Development of Literacy

Introduction to Literacy

What is literacy? Dictionary.com defined literacy as “the quality or state of being literate, especially the ability to read and write”, “possession of education”, and “a person’s knowledge of a particular subject or field” (Literacy). This blog post will discuss how these types of literacies have developed.

Literacies adapt around the common culture of the area they exist in. Looking at English, because of separation and time, English has evolved into many different dialects which creates different versions of English. These version match the area that the culture. There is American, British, Australian, and many other types that visually look different. They also sound different. There are other types of literacy outside of language. Literacy could be understanding specific fields, including how to run and operate a computer. Msodern literacies are developed around technology (McCluhan, 1964). Before there were computers, there was paper and pen for recording notes. Textbooks, made on printing presses, stored large quantities of information. Past forms of communicating, telling stories, and recording information have started to vanish; societies now rely on machines to store records and stories. Balancing personal knowledge of varying forms of literacies helps to build reading and writing skills.

Literacy in Unfamiliar Mediums

In the book, Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution, Baron describes a writing activity that he uses with his students to help give an understanding of literacy differences. The students are forced to complete a writing activity in clay, one of the oldest forms of recording information. Clay is moldable, but dries without enough water. Working clay requires a skill that the students most likely do not have. With a correct balance of ingredients hanging in front of them, the students don’t have control over the situation and they struggle to complete the assignment. The activity showcases that writing in an unfamiliar language or on an unfamiliar form is difficult because of personal literacies that have formed over the course of their lives (Baron, 2009). Learning that there is more than one medium for creating a conversation is an important lesson, because when one medium is lost an author could turn to another.

Communication Mediums

McCluhan, author of The Medium is the Message, discussed how technology helps people feel like they are in control of a situation. Computers in particular are a wonderful development in influencing communication between people around the world, forgoing the need for pen and paper. Computers are used to complete schoolwork and many students no longer write by hand; instead, they are taught typing. Authors of long pieces can return immediately to a previous sentence, paragraph, chapter, etc. and make necessary changes on a computer. Since they are not using paper and pen there is no need to make long notes in the margins, insert new pages, or rewrite entire portions of their work by hand (McCluhan, 1964). These changes in technology have influenced writing. It has created online platforms that can be updated as soon as an error is found.

Medium as a Tool

The tools for communicating the message of a text are equally as important. McCluhan (1964) described how a lightbulb works to portray a message, despite its simple medium. Because the lightbulb is generally seen as an object with no content, it’s not viewed as a form that assists communication. The lightbulb creates involvement in the current moment. It allows people to see what is in front of them and its power is behind many of the machines used to talk online or through a telephone. Objects that help deliver messages without any content are often dismissed because of its unnoticed form (p. 2). In order to allow the eyes to convey a message to the brain about what they are seeing, light is required. When entering a dark room a light switch will be flipped, the light introduces the person to tables, couches, papers, and any other items that might inhibit the intent of the person.

Rhetoric as Literacy

Literacy in communication allows for analysis of the subject matter and opens discussions on larger topics which directly affect large communities (Gee, 2008, p. 50). Knowing how to use one mode or medium of message (such as a computer) allows for personal literacies to enter the conversation. Personal literacies are built through a variety of topics, often including religion, and creates modes which help to identify and analyze a specific situation (Gee, 2008, pp. 56-58). This is rhetoric. Rhetoric is a skill that people develop, as they become critical thinkers; it allows them to examine the message and the medium as one. Without the medium the message would be blank, but with the medium, the message is blank. Putting the medium and message in conversation with each other is as important as breaking them down and identifying the two as separate entities.

References

Baron, D. (2009). Writing on Clay . In D. Baron, Better Pencil : Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution (pp. 71-90). Oxford University Press. Retrieved from Canvas: https://utah.instructure.com/courses/463056/files/69065216?module_item_id=6171544

Gee, J. P. (2008). Social Linguistics and: Ideology in discourses (Third ed.). New York City, New York, United States of America: Routledge.

Literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2017, from Dictionary.com: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/literacy

McCluhan, M. (1964). The Medium is the Message. In M. McCluhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (pp. 1-18).

Dead Words

Dead words are simply words which are so overused in the English language, they no longer have much meaning nor do they add any emotion to the work. This applies to some teachers guidelines in various schools and even some editors may follow these guidelines.

that
so
a lot
like
got
very

You might even see out there on the internet to never use the word "said". I am a not a strong supporter of using the word "said," but I don't think you should use it every single line. Spice up your writing with emotion words rather than using the constant "said," but don't over do it to where you never see the word "said". Sometimes, you don't even need dialogue tags, especially if it's a conversation or fight between two characters. The reader can keep track of who's saying what.

"That" tends to take away emotion from the subject or object of the sentence. It's easy to replace with who, whom, or which. In turn with each other depending on what the sentence demands.

"So" is commonly a passing of time, and if you're looking for word count, it's much easier to replace with a longer sentence. You can even cut it completely and no harm done.

"A lot" you know, I don't understand why this one is a dead word. I see nothing wrong with it. It simply expresses there is an abundance of something. Maybe they just want you to use fancy language.

"Like" this one gets irritable after a while. It's used for comparisons and saying if you have crushes on people. It's easily over used, I see nothing wrong with it in conversation or dialogue, but it's generally best to avoid.

"Got" I got a frog in my pocket. Replaceable with "have" or "received," same general use as the word "like."

"Very" usually in conjunction with the word "like," meant to rank importance on a certain subject. Use fancier language when not in dialogue.

I'm not saying you can never use these words either. I use them when I cannot reword the sentence, replace it with one of my suggestions above, or when it's in dialogue. They are good words, I just recommend you don't use them constantly when you can make your writing become a little more lively. Feel free to still use these words as much as you want to, this is just what I have experienced personally as a writer.

Past vs. Present Tense

Before reading this post, I would suggest reading this article first. I'm going to be talking about Past vs. Present Tense in writing and the link takes you to an article I wrote back in High School. The post is an explanatory for what the tenses are and where you may find them.

Books are generally formatted in a Past or Present tense, I have yet to see a book which has the future tense and I imagine it would be quite difficult to read. Some writers struggle with writing in one or the other and many don't even know they are doing it. Other just don't even understand there is a difference, and the rest just want to know how to know what they are writing in and fix it. I commend all of you and hope this post will save a lot of stress and insult at a later date.

Let's break it down in a few ways to quickly see what a writer is writing in.

Past is something which has already happened, which means the text is bound to have more "ed" verbs (actions). Present is something which is happening now, at the time you are reading it-the text will most likely have more "ing" and "s" verbs. This is of course, outside of dialogue as dialogue does not follow the same rules as the surrounding text. Dialogue fluctuates depending on what the characters are doing, they could be talking about past events, planning what is going on in the future, or giving a running dialogue for what is going on at that exact moment.

Examples of Past Tense:
happened
danced
talked
said
exclaimed
stood
shot
came
visited
shown

Examples of Present Tense:
happens/happening
dances
talks
says
exclaims
stands
shoots
comes
visits
shows

Let's try some example passages, see if you can correctly define each paragraph and its tense.

1. "'Hey, Catnip,' says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt." (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, page 8, 2008)

2. "At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.

‘Little tyke,’ chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four’s drive." (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 2, 1997)

3. "I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring.
When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can’t say the same of myself." (Veronica Roth, Divergent, page 1, 2011)

4. "'But if you bought me a car now, it would be yours when I go away to school in two years. Still practically new,' Helen said optimistically. Unfortunately, her father was no sucker.

'Lennie, just because the state of Massachusetts thinks it’s okay for sixteen-year-olds to drive . . .' Jerry began.

