Our readings for week 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. If Brandt had interviewed Malcolm X and
Sherman Alexi, how would Brandt be able to use the experiences of Malcolm X and
Sherman Alexie to help further her claims in some way? Consider the central
claim Brandt makes as well as the major sub-points Brandt presents in different
sections of her piece and decide how Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie's experiences
might fit within Brandt's arguments.
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 and Malcolm X's experiences with some of Brandt's claims. Postings that demonstrate innovative and unique approaches to this analysis will be rewarded.
In order to address this discussion board, you must complete readings on the following pages:
331-362
In her article Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt uses historical data drawn from interviews to assert that literacy proliferates greatly from certain socioeconomic forces. These forces were referred to by Brandt as sponsors because they promote literacy in people while gaining benefits for themselves. Brandt cites multiple interviews in which many sponsors were present, many having different influences, causes, and outcomes for the benefits of literacy. In one case, a young worker named Dwayne Lowery grows bored with factory work, and works towards literacy by reading newspapers (an activity his father was known for) and going to conventions to learn skills to carry his worker’s union forward. Lowery was sponsored to become literate by newspapers and his father, but largely by his union. Lowery gained literacy and fluency in representing his union, while his union reaped the benefits of strong and agreeable contracts made by him. While the existence of sponsors is made evident in Brandt’s work, sponsors are also evident in various readings, especially those written by Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X.
ReplyDeleteSherman Alexie was a Native American born on an Indian reservation and went to a school where he claimed Indian children “were expected to fail in a non-Indian world.” In a situation where illiteracy in his age group and social and cultural status was the norm, Sherman Alexie turned to his father: an avid book reader and Alexie’s biggest sponsor. Alexie was surrounded by books his father read, and Alexie’s sponsorship can be summed up in his statement “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well.” Alexie taught himself to read, and became one of the only successful Indians in a school full of undetermined children. Alexie went on to become a writer, and relates how thanks to his writings Indian children are now excited and determined to become literate and make writings of their own. Alexie was surrounded by his culture, and his father sponsored him to become literate, and the sponsorship reaped the benefit of bringing his Indian culture to become literate as he did.
Sherman Alexie taught himself how to read at the age of three with the help of a Superman comic, but Malcolm X taught himself how to read much later in life, and in prison. Malcolm X wrote about his discomfort and inability to write to his mentor Elijah Muhammed, and was so ambitious to better himself that he copied an entire dictionary to teach himself reading, writing, and penmanship. After he finished the dictionary, Malcolm X went on to learn debate skills and read many books with the help of his prison’s desire to correct and rehabilitate. Sponsored by the many books in his prison library, his mentor, and his own ambition, Malcolm X soon became an authority on history and civil rights in the African American community. In a place commonly thought to suppress, Malcolm X found freedom from his sponsors by gaining literacy, and gave back to his sponsors by inspiring his own race.
The trend is obvious: an illiterate but ambitious person down on their luck gain literacy skills through sponsorships, just as Deborah Brandt stated. The trend is noticeable in Brandt’s work and in the work of Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X. Had Brandt interviewed Sherman Alexie or Malcolm X, the data of their interview would reinforce Brandt’s argument: that sponsors exist to aid in the gaining of literacy to gain benefits from the newly literate people.
Brandt’s article speaks to the ability for people to gain, use and benefit from literacy depending on their social, economic and other situations, along with their “sponsors”. Brandt argues the importance of literacy and the benefits that literacy can provide to those who become literate. In both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexei’s lives, they found literacy in the most unexpected places and managed to, with the help of their “sponsors” gain literacy and become successful people who would eventually give so much back to society. Without Mr. Muhammad as Malcolm X’s sponsor and Alexi’s father as his sponsor, neither would have been able to gain literacy and become such successful people despite all of their obstacles. Both Malcolm and Sherman are prime examples of how the influence of “sponsors” can influence individuals’ lives and propel them to do great things with their newfound literacy.
ReplyDeleteDebrah Brandt argues that literacy sponsors are influential leaders that present informative ideas to the sponsored in order to gain benefits from their success. Rather the sponsors be family members, teachers, or political leaders they all are the primary influences, to the sponsored, of literacy.
