Brandht Response

 Summary:

In her article Sponsors of Literacy Deborah Brandt has a short introduction about sponsorship for literacy and argues for how nobody real gets and developments literacy or literacy skills by themselves. She goes more in depth describing how we learn through what she calls sponsors and things can be programs, schools, technologies and or people. These sponsors are our way of receiving and sustaining literacy skills and information.  In her first section of the article she talks about peoples different access to sponsorship and gives a strong example scenario between a privileged white kid and a underprivileged Latino girl and how even though they live in the same area there sponsorship access is much different. These differences affect what we learn and how we learn it Brandt says. She then enters a smooth transition in which talks about the effects of ones sponsors and how they are influenced on them. How it has risen and then need for further awareness and specialty in certain skills is very important. She goes into an example again talking about Dwanye Lowery and how the union and his work affected what type of learning he had to go through and what processing this required. I mean that the skills became narrowed minded and he had to learn specific skills and critical thinking or problem solving for certain literacy instead of a overall broad spectrum learning.  Brandt then argues about the appropriateness of literacy and how underprivileged women in the 20^th century began to see more opportunity in the workforce such as a huge rise in secretary or desk jobs became available. These women were then trained and taught the processes and forms of which highly educated and high ranked men did their jobs. These two women used this in support of their ideas and values and in essence she argues how it is transferred from person to person and how it is passed down like how one used it for her religious group and one for helping with her family and bills and so forth. She then ends describing her goals of the article and how we should use literacy to further people’s education in literacy not just regarding their jobs and future but really just individual studies and their desires and needs in regarded of this category.

Synthesis:

I think that this article highly relates to Kantz in the essence of influences and how they affect us. Kantz and Lowery both agree with the fact that influences are in fact how things work and where we become or develop ourselves and our skills. Both of their articles talk about the effects of influences around us and the ideas they develop in us and how these ideas often become our uses and new ideals and values from which then we transfer on to others and or use to influence. The big difference is the relevance of the two are completely different subjects to argue on but they are both using the same idea or argument that influences are in essence or do become us and how go about certain things or otherwise how we use these influences to better ourselves.

1.       Questions for Discussion and Journaling:

These are the people and sometimes things that are relevant or would appear in ones memory in the learning of literacy. These are all the influences one would experience some examples she list are teachers, editors, and supervisor and so on. These are people in a relationship with the sponsored and are often times richer and have a lot more knowledge and they use this to lend or give their information or influences to the sponsored for in return something or credibility.

2.       Questions for Discussion and Journaling:

For example in this article Brandt talks about how hired women employees became secretaries or desk workers and learned many of task that their bosses(high educated and advanced males) had to do so they then were able to take over certain jobs and help relieve work from the boss. This job coming to women was a good job with good pay and advanced their literacy skills in writing, reading, categorizing and so much more but also gave the boss less work to do and another employee that could do strong and effective things for him in essence gaining things himself.  I see this in my life all the time when I use to get tutored for English when I was younger it advanced my skills and understanding in mainly reading but also writing and my tutor gained as well pay from this .

4.Questions for Discussion and Journaling:

These are systems, uses and people at which we receive sponsorship. They are the affective uses we bring upon or accumulate in order to be furthered or more advanced in literacy subjects and uses. These are imported and structured things and entitlements we use in order to accustom better literacy uses, techniques and developments.  There are the qualities and abilities we get acquired because of these stratified systems such as living in a middle class family with good connection to a college as to a poor family living in the country. These stakes are the further development and knowledge needed in order to be better off in a career or in your life. The growth and development of literacy is continuing and is always changing and on the rise so is the stakes which are the things needed in order o make it or be successful if you will.

1.       Applying and Exploring:

When I think about my literacies and their influences on me I would think mainly of my parents, school education and religious education. I would always learn from my parents I mean that’s the influences or sponsors that first taught me to read and write then there is school which taught me so much more in language and all the concepts and ideas that go into it. This sponsor taught me pretty much everything in regards to my literacy but then there was also religion which taught me a few things but this literacy wasn’t necessarily based in skills in writing and reading or development but more understanding, interpreting and critical thinking because we had to understand why things happened, how they happened, what certain messages where being presented as well as understanding the bible and phrases and so forth. I have not had full access to college literacies yet which I really want but I am beginning my development in hopefully a four year process of this.

2.       Applying and Exploring:

My school had multiple times eliminated certain books from what was considered readable and almost always for my English classes we were assigned a certain book till high school where we could choose which one exactly we wanted to read. This was an agonizing process and was extremely unfair for us students limiting or creativity and ability to choose our sponsor. Also because we had certain list we were unable to choose another option that was acceptable so in essence we were limited and controlled in our influences and sponsors throughout my schooling.

1.       Meta Moment:

I think that this article is a direct match with the goal of understanding literacy and also becoming aware of the forces that have shaped e as a writer and reader. The entire article gives examples and directly talks about how these affects take place and how exactly you get your sponsors and who they are. Also the effect they have on us and how we develop specific skills and techniques and so forth. I think that this has really furthered my understanding of the idea of literacy and sponsors and helped me think more in depth about the influences in my life and how they have restricted or formed my type of writing and reading. I think it is still going on with me today as I have required courses and assignments in college. They limit you to certain things or you need certain requirements which are just how they plan to influence you into the shape they perceive their students being.

Final Thoughts:

I think that this article was pretty confusing and hard to understand with certain wording and also it was still very dry to me even with the constant examples. I will say that the example allowed me to understand what exactly Brandt was trying to say if it wasn’t for these examples I would have been lost. Also this article has opened my eyes to writing and reading and my further understanding of development of it and all that goes into it and so forth. I think overall it had some interesting points but I don’t think it was very useful or effective for furthering my writing or understanding sponsors and choosing my direction.