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).
