Brandt Response
Our readings for unit one focus on understanding how people's individual literacy trajectories develop. Your response for the readings must closely examine the arguments presented by Deborah Brandt in her article titled "Sponsors of Literacy" and consider how the experiences presented by both Sherman Alexi and Malcolm X could somehow fit within Brandt's argument. How might the stories of Sherman Alexie or Malcolm X complicate the claims Brandt puts forward? It is not acceptable to simply say that Alexie and Malcolm X had sponsors and therefore fit into Brandt's argument. You must consider one of the three separate subsections Brandt presents and fit either Alexie or Malcolm X into a particular section. Make sure your synthesis ties either Alexie or Malcolm X to one of Brandt's sub-arguments (Sponsorship and Access, Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards, or Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning).
This task calls you to deeply analyze Brandt's arguments and then synthesize a new set of data to help extend Brandt's argument. It is important that you integrate the experiences of Alexie and Malcolm X. Build context for your claims by delivering a sense of Brandt's claims. Add new evidence from the experiences of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie. Analyze the new evidence and connect it to Brandt's claim(s).
The best posts will demonstrate critical thinking and will thoroughly address the prompt. The most sophisticated postings will demonstrate an ability to synthesize Alexie's or Malcolm X's experiences with some of Brandt's claims. Postings that demonstrate innovative and unique approaches to this synthesis task will be rewarded.
In order to address this discussion board, you must complete readings on the following pages:
331-362
Brandt makes the argument that people who have more access to learning literacy are more likely to have high literacy success than those who do not have as much access to literacy learning. Brandt says that people who are wealthier tend to achieve more in literacy learning than those who are not as affluent. Malcolm X did not have the exposure to learning literacy because he was black and often discriminated against when he was going to school. For this reason, Malcolm X did not finish eighth grade and did not know how to read or write because of lack of being exposed. However, when Malcolm X went to prison and was exposed to sponsors that made his desire for learning to read and write grow. Malcolm X was frustrated that he could never express exactly how he felt in his letters because he didn’t know the words to do so; this caused him to look into learning. Malcolm X introduced himself to a very wide variety of books in the prison’s library that helped him to expand his vocabulary and understand words that he never even knew existed. Malcolm X’s situation complicates Brandt’s argument because Malcolm X was his own sponsor and exposed himself to reading and writing while he was in prison, which is an odd place for someone to learn to read and write.
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ReplyDeleteIn Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy”, she claims that people do not necessarily become literate all on their own. Brandt argues that sponsors, as she calls them, are what influence an individual’s literacy. Whether it is a parent, sibling, supervisor, priest, teacher, or institution – they are all “sponsors” of literacy. Besides people, “sponsors” can also refer to ethnicity, gender, economic background, and location. Brandt includes various examples of sponsors in her work, but they are also evident in the works of Malcom X and Sherman Alexie.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the sections, Brandt argues that those from a higher social class tend to have more access to better, more powerful, literary sponsors and those with lower income have “less consistent, less politically secured access to literary sponsors”. However, this is not the case in Sharman Alexie’s story. Yes, he did come from a poor family, but his father was enough of a sponsor for him. And Alexie himself was his own sponsor as well. His father loved books and since he loved his father, he decided to love books as well. Sherman Alexie was an Indian boy, and sadly, it was expected that Indian children were stupid. He writes “As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world.” Despite being poor and expected to be stupid, Sherman Alexie made reading a priority. It all started with a Superman comic book; he learned to read by having the help of the pictures in the book. He started to read books everywhere, even late at night until his eyes couldn’t stay open anymore. “I read anything that had words and paragraphs”. So, to complicate Brandt’s argument, Sherman Alexie , who did not have access to such a powerful sponsor, nor did he come from a wealthy family, managed to educate himself by reading tons of books. He even became a writer. He also visits schools to teach creative writing to Indian kids. Alexie did not need access to a powerful sponsor, his father’s love for books, and his personal dedication and drive makes himself a successful sponsor of literacy.