ReplyDeleteBrandt expresses the occurrence of unequal conditions of literacy sponsorship (Branch vs Lopez). Branch an European American born in riches and Lopez a Mexican American born in poverty. They both achieved their personal goals, but Lopez was given the disadvantage. Lopez's literacy sponsor was literally herself. Lopez pushed herself to write and read in Spanish and used the little literature she was available to to accomplish this goal. While Branch's literacy sponsor was his parents his father was a professor and his mother was a real estate executive. He was surrounded in technologies and literature.
Malcolm X was an advocate for Mr. Muhammad's teachings which landed him in prison. Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm's sponsor, then influenced him to improve his literacy in history of man. Brandt explained that sponsors help with self-development in individuals. Though he was influenced negatively he was well aware of the world even though he sat in a cell. Malcolm X then shared his knowledge and tried to change racial imbalance.
Sherman Alexie on the other hand was influenced positively by an literacy sponsor which was his father. His father was one of few Indians who attended school which lead him to the love of books. Alexie then followed in his fathers footsteps to become more educated. He learned how to read with a comic book and then progressed to “Grapes of Wrath” in kindergarten. Alexie did the unexpected and became what he wasn't suppose to be, a “prodigy.”
Both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie improved their literacy because of literacy sponsors and became intellectuals that viewed the world as it is. The limits they had gave them the determination to become more than just a minority to the world. Much like Brandt's example of Lopez both Malcolm X and Alexie wasn't expected to be literate they both were given the underhand and through literacy they realized that they could make a change that would overcome the ignorance that was apparent to them.
Deborah Brandt wrote about how our surroundings and the people we know affect our path in learning to read and write. She calls these sources of inspiration and guidance "sponsors", which makes sense to me because if something is helping you learn literary skills then it is sponsoring you in one way or another. She wrote that sponsors can motivate you to take control of your own learning and work hard on your own to improve or develop your literary skills.
ReplyDeleteThis became more evident and understandable to me when I read through Malcolm X's autobiography excerpt. He wrote about his time in the Charlestown Prison where he became envious of someone named Bimbi. Bimbi was a good conversationalist and knew about many things. Malcolm X wanted to be like this as well but he couldn't read very much at all. This led him to teach himself to read and write by borrowing books from the library. He started off by copying down entries from the dictionary, starting from the first page.
This shows how a sponsor like Bimbi can give someone motivation to learn to read and write. Bimbi probably didn't consider himself a sponsor or even realize he had given Malcolm X any motivation at all, but that was another key point that Deborah Brandt mentioned in her essay. She said that sponsors can be anyone or anything. They don't even have to know that they are a sponsor. According to her, sponsors can be people, objects, and even abstract ideas.
Deborah Brandt also mentioned that sometimes there are sponsors which hurt your literary development. In the case of Malcolm X, he said that he learned from Mr. Muhammad that history had not been recorded much in Africa and that most if not all of the history he could find and read about in books was from a white man's perspective. This would mean that not all historical occurrences would have the whole story written down.
Sherman Alexie also had a sponsor when he was learning to read. At the age of 3 he had a Superman comic book which would be an example of an object sponsor. He would try to figure out what the text meant based off of what he thought the characters would be saying by looking at the pictures.
His father was also a sponsor because he would buy all kinds of different books from thrift stores and sometimes even supermarkets if he had the money. With all of those books around his house, Sherman Alexie would pick them up before he could read and just examine them. this led him to discovering the purpose for paragraphs. Once he grew up, Sherman Alexie began going around to Indian schools to spread the joys of reading and writing that were shared with him.
Deborah Brandt's ideas of organizing methods of opportunity and access to learning materials as well as that of having people who can help teach others as well as raising the bar to create a competitive environment for literary is clearly evident in the writings of Malcom X and Sherman Alexie. They both had struggles and challenges that they had to make it through, but in the end they competitively made their way to being great readers and writers. Their lives and the way they learned these skills justify the main points of Deborah Brandt's analysis.
In Deborah Brandt’s Sponsors of Literacy, she thoroughly explains how the people that we know and the surroundings that we live in have a significant impact not only on the way we read and write, but for how we live our lives. Factors such as economic background, ethnicity, gender, and location as well as our “sponsors” all play a role in the way we learn literacy. She explains how these sponsors are people in leadership positions who are simply trying to benefit instead of them being family, friends, and loved ones. Over time, in more ways than just literacy, people are beginning to benefit one another simply when there is some form of reward or benefit to them for doing that.