'Almost seventeen,' Helen reminded." (Josephine Angelini, Starcrossed, page 1, 2011)

Answers:

1. Present

2. Past

3. Present

4. Past

Did you get it right? If not, reread this post and see if you can get it this time. Those are some of my favorite books and I encourage you to read them, especially Starcrossed.

Laws

This is not about laws in writing. No, no, no. I firmly believe there are really no laws with writing or in English because everyone is taught differently and there are so many different variations of English. English vs. American English for instance, they are really almost two different languages. Just think, "i before e except after c, except in words like neighbor and weight." Here's my response to that "law" we learn in school.

I mentioned in my first blog post about setting, which you can find here, that you are given the liberty to create laws inside your story. Laws can be set down by the time period or country as well, so it's always best to do research if you're writing a story where some laws may already be in place. There are countries in the world where men do not generally speak to women at all, nor do they acknowledge taxi drivers. Environmental factors may create laws as well, so it's always best to study your people and setting before trying to create any laws for them.

Laws generally come from the ruling class; in America the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive Branches are generally those who "rule" the country, so to speak, through the people who elect the Congress members and President. In Britain, however, an election is held for who will be Prime Minister, The Queen is head of State and her duties are in this sector only, meanwhile the Prime Minister takes care of Parliament and the other items of the country which do not fall in the Queen's domain.

In my own story, I had to have laws which exist for the humans, much like it is now, laws which pertained to my new race of people, and laws which controlled the interaction between the two. It was a lot of fun deciding how some of the laws of the human world had changed because I introduced a new species, it was also a lot of fun to figure out why the death penalty is such a common practice among this new race. It's going to take some time, but figure out what is against the law, what people regularly do your society, what the punishment is, and how people get revenge on one another. Figure out how they communicate as well because they have to spread the law around somehow.

An Extension From Yourself

This may be a recap to some of you who have been keeping with my blog, others may recognize this from writing groups on FB. I talked about in an earlier post about how your characters are really just an extension from yourself, they are never completely separate. This weeks article was a response I had to someone in my writing group who was wondering about characters and how they could make them seem more human. I'm trying to reinforce some very important principles about writing into your mind.

[You may] say you've already figured out your characters, but if you can't get them to talk to you then you aren't really listening to them. Find out how honest they are, are they loyal, what is their social habits? Ask yourself questions like in an interview and don't be mad if they don't give you an answer right away. Spend sometime in the world in which they exist. Figure out the laws they have to live by, how would the laws affect their choices? What is the ultimate point of the story? How is the character going to work towards this ultimate goal? What kind of obstacles are they facing, what obstacles have they faced, what has made them who they are today? It takes a lot of time to really listen to the character, try and talk to them, strike up a conversation. You say you already know the, how about you try to get to know them. Bring how they look and their mannerisms to the front of your mind, ask them question you "already know the answers to" sometimes they'll tell you something different and suddenly you realize they aren't who you thought they were. What are their deepest secrets? Do they have a horror in their past they try to hide? What if one of them is afraid of heights? How do they cope? Do any of your characters have any type of an addiction? How do they respond to other people? Bring two characters to the front of your mind, watch how they interact with each other, carefully observe their attitude... I had to do this same process with my characters just a couple months ago and my story and its point changed completely. The characters suddenly felt real and they had attitude, I loved watching them all sitting together because they were all just so different. Each one has a different background or a culture they come from and it affects who they are. I put a Russian in the same room as a Native American, I put a Chinese person in the same room as someone from Botswana, Africa. It's amazing how different these people really are, their cultural background is beautiful on its own, but as they have to figure out several at a time as they grow together as one, it's a spectacular sight to behold. They've become my creations and therefore my children, I hug them tight in my mind and show them just how loved they are when they've had a life where death is eminent, I feel their pain as though it is mine, I cry with them, I cry for them, I listen to their stories and their jokes. Their laughter is bright and I love it when I see them smile, I hate it when I see them frown, when they fall in love-I fall in love with them and they are really just an extension of me as a person. Take the time to really feel with your characters otherwise you and them will never be one.