Deborah Brandt and the "Sponsors of Literacy" describes her belief of how individuals and social factors impact a persons literacy. She also uses a claim of social success and class affects the literacy of an individual. Those in high society, are more literate due to more access to education, teachers and books. While those in low class are more illiterate because lack of resources to those learning perks. Malcom X is a prime evidence to Deborah Brandt's theory of social and sponsor impact. He was an African American male segregated from the majority and not given opportunities like others. Due to those reasons, Malcom was unable to finish the eighth grade. Later, he was sent to prison and was able to activate the motivation to learn how to express the emotions he had been feeling into words. Using what he had around him such as books and dictionaries, Malcom X expanded his literacy level and grew as an intellectual. This contradicts Brandt's statement because while Malcom was in prison he technically was the bottom of the social totem pole as possible but was still able to achieve success with literacy.
ReplyDeleteBrandt’s theory is that there are many different factors which affect a person’s literary proficiency. She calls these factors “sponsors of literacy”. Examples of these sponsors are relatives, employers, technology, resources, and motivation etc.
ReplyDeleteI believe that motivation plays the largest role in determining ones literacy. When Malcolm X was incarcerated, he read many books and became a well-known civil rights leader. His sponsors were his deep motivation to “help the black man” and his access to a wealth of information that had formally been unavailable to him (i.e. the prison library). Obviously all of the prisoners had access to this library, but what set Malcolm X apart was his motivation.
Brandt says that teachers are “Neither rich, nor powerful enough to sponsor literacy on our own terms.” To me this means that teachers can show us the tools, but we ourselves need to figure out how to use them.
In her article "Sponsors of Literacy", Deborah Brandt argues that people just don't learn how to read and write on their own. They have to have certain influences that motivate them to become literate. These influences can be institutions, family members, friends, or just anything inspirational in general. In the case of Malcolm X, one can be their own sponsor.
ReplyDeleteLearning how to read and write can be something that is "wanted" for most people. For some people, it may be something that is also "needed". The situation of Malcolm X can also be related to the section "Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards". Brandt argues that learning to be literate can help to earn a living or to protect civil rights. Malcolm X spent most of his life preaching and protecting his rights as an African American man. He lived in a time where segregation existed among black and white individuals. Writing was a way to send a message to future generations about that awful time period. It was a way to defend his opinions and tell people what his rights were as a human being. Being literate helped Malcolm to become one of the most known African American public speakers. Being in prison gave him the strength to express everything he was hiding inside. As Brandt argues, literacy can contribute to the world of politics. Malcolm definitely contributed to politics as a public speaker and being his own sponsor helped to make dream become a reality.
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ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy” subcategory “Sponsorship and Access” most closely ties with Malcolm X’s learning to read. While Malcolm X served his time in prison he was granted access, not be means of affluence or privilege, but by having access to a simple library. This gave Malcolm X the opportunity he dreadfully needed to become a force in the African American world, as well as also the leader for the fight for racial equality. For instances, by studying the dictionary, X was able to understand what was going on in the world, furthermore, it opened new doors that would allow him to fight for justice and equality.
ReplyDeleteAs for X’s sponsor, it was the Charlestown and Norfolk Prison as well as Bimbi. Bimbi was the first to influence X to begin reading as Bimbi was always knowledgeable in conversations and discussions. Prison is X’s most effective sponsor because it took him further than any college ever could. Prison has shaped the man he becomes by giving him the opportunity of a lifetime.
As for Sherman Alexie, he to and sponsorships and access during his childhood, he initially learned to read from simple comic books, and also his father who was an avid reader. His access was the abundant collective of novels his father had, he would spend all day reading them as well as books from the library and anything else. Another major sponsor was the stereotype about American Indians in reservations. He wanted to be someone that to prove the non-Indians wrong, moreover he wanted to “save” the Indians. For example, Alexie was very studious in school as he was ready to answer questions in class. This also shows school as a sponsorship because it allows him to develop intellectually.
Both Alexie and X had sponsor’s in their lives, for Alexie it was the Indian stereotype and for X it was prison. Therefore, Alexie and X are relevant in Brandt’s argument.