ReplyDeleteIn the stories of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexei’s lives, they did not grow up in the most common ways and the ways that they were able to learn to read and write is not how most people are taught. In the case of Malcolm X, once he was imprisoned he began to read as much as possible to learn as much as he could. Mr. Muhammad helped Malcolm X as his sponsor and helped him to gain the knowledge that was required for him to become the man he did and do all of the great things he accomplished. The dedication that he displayed from staying up until the early hours in the morning and reading while the guards weren’t patrolling near his jail cell. His dedication and motivation to learn along with the help of Mr. Muhammad empowered him to change the world.
In the case of Sherman Alexei, he started his life off on a bad foot when he was born with water on his brain and was not expected to live very long. He grew up on an Indian Reservation in Washington and with the guidance of his father as his sponsor he was able to learn how to read and write, and eventually go off to college and earn a higher education. Without the help of his father he would not have been able to become the prolific author that he was where he had over 20 books published, and he went from rags to riches, and not only riches in money but also riches in knowledge. Had it not been for the support of his father, Sherman Alexei may have just been known as an oddity, but with his support he was remembered as a prodigy.
In conclusion, throughout time “sponsors” have helped people to learn literacy to become very successful as in the cases of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexei but there are still many cases where other “sponsors” are only doing this for personal gain. There are always things in life that are inevitable such as death and taxes, but people taking advantage of one another for their own personal gain is another example of life’s inevitable things, so what it all comes down to is, you just have to look out for yourself and your loved ones and you will be just fine in the end.
In Sponsors of Literacy Deborah Brandt attempts to explain literacy, its history, and how there are influences that form the way we learn and practice literacy. Brandt argues that the forces that influence a person’s literacy are sponsors of literacy. Some people that Brandt discusses are influential people such as parents, siblings, teachers, mentors, culture, race, gender, language and location, access to technology, and politics. Brandt described several events in our history to help define what exactly a sponsor of literacy is. She also interviewed several people to find their unique literacy history and used them as examples in her writing. Varying ages, backgrounds, and sponsors indicate that literacy changes with each generation and is a valued commodity.
ReplyDeleteIn the cases of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexei they were both not expected to be very illiterate. At the time it was because Malcolm X was an African American and because Sherman Alexei was an Indian born with water on the brain and not expected to survive. Malcolm X wanted to be able to express his thoughts into intelligent words so he began to read as much as possible in prison. Mr. Muhammad is what Deborah Brandt would call his sponsor, someone to influence and encourage him to become literate. In Sherman Alexei’s case his sponsor was his father. He lived on an Indian reservation and his family was poor. He learned to read on his own by reading Superman comics to himself. He also read whatever books his dad brought home. He has now accomplished so much more than anyone could expect. He is an author and has published many books. So it is quite obvious that being literate opens up an infinite amount of doors. And that is exactly what happened to Malcolm X and Sherman Alexei; they overcame their struggles and ended up on top.
Deborah Brant’s main claim and theory in “Sponsors of Literacy” focuses around the social, economic, and political surrounding that influence a person’s development in reading and writing. She considers all of these factors as “sponsors” to literacy. Her research entailed interviewing different people and comparing how these different sponsors affected each person’s life. In the example between Branch and Lopez, both were born in the same era and in the same area but their environment affected the outcome of their lives which made each individual develop their own approach toward literacy.
ReplyDeleteThe experience of Malcolm X relates to Brandt’s claim in sponsorship because his time in prison was his “sponsor” to develop his literacy. Considering the fact that he dropped out of school in eighth grade he managed to progress his development in reading and writing through the constant dedication and passion he managed to take full advantage of the different sponsors that were made available to him such as the books, library, and most importantly the ideas of his mentor, Elijah Muhammad.
In the case of Sherman Alexie, he was told that Indian children were expected to be stupid, which to any child would hinder the desire to progress in life. However, he managed to overcome this perception toward his race and used his main sponsor, comic books, as a source to further advance his love toward literature, as well as his father’s love toward books. Both Malcolm X’s and Sherman Alexie’s experiences correlate with Brandt’s theory of sponsorship. The main purpose of a sponsor is to support, advance, and sustain the hold toward literacy, whether it be through social, geographical, or economic factors that a person has in his/her life.
In the article “Sponsors of Literacy”, Deborah Brandt conducts an investigation on what causes people to become literate or illiterate, is it there sponsors or economic situation. Brandt interviewed many people of different backgrounds. Two of the people that Brandt interviewed was Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez. Raymond is a European American with a strong sponsor in his parents and Dora is a Mexican American with weak sponsor in her parents. They both lived in the same Midwest town, but Raymond was able to be supported more by his parents than Dora was. This caused Raymond to become more successful than Dora even though Dora was a hard working person. This situation showed that the sponsor that an individual has highly effects the path they take in life.