You have to remember, your characters and your world are just an extension of yourself. Everything you know, you characters know. Your emotions should be tied to theirs if you're writing properly, if even for just a few seconds you have a twinge of pain which is only a part of your character is feeling, you have connected to them.

It's not unusual for writers to talk to themselves either, so if you don't, consider picking this hobby up. Set yourself down in one of your characters shoes and as you wander around doing whatever you normally do, picture people in front of you, preferably other characters you have created. Move around, talk to them out loud, reply to yourself out loud, switch who you are by suddenly standing in a different position and responding to where you were just standing moments before as though you are still standing there. If you act it out, you are more likely to portray your characters more realistically. Writers have multiple personalities, if they were tested most of them could probably be put in Insane Asylum's. Writers just tend to be less harmful or dangerous when they have multiple personalities.

Accepting Your Flaws

Not everyone is a good writer, it's important to recognize this. I had a hard time recognizing this. This is an excerpt of a reflection on my writing from an essay for English 1010:

"Many of the arguments I had with my mom during my middle school years were over my writing quality. I had this idea where I was the best writer in the world and every time someone criticized my work it was because they were jealous. I didn’t know how to take criticism at all, eventually my mom learned how to approach the subject, usually giving me minor things and letting me discover everything else on my own. My teachers tended to come back with similar advice as my mom had given me on my papers, and I would take it better from them, which is something I do not understand to this day. One of the major influences on my writing was my teacher Mrs. Heern who came from another country. She always encouraged me to write and kept up my moral as I began to realize just how horrible my writing really was."

I was dreadful, I can admit it to anyone today and I've learned how to take criticism. It's going to take a while, perhaps you still think your writing is wonderful and this could've been led on by a teacher who wanted to be nice to you because you're a sensitive person. It could be led on by anything, but if you are going to say you are better than every writer out there, then you can never make any spelling mistakes, you can never have holes in your plot, you can never rethink anything that you've written, and people will never find anything wrong with your writing. That's the extent of it. I have a copy of the third Harry Potter book where "Dumbledore" is spelled "Dumblefore" in print. Even the many editors who went over it several times didn't catch it, for this printing. There are people who do have it fixed in their copies, but it still stands in mine as a constant reminder that even the most famous of authors can make mistakes. No famous writer I have ever met/watched has stated they have no room for improvement and that they are the best writer in the world.

I have a distinct feeling many of you reading this are upset at me, perhaps you don't agree with what I'm saying, but just try and send your work to a professional editor or publishing company, it's not an easy journey and you are going to be turned down a million times before someone finally takes pity on you and there's a chance they're a scam. I'm not pretending to be a wonderful writer either, I know there is a lot of holes in my story, but I think my writing is great, wonderful, and me. Accepting your flaws in writing does not mean you beat yourself up, or tear yourself down about your writing. No, that is not going to help you get any better. What helps you get better, is writing even more. Go back and rewrite what you've already got, if you've been writing for two years and only have one story from that time, go back to the beginning, you're bound to find things you want to change or spice up, and this is where you'll start. Something you find in the beginning of your story could very well change the way you write the end of your story.

You have to simply accept the fact you are not the best writer in the world and that there is always room for improvement. Now that I've accepted it, I have the chance to watch how much my writing has changed. I have 2 copies of my novel, the original I had planned on writing without anything really behind it, and the new edition as I re-write the story. I look back often and I sort of laugh at myself for ever thinking my story was grand and brilliant when I know so much more about my world now than I did then. I can't wait for another 2 years when I come back to the edited copy and laugh at myself once more for ever thinking what I'm writing right now is the best-but it is the best for me. It's the best I can do at this point in my life and that's exactly what I need to know.

My point over all of this is: Don't give up. Accept you have flaws. Continue to Improve.

Who Are Your Characters?