Malcolm X and Alexie’s literary experience were similar in that they both taught themselves how to read. Malcolm X dedicates his reading and writing skills he developed to his “prison studies”, while Alexie developed his through a Superman comic book. Malcolm X and Alexie both fit into Brandt’s section of “Sponsorship and Access”. Brandt describes how ones social status and race can affect the outcome ones literacy access. Malcolm X and Alexie fit her description perfectly. Being a black orphan, Malcolm X never had set parents (sponsors) to encourage him to read. Not having anyone to steer him down the right path, he was involved in criminal activities and dropped out of school in the 8th grade. In prison, Malcolm made the best out of a horrible situation and decided to teach himself how to read, starting off with the dictionary. Soon after the dictionary Malcolm learned how to read and became obsessed. Mr. Muhammad could be considered as Malcolm’s sponsor. He encouraged Malcolm to read books about African American history, which then became his favorite subject. Alexie during his childhood lived on the Spoken Indian Reservation with his family. They were poor but still managed to get by. Alexie started reading at the age of 3 which was strange in the eyes of the other Indians. He was intelligent and throughout school he was made fun of for not being like the rest of the “stupid” Indians. His father could be considered a sponsor and a positive influence on Alexie, because he to enjoyed reading and purchased many books.
ReplyDeleteIn both stories, “I read” is repeated several times to depict how Malcolm and Alexie would keep on reading no matter what obstacles were presented. Yes they were both of different minorities and were poor, but they surpassed that and became successful men. Both had themselves as their own sponsors, and certain individual people in their lives that sponsored and affected them in some way which proves Brandt’s argument.
In Brandt's piece "Sponsors of Literacy", she argues that people don’t just learn to read by themselves. Instead, they have sponsors that influence the literacy process of them. Malcolm X grew up in a troubled area where discrimination was sky high. Malcolm X had no literary sponsors growing up because of the discrimination that took place in schools during that time period. Eventually he dropped out of school and ended up in prison. While in prison he learned to read and write. Malcolm X became frustrated because he couldn’t write letters effectively. Malcolm X backs up Brandt's stance because motivation to learn was one of the biggest things that pushed him to learn to read and write. Later in life, Malcolm X became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders in the world. He wouldn’t have likely been able to do this if he had not learned to read or write. In a way I also believe that Malcolm X backs up Brandt's claim on sponsors too. Though no one was there in jail to teach Malcolm X how to read or write, the pen pals that he had were a sort of sponsor because he could read what they wrote and compare it to his letters to learn from his own mistakes. They also served as a motivator to Malcolm X.
ReplyDeleteAlexie grew up on an Indian reservation with his family. He learned to read at a very early age, which was weird because Indians had a reputation for being not very smart. Alexie had many novels at his disposal when he was growing up and he was always very responsive in the classroom. Alexie's sponsors could be both his teachers and his father. His teachers helped him by giving him feedback on what he comprehended, while his dad bought him books to read while at home.
Malcolm X and Alexie are similar because both were out to prove something through the process of learning. Alexie wanted to prove the dumb Indian stereotype wrong while Malcolm X just wanted to learn to write so he could become formidable in his letters and seem smart to the receiver. Another motivator for Malcolm X was the stereotype that white people were smarter than African-Americans. Both of these stories, once again, come back to motivation.
In Deborah Brandt’s article “Sponsors of Literacy” she discusses about the sponsors that we people gain our literacy from. These sponsors are usually someone older, wiser, and more knowledgeable that influence our reading and writing. However, sponsors are not limited to just people there are learning that come about for economic and political reasoning’s.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, Brandt sub divides her argument of sponsors in three: sponsorship and access, sponsorship and the rise in literacy, and sponsorship and appropriation in literacy learning. There are different types of sponsorship and access, it is dependent on your situation, which determines how far you have to reach to gain literacy. There is also how the economy influences people to improve in literacy, and how literacy gains people wealth in forms of money and/ or happiness.