ReplyDeleteIn the same way that a sponsor affected both Raymond and Dora’s life, same could be said about Malcom X and Sherman Alexie. Malcom X did not have a sponsor at a young age. This caused him to be unable to read and write. Ironically, Malcom X found a sponsor in the Charlestown Prison. The prison provided him with all the necessary tools to become literate. Malcom X’s situation fits perfectly with the fact that Brandt was trying to prove that a sponsor is needed to be literate. Also if Brandt was to interview Malcom X, she would find that without the sponsor he was proved in the Charlestown Prison, she was still be the illiterate person he was before he went to prison.
Sherman Alexie found his sponsor in his father. His father would always be reading which made Alexie want to read as well. If Brandt had interviewed Alexie she would find that even though his sponsor economic situation was terrible, he was still able to become literate. All in all, one thing that both Malcom X and Sherman Alexie could agree on if interviewed by Brandt is that race played a role in them striving to become literate.
Deborah Brandt discusses how influential people in our lives are. How our social standings, politics, ethnicity, all plays a role on how we read and write. Those who influence us, like Sherman Alexie and his father. Sherman Alexie explains how he admired his father and his father loved books, therefore Alexie Loved books too. His father was his sponsor, he influenced him to read and write. Malcom X's sponsor you could say was Bambi. Malcom X was envious of Bambi's knowledge and set out to teach himself to read and write while he was incarcerated. Two men who came from two completely different backrounds become success in the realms of literacy.Brandt uses the analogy that our literacy is like playing sports. Our jerseys are our writing and the sponsors on the jersey are like the sponsors to our reading and writing. It is as if we are representing them each time we write.
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt explains good writers come to be with the influence of others, growing up in a certain era, or how hard or easy one has it growing up. Malcom X and Sherman Alexie are the proof of that observation. Their stories bring to light the idea that how an individual writes has more to do with who they are.
Deborah Brandt, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison wrote the article titled “Sponsors of Literacy” to inform readers on how people become literate through sponsors and not just with their own desire to achieve greatness. A sponsor is a person that gives support or assistance to another person. Some sponsors teach the learner literacy for their own advantage or else the sponsor might obstruct literacy. Sponsors can range from parents, teachers, employers, priests, and influential authors. Brandt interviewed many people of all ages from different backgrounds to see how they learned to read and write and to see if social status altered how they became literate or if their literacy learning took form because of their sponsor.
ReplyDeleteIn the circumstances of both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexei, they both found literacy in the most unforeseen places imagined and somehow were able to succeed with it. Malcolm X was sentenced to prison in 1945 where he started to read avidly. With the motivation from Mr. Elijah Muhammed, what Brandt would call a sponsor, Malcolm X started his re-developed life with literacy by his side. He became a Sunni Muslim and founded an organization dedicated to the unity of African Americans. Sherman Alexei’s sponsor or motivating factor was his father who was an avid reader himself. His father was one of the few Indians who went to Catholic school. Due to Sherman Alexei growing up poor on a reservation, it was hard for him to get into the act of reading but eventually as he grew up he taught himself how to read and eventually found a love for it. His father had a collection of books piled all over the house. With whatever money he had extra, he would buy new novels at the local supermarkets, convenience stores, and hospital gift shops. This without a doubt influenced Sherman Alexei’s idea about literacy and expanded his love for reading and learning. This proves that being literate and having the fundamentals of reading and writing definitely helps with one’s future in whichever way they may affect society. After reading about these two authors, it is clearly to see that it is extremely important to be literate in today’s age.
In Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy”, she writes about her perception of literacy and how it is affected. Each human individual comes from a different background. There are different determinants that affect their life. Brandt calls them “sponsors”. They may be parents, siblings, mentors, teachers, etc. There are also other forces that shape a person’s reading and writing such as their race, gender, language, generation, age, culture, environment, etc. These are all the fundamental factors that act as a mold and transform one’s reading and writing abilities.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X lived in a time where his race was considered something that would keep him from persevering. He dropped out of school after a teacher told him that the color of his skin would keep him from being a lawyer. His ethnicity and the time he was living in were a few of the forces that shaped his literacy. If the teacher hadn’t told Malcolm that he wasn’t going to become a lawyer and he hadn’t dropped out, he wouldn’t have ended up in the streets and eventually wouldn’t have been sentenced to prison. Prison was life changing for him. Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography, “…Prison enabled me to study far more extensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college”. The environment he lived in for so long was one of the factors that affected his literacy. He never would’ve had that much thirst for knowledge if he hadn’t gone to prison.
