Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Deborah Brandt Article Discussion

Deborah Brandt Article Discussion

by Caroline Kreul

Deborah Brandt’s, “The means of production: Literacy and stratification at the twenty-first century,” discusses the role of socioeconomic status and economic inequality in the development of literacy. Brandt uses two interwoven, dissimilar anecdotes to illustrate how different levels of economic and social status can lead to drastic differences in literacy, even when accounting for physical location. The article also touches on how different forms of literacy that are developed in childhood and in the home are more applicable to the professional world than others, providing an advantage to those whose literacy skills are conducive to success in multiple spheres. This advantage, Brandt argues, continues the cycle of having “the rich get richer, the literate get more literate,” (Brandt 2001).
A UW-Madison English Professor, Brandt’s research focuses primarily on mass literacy in terms of social context in the late 20th century and early 21st century. The reading is an excerpt from Literacy in American Lives, her book whose analysis of literacy garnered attention in multiple arenas. According to the UW-Madison English Department’s staff page, the book received three highly regarded awards: the Mina Shaughnessy Award from the Modern Language Association, the CCCC’s Best Book Award and the Grawemeyer Award in Education from the University of Louisville. Along with Literacy in American Lives, Brandt authored many essays and frequently gives talks, a collection of which was published in 2009 as Literacy and Learning: Reflections on Writing, Reading, and Society. She also is working on a new book which analyzes the rise of mass writing over the last 60 years “as it has accompanied economic shifts and technological change,” entitled Writing Now: New Directions in Mass Literacy.
The writing of “Literacy in American Lives” stemmed from Brandt’s research study in which she interviewed 80 people, born between 1895 and 1985, asking them about their earliest recollections of learning to read and write. In a podcast conducted by the University of Wisconsin Writing Center, Brandt shares that it was during the course of this study that the connection between economic status and literacy became apparent. It is also noted in the podcast that her research has prompted further research by scholars and students into literacy development in their respective regions and communities.
Based on her research, Brandt introduced the idea of “sponsors of literacy,” defined as, “any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy—and gain advantage by it in some way,” (Brandt, 2001). Given this idea of there being “sponsors of literacy,” the publication itself has proved to be thought provoking specifically for those studying to be educators. There are multiple examples of educators and students thinking critically about what it means to be a literacy sponsor, including slide-share projects from teaching degree students (Hamilton, 2005) and its use in prescribed course readings (Rounsaville). Other reviews of the publication are more critical, pointing out the narrow scope that Brandt used (80 people all from Wisconsin) when claiming that the findings are more generally applicable to the lives of Americans from all over the United States (Hitt 2013).









Works Cited:

Brandt, Deborah. Literacy in American Lives. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2001. Print.

Hamilton, Buffy. "Reactions And Reading Notes To Literacy In American Lives June 2005 B..." Reactions And Reading Notes To Literacy In American Lives June 2005. 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

Hitt, Allison. "Literacy in American Lives." Accessing Rhetoric. 28 May 2013. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

Hughes, Deborah. “Deborah Brandt on Literacy in American Lives.” University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center.

Rounsaville, Angela. "ENG 6811, Cultural Contexts Literacies In & Across Contexts." University of Central Florida. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.


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