In the case of Malcolm X because of skin color, his teacher who should have been a sponsor to his literacy education, told him that he would never become a lawyer. This led him to dropout become a criminal; something positive came out of being imprison he gain a self-taught education, for he found himself lacking in literacy compared to Bimbi who influenced Malcolm X with his knowledge in conversations and discussions. Once Malcolm X gain access to literacy was reachable for him, he read all that he could every second that he could until he needed sleep to understand black history and everything written.
Meanwhile, there Alexie who was in a different placement because of his sponsor, his dad, he was well educated in literacy to the point that he different compared to the Indian children around him that did poorly on subjects outside the reservation. Later on in life for Alexie he became a sponsor himself to the younger generation of the reserve children to help raise their literacy; like him there are some that want that education but there are those in the back that have already gave into the status quo of being a reservation child.
Deborah Brandt in her article “Sponsors of Literacy” stressed that people don't become literate on their own. Literacy is sponsored by people, institutions, and other circumstances. Literacy sponsors are not always helpful. They can prevent people from becoming literate in some cases. In her article it says "Her research shows ways in which, while opening some doors, literacy sponsors may close others." As time goes on it has shown that literacy has become an essential need that can't always be easily attained for everyone. In a study it was shown that there is a high correlation with high literacy achievement and high economic status.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X was unfortunate to be not of high economic standing, he was basically an orphan going from foster home to foster home. He dropped out after 8th grade after his teacher told him he could not be a lawyer due to his race. Unfortunately this led him to do criminal undertakings which lead up to his jail sentence. Jail unlike others, was a place where Malcolm learned to read and write. He was motivated to learn to write due to him not being able to express himself in letters. He spent days re-writing the dictionary, and learning words he never knew were real. You could say that his sponsor was himself and Mr. Muhammad. Malcolm showed that even after dropping out of school and going to jail, one can still develop literacy at such a low economic status with just the slightest motivation.
Sherman Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, and at an early age of the three he was able to read. He grew up in poverty and he managed to be a successful person, writing several books and poems along the way. He learned to read, by reading a Superman comic book. His house was filled with books due to his father being in love with books. Following his father’s footsteps he decided to love books as well. I guess you could say that Alexie’s dad was his sponsor. As an Indian child he was expected to be stupid. Those Indians who failed were accepted by the other Indians, but Alexie refused to fail. Alexie when he could, would read anything that had words and paragraphs. Again you can see that a low economic status doesn’t stop Alexie to pursue literacy. His hard work paid off and now he is teaching what he learned to Indian kids. He also sees the Indian kids who fail, just like he saw when he was younger.
Both Alexie and Malcolm were both born into poverty. They were racially discriminated against. Both of them turned a bad situation into a good situation. They are both people you would look up to. Lastly they were motivated to achieve literacy and higher learning.
In "Sponsors of Literacy", Deborah Brandt argues that literacy is based on teachings and sponsors. She believes that without someone influencing you, your literacy won't develop. Brandt also states that wealthier, upper class people will be more successful in their literacy than lower class people. For example, with Raymond Branch, he was born into wealth and he was very literate in everything he did. As for Dora Lopez, she was poor and becoming literate was harder for her. She had to try harder compared to Branch, who was pretty much born into it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Malcolm X, he was tossed around foster homes, dropped out of school for being black, and started to do crimes that put him in prison. He was a poor man who spent a long time in prison. He hated that he couldn’t write letters as well as he wanted to so he decided to teach himself to read and write. Every night, he would copy down the dictionary and learn new words. He began to read stories that he was interested in and soon loved to read. Compared to Brandt’s believe, Malcolm X had no sponsor helping him and he was poor. Those two factors are unsuccessful in Brandt’s eyes but successful to Malcolm X.
Sherman Alexi was the same way, he was told that being an Indian, they aren’t smart. Because of that, he decided to teach himself how to read and write by saying sentences out loud from a comic book. Doing that made him enjoy reading and show his family that he isn’t stupid and doesn’t need help from an advisor. Unlike Malcolm X, Alexi was born in a middle class family. His dad had piles of books that he would bring home and Alexi would read them whenever he felt like it. Compared to Brandt, Alexi was successful and didn’t need wealth or a sponsor to create his literacy. Both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexi complicated Brandt’s claim on sponsorship.