In Sherman Alexie’s “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, he talks about his father’s affinity towards books and how it made him the same way when he wrote “My father loved books, and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well.”. This is a good example of Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy” because Alexie’s father was the most influential sponsor! He had the house surrounded with books, it was impossible to not want to read any of them. Another sponsor and force that affected his literacy was the fact that Indian boys weren’t seen as intelligent people. His race and the way people viewed him were what made him want to succeed even more and enhance his literacy skills with every chance he got.
Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie are two people whose literacy was affected by their race, surroundings, and the people who influenced them. All the odds were against them but those sponsors and forces were what made them persevere. They educated themselves by reading and writing and were able to prove the stereotypes wrong. The lives of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie are truly the epitome of the point that Deborah Brandt presents in “Sponsors of Literacy”.
Deborah Brandt in her article talks about Sponsors and how they can have either positive or negative effects on a person’s literacy. She backs up her claims by presenting interviews of different types of people and presenting the different types of sponsors they had in their life and how they were affected.
ReplyDeleteIf Deborah Brandt interviewed Malcolm X, she would be able to use his experience of going to jail to back up her sponsorship claim. Going to jail is a really negative thing and to almost everyone seem like a negative sponsorship but this would be a perfect way to show that everyone understands or takes sponsors in a different way. In this case it gave Malcolm X what he needed, to be away from distractions to focus and realize what he really wanted from life.
If Deborah Brandt interviewed Sherman Alexie, she would be able to use the fact that no matter where you grow up or what is expected from you; if you have a good sponsor you will succeed. Because of Alexie’s father, he was able to be begin reading at an early age; which gave him the advantage. This shows that a sponsor can be a crucial thing in your life; it could be what makes or breaks you.
Both these stories show that no matter what life throws at you; if given the right sponsor you can be turned onto literacy and be able to accomplish much more in your life than if you didn’t have that sponsor.
Deborah Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" argues that our ability to read and write is affected by outside sources called "sponsors". These sponsors can be people, institutions, or environments. These sponsors to me are motivators that push someone into action and change the way they live. Ethnic background, location, and gender affect how we learn literacy. A great example that Brandt uses is the contrast between someone born into wealth and someone born into poverty. Raymond Branch had strong sponsors through his parents. He was brought up in a technology lifestyle and was able to accomplish his goals. Dora Lopez, however, did not have a strong sponsor. She had to sponsor herself to become Spanish literate. Although the location and resources were the same for both of them, Dora had to overcome more than Raymond due to her different sponsor.
ReplyDeleteMalcom X's background clearly fits into Brandt's argument that we learn literacy through sponsors. When Malcom X was sent to prison, he began to read frequently. Malcom's sponsor, Elijah Muhammad, motivated him to read as much as he could and to change his life around. Someone could also say that the prison was a sponsor. A horrible situation like that can lead someone to rethink their life and change it for the better. Malcom later used his new literacy to create an organization for African American unity. Sherman Alexi was brought up knowing how to read at a very young age. His father was also an avid reader and I love it when he says that since he loved his father, he decided to love books as well. This shows that Alexi's father was his sponsor who motivated him to achieve literacy and knowledge. Similar to the prison situation, another sponsor for Alexi could have been that the fact that Indian children were considered to be stupid. This also could also have motivated him to do his best and prove his peers wrong. Malcom X and Sherman Alexi's experience goes to show that we learn literacy through outside forces. Through sponsors, learning literacy is a great way to change someone's life for the better.