A grand question which was hard for me to answer for ages. It's easy to know characters from books you read, but when you have to create your own, who exactly are they? Your characters should be an extension from yourself. I say, they first thing you need to do to figure out who your characters are, is talk to them. You may say I'm insane, or ask me how that would help, but I believe if you do not talk to yourself then you are not a writer. A writer has to be someone who could be put in an insane asylum because they appear to have multiple personalities, but the difference is, they are still considered a part of society which will not harm you further than your feelings.

I love the site springhole.net, especially the generators they have available. It helped me out a lot and I will be pulling from things I learned there to help you create your characters.

So you've been talking to your characters, hopefully they've replied back because if they haven't you can't move forward. Once you've had some good conversation with them, you're bound to know some of their personality and part of their back story. Write down what you know about them, start from when they were a child and work to what age they are at now/when your novel takes place. Now you know their back story from age 0 to 19, let's say for this, and you are ready to get writing. Not yet, this is not enough information about them.

What kind of society do they live in? This is going to play a major role on who your character is and who they have yet to become. Define your society and see how it has shaped your character in their past, start planning part of your plot so you know how they will react as they grow older.

Do they come from any kind of culture? If they do, you're going to need to do some research. Let's say your character is a Russian living in America, he knows English but he obviously has an accent. Find out what a Russian accent sounds like, be able to portray it whenever he speaks. Also, people from other countries tend to know the English word but will say it in Russian from time to time, the most common are "yes" and "no." If he's asked a question in which he can use either of these two words, he's going to be likely to reply "da" or "nyet." The wh sound in words will also come out sound like a v, so if you want to make it a little more realistic for your readers, then change some or all of them to a v instead. It's like how J.K. Rowling portrayed Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour because their first language was not English, so she made them have an accent in her writing.

The final step is now knowing how they might react in certain situations. Put them in a white room and see how they respond in your head, write down your observations.

It's also safe to say, you should know when your story is taking place and when every character's birthday is so you can cover it if you so desire. Some people will choose not to speak about birthday's, but the character's still have them and the author knows exactly when they are.

Now, for the final step on creating your character. There is a template for figuring out some minor things about your character:

Courteous: 

Risk-Taking:

Ambitious:

Curious:

Self-Controlled:

Nurturing:

Trusting:

Honest:

Loyal:

Affectionate:

Romantic:

Flirty:

Sympathetic:

Altruistic:

Optimistic:

Observant:

Logical:

Social:

Emotions:

These are not simple "yes or no" questions either, so don't get too ahead of yourself saying this is "easy." You are going to put a more in depth answer to all of these and it will take some time and possibly more observations of your character. For most of these you can answer with: always, usually, sometimes, occasionally, not really, never. Others may require something more along the lines of: thrives on it, hidden, very, definitely, okay with it, scared, hates it (these might apply to social or emotions).

I put all of my character information in a note on the original text document where I'm writing, as well as in a separate document where it is easier to view. I set it up so I have their name, what their life was like, minor information, culture, how they respond, birthday. It looks much like this:

Catrina: Catrina was born in England and her family moved to America when she was a child. There is a group of people called the etc. etc. etc.

Courteous: Rarely, Risk-Taking: Rarely, Ambitious: Rarely, Curious: Rarely, Self-Controlled: Usually, Nurturing: Never, Trusting: Rarely, Honest: Always, Loyal: Usually, Affectionate: Rarely, Romantic: Mostly, Flirty: Always, Sympathetic: Rarely, Altruistic: Sometimes, Optimistic: Barely, Observant: Sometimes, Logical: Always, Social: Not Really, Emotions: Hidden.

Catrina's Culture: how the place she came from affects her, some things which differ between America and Great Britain, food preferences, etc.

How they react in this situation: they scream and clutch their head.

Birthday: June 25, 1972

It'll take some time, but it's nice to have a reference, especially since I won't have to remember millions of words or tiny pieces of culture which goes with each character 100% of the time.