Sherman Alexie is a Spokane Indian, who grew up poor by most standards but despite not being brought up, in what most would consider, the best living circumstances he manage to become an amazing writer. In Deboran Brandt's “Sponsors of literacy” she says, in the “Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards” section, that normal people get literacy help from powerful sponsors. The powerful sponsors can be your teachers, your boss, friends, parents, any one who helps you. For Alexie his sponsor was his dad . He said that because his dad loved books, and because he loved his dad, he would love books as well. So young kid as he would read the comic book Superman and many books that his dad had; even when he was little and he couldn't read he would still look at all the page and the words on them. Growing up poor didn't stop Alexie from becoming an amazing writer, but he would not have been able to do it if it wasn't for his dad, the sponsor. Even though his dad never made him sit and read, it was because his love for books and Alexie's love for his dad that made him want to read as much as he did.
ReplyDeleteIn Deborah Brandt’s article “Sponsors of Literacy” she states that there is a statistical correlation between high literacy achievement and high socioeconomic. She then continues to say affluent people from high-caste racial groups have multiple and redundant contacts with powerful literacy sponsors as a routine part of their economic and political privileges and that poor people and those of the low-caste racial groups have less consistent, less politically secured access to literacy-- especially to the ones that can grease their way to academic and economic success. But reading the article from “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” shows that her statement isn’t the case and is invalid, Malcolm dropped out of school in the eight grade and ended up prison, in prison you have little to no access of books or anything, but Malcolm overcame that and picked up a dictionary and wrote down every word and read it aloud to himself, but he didn’t stop there he continued to read all that he could even during “lights out”. He was asked by an English writer from London, “What’s your Alma Mater?” His answer, “Books”. Books were his sponsors and coming from a low-caste racial group Malcolm had a sponsor and access to lots of books just by being in a prison. I don’t see Malcolm having less consistence or less access to literacy in his case.
ReplyDeleteBrandt’s sub-arguments in the Sponsorship and Access section portray that there is a link between literacy learning and systems of opportunity and access. She claims that literacy is not only based on the person’s sponsor but also on the environment and status that the person grows up in. Some people that are expected to fail because of their status, race, or economic situations can choose to exceed everyone’s expectations and try to prove them wrong while others will just let what is expected of them happen. Sherman Alexie was not one to stand around and let the typical image of an Indian stand between him being successful. He was born into a world of poverty and was expected to fail because of his race but somehow still managed to become a successful writer. His father was a reader and loved books so in admiration for his father, Alexie grew to love books too. He taught himself to read at a very young age and began to be hated by other people and even by other Indians because at this time Indian children were expected to be stupid and fail in the non-Indian world. Alexie knew he was smart and was not going to let the world’s expectations of Indians hold him back from being successful. He claims he read to save his own life. Brandt states that poor people and those from low-caste racial groups have less consistent accuracy to literacy sponsors and that can be the case for some people, but not for everyone. Some people let their race, social class, or family background pave their way of life while others like Sherman Alexie prove everyone’s expectations wrong and prove that you can succeed even if you are expected to fail from the beginning.
ReplyDeleteIn Brandt’s sub-argument in the Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning, she professes a different type of literacy sponsorship. It is related to the potential of sponsors being able to cause someone to change their course on how they feel about literacy. Sponsors do this by diverting them to read about topics of self-interest and/or self-development. A great example of some how someone portrays this type of sponsorship is Malcolm X. Malcolm X had a rough childhood and became involved in criminal activity. He ended up in prison and that is where he discovered his new found love for reading. He would write letters to Mr. Elijah Muhammad but would get very frustrated at the fact that he could not speak or write in simple English. In the Charlestown Prison, he envied a man named Bimbi because of his knowledge and his capability to take charge of a conversation. In effect, Malcolm X began to read different books but couldn’t always understand what all the words mean. In order to gain more knowledge, he read and copied the pages of the dictionary until he learned new words and their meanings. After reading more and more books, the teachings of Mr. Muhammad began to catch his attention. The teachings spread to mostly all Negroes and Malcolm X began to search for books that would inform him on details about black history. Slavery later became his favorite subject to read. His education gave him more knowledge about what was afflicting the black race in America. Prison enabled him to study and find something he was interested to read about. Malcolm X’s passion for reading about black history and slavery enabled him to find a reason to read and write.