Deborah Brandt’s article “Sponsors of Literacy” discusses the importance of literacy sponsors who influence the sponsored and gain benefit from their success. Brandt also brings forth the point that not everyone follows the same literacy path due to different up bringing, whether one is wealthy poor or even middle class. This example is show in the Branch versus Lopez study. The study made it clear that you can still achieve your goals even if raised in poverty and given the disadvantage (Lopez) instead of being born into prosperity (Branch) and given many opportunities to succeed. She really shows how almost everything in our lives affects how we read and write, our social standing, political views, or ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteIf Brandt were to interview either Sherman Alexie or Malcolm X it would only further provide evidence of the importance of literacy sponsorship. Both of these individuals started off illiterate but through sponsorship, whether it was the jail that provided Malcolm with the opportunity and time to read and write or Alexie’s father who had piles of leftover books for him to read, they both became fully literate and used it to their success. Thus proving Brandt's idea of sponsors of literacy
Deborah Brandt in her article, literary sponsors, argues that sponsors are the key to an individual’s literacy level. Brandt argues that when you do not have access to as many “sponsors” your chance for higher literacy drops. She uses research and stories of people to deliver her case. She uses Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez as people that help to support her claim. Raymond was in to technology when he was young and had access to books dealing with technology, which allowed him to not only, become literate but to excel in the field. Dora had not been able to speak Spanish, as either did the rest of her US born family. She sought to be able to communicate in Spanish, with the help of her mother she was able to go to the bookstore sometimes with a discount to pick up novels that include Spanish. Brandt thinks that even know they had resources it was tougher for Dora because her motivation to become Spanish literate was on her own. A final point from Brandt is that company sponsors might be sponsoring literacy for good doing to get their name out and because the competition in the workforce.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X in his life had spent time in prison; he was frustrated that he could not communicate well. He was able to get peoples attention on the streets but when it came to reading, writing and speaking he was definitely below par. In prison X had attempted to read a book but the issue came about that he did not understand what he was reading. He eventually stopped and thought that he should try to start off with a dictionary. Malcolm X was amazed when looking through the dictionary how many words there were. He studied them and tried going back to reading stories. A whole new world opened up because Malcolm X could understand the words on the page. From that point on Malcolm X kept on reading. The prison had a library available that Malcolm X could use to support his literacy improvement and also the prison held debates for inmates to have with professors from prestige Universities leading. Malcolm X if used as a testimony would contribute to Brandt’s argument, of Sponsors being the key to literacy. If it were not for the Library in the prison Malcolm X would have not had access to books and be able to hone his reading skills like he did while in prison.
Sherman Alexie had a father who had read a lot of books growing up. The books were all in the Alexie household and sherman was exposed to them. Sherman had taught himself how to read. It was the access of books that allowed him to get good at reading at such an early age. In school he was able to read books more advanced than what other classmates were reading and finding difficult. This would help to support Brandt’s claim because in this case because Brandt would probably say that the books are the resource in which Sherman was able to flourish and become literate. Without them or no other resource it would have been hard for Sherman to become literate.
Without a sponsor or a resource it is difficult for literacy to develop. Many people are illiterate mainly off the fact they do not have the tools to become literate. With Brandt’s argumentative piece and maybe looking back at past experiences of how we learned to read, it is hard to disagree that resources and sponsor are essential to becoming literate. If these two other examples of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie’s stories were integrated into Brandt’s piece, it would help accommodate Brandt’s argument by giving more testimonials.
In Deborah Brandt’s article “Sponsors of literacy” she explains literacy and the history behind it. She also states that there are certain influences that change the way we see literacy and learn. Brandt believes that sponsors of literacy are what cause to influence someone. Every person has a different background, so each have different views on literacy. Sponsors aren’t just big corporate names. They could also be parents, siblings, mentors and teachers. Other forces that shape a person’s reading and writing abilities could be race, gender, language, generation, age, culture, and environment. Brandt described several events in our history to help define what exactly a sponsor of literacy is. She interviewed several people to find their unique literacy history, which she also used as examples in her articles. Through her interviews and studies she saw that literacy changes with each generation and is a valued service. Brandt describes “the literacy crisis” as the gap between people’s ability to reach literacy standards that are continually rising. She said sponsors contribute to the gap because of their participation in economic and political competition. Because of competition, that leads to more people being expected to do more reading and writing. Brandt argues that literacy is misappropriated and that literacy can change an individual’s life. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to get the same advantages as others.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X and Sherman Alexei were both born in a place where they were not expected to become literate. Malcolm X was an African American. As a kid, he didn’t have anyone who told him what to do or served as a role model in his life. He ended up in prison and in there he wanted to be able to express his thoughts into words so he began to read and write in there. If it weren’t for him going to prison he would never have strived for gaining knowledge. He read a lot of Elijah Muhammad, which ended up becoming his sponsor. Sherman Alexei was born with water on the brain and not expected to survive. Luckily, he managed to survive that miracle. As a kid he taught himself how to read through Superman comic books. His father would also read to him as a kid, which might of strived him to peruse reading through comics. Every time his father had extra money he would buy new novels. In Alexei’s case, his sponsor was his father. He lived a poor life, but was rich with knowledge and intellect.
