In search of Literacy....Week 2

The definition of "literacy" would so far prove to be one's simple ability to read and write, which in the sense is considered tangible in that it is proven and fact. Through our reading and different definitions we would find that the word is far more than that, and that it is also linquistic in many forms. Competence and the ability to be "literate" outside of a language, which Gee describes as primary and secondary Discourse, is what we are learning about being literate.
Language and linguistics are literacy, but in ways I now know are in the simplest form. When I was a child, I learned to speak from my parents and family members through the various forms of interpretations of what I wanted and needed on a daily basis to survive. For example, I learned to state when I was hungry or when I was tired. If I wanted to play with my dolls, I voiced that to my mother through the spoken language that I was taught. With that being said, it should be stated that literacy is a form of language spoken with the tongue. However, definition would state that it also comes in written form. I am not only able to state that I am hungry but I could write it down on a piece of paper if I chose to do so. I could tell my mother through written notes that I love "peanut butter and Jelly for lunch" everyday. It is simple, or so I thought.
Our recent discussions from the question posed "What is Literacy?" has shown me that literacy is much more than spoken or written. It is what I consider to be an action word, a form of a verb, and a movement that far expands language and penmanship. I would state now that my definition of literacy would be a display of functional skills that reiterate that which is spoken through language by a form of actions. As our readings stated this week, through Discourse in the forms of primary and secondary nature, we live out our lives in the home and in society. Yet we do so in 2 different ways, one in the way we are taught to function at home, and then again as we play out what we learned at home in society. The skills I use at home to be independent in how I get up for school, wash my face, brush my teeth, and get dressed shows I am capable of acting "independently." In society, I can use these same set of skills to go to school, do my schoolwork, go to lunch, play with others, and not have to be taught day after day what to do next. It becomes a repeated process in a sense. I learned that literacy is also shown through the lifestyles that we live, and in things that are shown to us that are repetitive just through living.
I can now define literacy as a state of movement, and not just that of language and a written word.
M.Goodwin

Blog Day 1: What is Literacy?

The question that was posed to the class is what do we think literacy means. At first I thought this to be an easy answer, but as my classmates began to respond it made me rethink what the word really means. Literacy could mean a number of things with the first being to have the ability and comprehension to read and write. Or it could mean to have extensive knowledge and competency in a certain area. To be literate would mean to be able to comprehend and understand information that was given to you without hesitation. It is in my opinion then that literacy must be learned, it is a behavior that becomes consistent overtime through a repeated behavior of some sort. Lets's take reading for example. One states that to be literate would be to know how to read and write. The mind has the ability to do so without any problems when you are literate.

That was not so bad to read, or was it?

What surprises me is what we consider ourselves to be literate in. Could something so simple as cooking, taking care of children, playing a guitar, or singing a song make us literate in our own expertise? I am not so sure that it is this easy, otherwise the question would not have been posed so early in the semester. The word itself must be something so beyond our imagination that by the end we will come to look at it and it's existence in a whole new form. A simple word posed in a question should not be that easy to answer in a class where we will be challenged as writers to not only illustrate our writing skills, but to think outside of the box as well. After all, this is what writers do. It is then that I start this semester off with the word "Literacy" and what it truly means. And to set my goal that by the end of the semester I would look at the word in a whole new light, and allow it to help me grow in areas that I have never known before not only in myself but in my mind as well. I will have learned to search for it in places that I have never known before. I will extend my knowledge beyond that which is directly before me, and grasp for concepts unknown. Let us search for the meaning of literacy, shall we?

Mary Goodwin