in some sense explains how dominant forms of literacy migrate and penetrate into private spheres, so here Malcolm X brings his study of literature from prison and apply it to his strategy in the Civil Rights Movement; despite he took a more hateful and violent approach compared to the peaceful Martin Luther King JR, the types of books he read influenced him as a person he later became. Sherman Alexie appropriates his literacy learning toward teaching creative writing to Indian kids and like he said he was trying to save the lives of the Indian kids, so in this case Sherman Alexie fits into the good appropriation that he uses by learning.
ReplyDeleteThe article that Brandt writes talks about people from different social classes being educated in distinct ways in order to succeeded in their education. In some cases people have to adapt to learning by their economical background, such as being able to afford a laptop for school, or others who don’t quite have this luxury. For some people the barricade of paying for education is none existent, but the people who struggle early on will get the most appreciation out of it. Brandt’s article fits into both the lives of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie. Malcolm X never even made it to the high school level of education when he was young, yet scholars from all around the world had asked him what university taught him to be such a great speaker and writer. All Malcolm needed to succeed were books, ambition, and the time of being locked behind bars. Here Malcolm was given week sponsorship, which is what Brandt was trying to explain in her article. He was given a great opportunity when he was thought to have so little. Though Sherman Alexie was not a criminal early on in his life, he was also expected to fail. Indians were not thought of as smart people who could be successful poets and writers, but Alexie proved them wrong. Coming from a background of people that did not have much money, Alexie could not stop reading books, and his only goal was to excel in his education and become successful in his writings. Alexie and Malcolm overcame their low expectations to be greatly remembered and worthy of us to still be talking about them today.
ReplyDeleteBrandt describes an individual’s ability to write with the expense you pay. Explaining how those who attend top-notch schools usually have a higher ability to read and write. In her eyes those with a more wealthy financial backing will have greater success in their pursuit of a higher education than those who are not as fortunate. Those whom are not as fortunate may have to use their time with jobs or taking care of siblings. These chores take away from time that could be spent learning. Malcolm X came from a poor family. It wasn’t until he was in jail that he found sufficient time to better his reading and writing. Sherman Alexi came from a family that lived on a reservation and often times changed jobs. He was also born with water in his brain. Yet he still was able to beat the odds and become a sufficient reader and writer. He would spend time reading comics in order to learn to read.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the article by Brandt one can easily see the connections it has to Malcolm X. Brandt discuss how every individual should be with a sponsor who can allow them to gain the knowledge of literacy due to him or her having the access to certain materials whether it be books or computers. In Brandt’s story she really stresses how important just one piece of literacy can be, even if you read the same book over and over a thousand times you’re still reading and constantly learning the rules to literacy. In Malcolm X’s story he was sponsored by Mr. Muhammad who told him the truth about blacks in America being left out of discussions, and the only way to spread this is through reading up on the topic. Malcolm X would then go on to fall for the world of literacy and once he had discovered books on black history he would become so educated on the topic that he would become one of the man spokesman for the African American community. All of this is due to that first access he was granted into literature which would become the main object of his life.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Deborah Brandt’s subsection about “Sponsorship and Access” can be appropriately related to the experiences of Malcolm X. Brandt’s example of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez shows how access to literacy sponsorship can be affected or even limited by race, color, wealth; it simply boils down to a person’s socio-economic status. She shows how people who are more wealthy and “better-off” have easier access to literary sponsorship. We see how Raymond’s status allows him to travel an easier path to becoming literate (due to his access of computers and advanced technology) whereas Dora’s family was more middle-class where they couldn’t necessarily afford to give her access to all of the tools one could use to become literate at a faster pace. I also noticed how the demands of Dora to work could’ve slowed down her process to become more literate due to the fact that for some family, money holds a precedence of books and knowledge due to current needs. These situations can be compared to the struggles of Malcolm X in his journey to become literate. Malcolm X’s situation is more relatable to the situation of Dora rather than Raymond. Malcolm, like Dora, did not have immediate access to a literary sponsorship whereas Raymond has tons of books at his disposal and even a personal computer to help further education and literacy. It wasn’t until prison that Malcolm X had the leisure of becoming literate and being able to properly express himself in a literate manner. This is similar to where Dora didn’t have the proper tools she needed to solidify and further her literacy until she was a little older, about when she was attending the technical college or at the university. I believe these experiences greatly show the importance of motivation in the quest for literacy. Just because someone has the tools to become literate, that doesn’t mean that he or she will necessarily learn because if you don’t have motivation, you don’t have success. We see how Dora and Malcolm X needed even more motivation in their journeys to becoming literate because they had to go out of the way and out of the lives that they were brought into just to have access to the literacy sponsorships that they needed for success. If not for proper motivation, people who aren’t “better-off” are going to have a much harder time in gaining access to literacy sponsorships and we see how Malcolm and Dora were successful in overcoming their difficulties.
ReplyDeleteIn her first point, Brandt shows that literacy and sponsorship are interrelated and, depending on when and where you are and what type of group(s) you belong to (religious, socio-economic, ethnic, etc), determine the kind of lasting effect or success a person can have. We can see this very clearly in Raymond and Dora’s individual stories that Brandt uses to portray and support her argument. In a sense, both of them, Raymond and Dora, were successful in their own way, despite coming two completely different backgrounds. Even though Dora had to work harder and take more advantage of the sponsors and available information around here, she was still able to make a success story for herself and rise above the ‘average’ status. Raymond, being born into a rich, upper class family, was easily sponsored by the things and people around him because of his family and race, essentially having everything needed for success practically handed to him while Dora had to seek suitable sponsors that would make the effort to lead her to success in her endeavors. Each was affected by the changing environment around them and the immediate (and extended) family around them, both of which happen to be forms or outlets of economies of literacy.
ReplyDeleteIn the same way, we can see this effect within Malcolm X’s autobiography. In this case, Malcolm X came from a financially struggling family much like Dora’s to start with and continues with the same sort of story line. Malcolm seeks out and learns the knowledge that he knows he must learn in order to better himself as a person and to get his point across in writing and meet his goals of becoming a respectable and admirable black role model, essentially. Malcolm’s sponsor was the prison which he stayed at. It was the environment around him and a few people (sponsors) to help motivate him such as Bimbi, for setting the standard so to speak for Malcolm on what to achieve. Although Bimbi never really gave Malcolm personal guidance to achieving his own status or beyond that, it gave Malcolm a determination to self improve and hone his skills, of which he was “immensely proud” of doing so of reading and writing more than successfully.
On an equal note Sherman Alexie gives us a similar tale as well of his literacy sponsorship and the access he had to it. Because of his father, Alexie had plenty of books lying around the house and in bookcases, etc. This, in combination with Alexie’s great love for his father, gave him his love for books, reading and writing them. His story is similar to that of Dora’s from Brandt’s essay in the sense that both of them come from rather poor families trying to make ends meet but dearly loved by a close nit immediate family. However, Alexie’s story is also similar to Raymond’s because both are handed everything that’d ever need to succeed. In Alexie’s case, success was found in doing what he loves, books, despite the negative sponsorship he received from fellow Indian peers around him and non-indian teachers alike. He rose above it, like Malcolm X and Dora overcome their challenges as well.