While reading Deborah Brandt’s Sponsors of Literacy, I noticed that some of her arguments included: A person’s social status and race can affect the availability of sponsors and that a change in literacy can change a person’s world. She gave examples in her writing of two people with common backgrounds. One of these two had a good chance to meet with sponsors and learn while the minority female did not. The effect of social status and race is also evident in Malcolm X’s Learning to Read and Sherman Alexie’s The Joy of Reading and Writing. Malcolm learned about how minorities, including African Americans, were of less importance compared to other races. Sherman, being a minority, realized that he basically taught himself how to read. Because he was a minority he did not have the opportunity that other races had. He was also poor which did not help his situation either. Brandt could use Malcolm X to help further her claims about the importance of sponsors. Malcolm X was once ignorant about history until the jail library and Muhammad, his sponsors, indirectly opened his eyes.
ReplyDeleteIn Deborah Brandt’s article, “Sponsors of Literacy” she researches how people learn to be literate. She explains that a sponsor of literacy is somewhat like a mentor or a teacher that helps you become literate. These sponsors can be a wide variety of different people ranging from teachers and parents to events in your life. She gathers stories from many different people from all walks of life on how they became literate and what made them get to the point they are at today. These people were from all races, religions, situations, and economic backgrounds. Brandt sought out to find whether or not these factors hindered people on their quest to become literate. She displayed this research through not only interviews, but also explaining some aspects of literary history. Malcolm X and Sherman Alexei would have been excellent candidates for Deborah to interview as they very accurately portray how a sponsor can help you to become literate., no matter what situation you may be in.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X was an African American man who did not know how to read or write at a young age. When he was sentenced to prison, he decided that he wanted to learn how to read and write. He began writing and writing as well as practicing his reading. The prison gave him the resources and time for him to become a more literate person. So as Deborah Brandt would conclude, prison was Malcolm’s “sponsor”. The environment that he was in before prison as well as his race seemed to hold him back, but him getting sentenced to prison pushed him to a much more literate person.
Sherman Alexei lived on an Indian reservation with his family and was not in the best shape economically. He did not have the resources like other people may have to become literate. Although, his father was an avid reader and brought home books for them to read. This made Alexei more interested in reading and gave him a desire to become literate. He started out reading Superman comics and used them as a stepping stool to and more advanced reading. Even though he was not expected to be so successful and literate his desire that came from his father, his sponsor, pushed him in the right direction.
Deborah Brandt directly links literacy to sponsors and economic standings and changes. She explains that a "sponsor" is the best way to portray the first memory of a person's initial interest to become literate. Sponsors invest in people to better both that person and themselves. I saw a relation in Sherman Alexie and Malcom X's cases to those of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez.
ReplyDelete"Self-initiated learning" is how she described both the situations of Lopez and Branch. They weren't directly prompted to start reading and writing, but rather took interest by their own intuition. This is the case with Malcom X and Sherman Alexie as well.
Sherman Alexie was a son in a middle class family of seven on an Indian reservation. He first took interest in literature from a Superman comic that he could not yet read, but would imagine the text by matching it to the pictures. He says that since his father loved books and he loved his father, that he ultimately loved books as well. His father was one of few Indians who purposely attended school. He was living in a world where he was pitied for his stupidity by non-Indians, and expected to be stupid by Indian standards. However, he decided he did not want this. He knew he was smart, read as much as possible, and described his lust for learning as a way to save his life. Although his father never directly taught him, he may have never thought to learn had his father not been literate.
Malcolm X's case is a bit different. While in prison, Malcom first realized the importance of literacy when he would watch a fellow inmate, Bimbi, command attention in every conversation. He wanted to be heard in the same manner. As he sat in his new prison, he became increasingly frustrated that he put what he wanted to say into words in his letters. His sponsor was Elijah Muhammad, founder of the nation of Islam. This led to Malcolm X copying an entire dictionary onto a tablet and trying to learn each word. He then was able to not only read, but "understand" much more challenging literature. He studied books about civilization "whitening," the history of Africans, the history of slavery. He was appalled at the horror in which he started to realize. He described slavery as the single worst sin of all time. His self-initiated learning led him to discover all these truths, and ultimately led him to taking belief in black separatism.