So. I was originally planning to write a blog post about the reading for Wednesday and then realized I was super tired, had two short papers to write, and frankly didn’t have the energy to stay awake past 8 pm. So here I am at 7:15, and I want to go meta about our midterm here for a second.
Now that I’m past the worried, did-I-study-enough phase, I can genuinely say that I have really learned about literacy and it’s interaction with society. I’ve gained some sweet knowledge about when writing systems started (though I’m still not sold that the clay tokens being impressed into clay isn’t a form of logographic writing), and what our alphabet actually is. But because I love Buzzfeed and I’m tired, here are “Three things Theresa didn’t know she knew about literacy– number two may shock you!”
- Literacy, like many things in our society, is tied to wealth, privilege, social standing, education, access to education, and upbringing. In recent months, mostly over the holidays, I’ve had a series of arguments with my older brother where I argue he’s privileged, and he disagrees. The steps I laid out to try and show him his own privileges seems to resonate with the ideas of literacy, too: you were born to parents in the middle class–> your parents were able to provide you with schooling at a young age and had the time to read to you–> your parents were able to send you to a private school because of their financial stability–> etc., etc., etc. To try and separate literacy from the social context that surrounds it is like hanging an empty frame on a wall and asking people to admire the whole picture. They can’t! The whole picture isn’t there!
- None of us will ever be able to comprehend being completely illiterate in our society; the fact that we’ve advanced to higher education indicates we are all adept at reading and writing. In our society, being illiterate makes an adult foolish or childlike. There is a stigma against those who can’t read and write. By understanding and acknowledging said stigma, we begin the journey to eliminating it.
- The alphabet isn’t always the best choice. I really like using our alphabet, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes logographs can be the better system. For example, on my notes sheet today, I used an asterisk (*) for every time I used the word “the.” This actually functioned as a sort of syllabary as well; the word “other” turned into “o*r.” Once my brain caught on to what I was trying to do, it was just as easy to read, and it definitely saved space. In addition, there are logographic symbols that represent who ideas that we don’t even have words for in English. Can we translate them? Yes, roughly. But to have a symbol that relates to a feeling or an idea? That sounds pretty cool to me, even if it means more studying.
That’s just me, though! What meta thoughts did you guys have about today’s quiz?