In Brandt’s argument, she mentions a great list of factors that influence or in this case “sponsor” people’s literacy. A parent, a teacher, an author, your socioeconomic placement, and even the available resources one has influences the development of one’s ability to read and write. Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie’s sponsors both fit into Brandt’s argument. According to Brandt, people in lower class have less access to resources but “differences in their performances are often attributed to background”. In this case Malcolm and Sherman both were exposed to a large amount of books. Malcolm, living in jail, had taught him self to read by reading and writing words down from a dictionary. Malcolm’s “background” happens to be his environment where jail mates have access to loads of books. The same applies for Sherman. Even though his family was not economically stable, he had a great source of books from his dads collection and love for books. Brandt’s essay relays that the poor usually don’t have resources to gain literacy, but in certain cases (such as Malcolm’s and Sherman’s) they were both exposed to literature, adapted to their environment, and used these sponsors to teach themselves how to read. Contrary to Brandt’s theory in the “Sponsorship and Access” section, Malcolm’s story does not apply to the section “Sponsorship and the rise of Literacy Standards”. In Malcolm X’s case, when he was placed in jail, he realized his fascination with reading. Malcolm mentions that when he did read, he only understood part of the writing. To him this was pointless to read a book he didn’t understand. His fascination with understanding a book prompted him to teach himself to read and write for his own pleasure rather than to benefit from literacy such as earning a living. Both Sherman and Malcolm’s situations both apply and complicate certain areas of Brandt’s writing.
ReplyDeleteMany of us today have sponsors that have influenced our literary knowledge, whether it is a family member, teacher or even a concrete object. In Brant's article "Sponsors Of Literacy" she discusses and gives examples of real life people and how they were influenced in different ways by their sponsors. Brandt showed that sponsors can be influential in many areas and broadens the the term literary knowledge. As I read two different readings pertaining to Malcolm X and Sherman Alexi, I immediately began thinking about their sponsors. From that point on, I questioned how they incorporated them to help obtain their own form of literary knowledge.
ReplyDeleteSherman Alexi, growing up in a poor family and a love for his father, took an interest in books. This was because his father loved to read anything and everything he could get his hands on. By picking up a comic book, Alexi tediously taught himself how to read and suddenly began reading night and day. As he was laughed at in school for making an effort to receive the best possible education, he continued to read. Alexi did not let the stereotype of "stupid Indians" affect him and therefore proved one of Brant's arguments;"sponsorship and access". Brandt discussed that access affects literary knowledge. Ones social status, race, or even gender plays a major role as well by for example limiting or increasing literary knowledge. Alexi reread his fathers books piled up around his house and was fortunate enough to have access to the ample amount of literary knowledge within his environment. He grew up to become very successful as a writer and teacher.
Malcolm X was in a similar situation in that he was of a minority as a " black man" in the early 1900's. Malcolm strove for literary knowledge in order to read and "understand" letters. Once sent to prison, Malcolm took this opportunity to further his knowledge by first reading the dictionary and then reading hundreds of books. Malcolm had access to a library and had many influential sponsors to include Norfolk Prison, Bimbi and Mr.Muhammad. Despite his race, Malcolm obtained in his eyes literary knowledge that was beyond a college education. Malcolm therefore became a powerful speaker that ties with Brandt's argument of "Sponsorship and Access".
According to his past, we can see how limited Malcolm X to literacy and education. During the his youth, he was a troubled kid and lived in an era of racial separation. His family was not rich and crime was high in the area. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade and landed in jail. As most people can image, prison is a place of limited access and limited freedom. Therefore, inmates typically do not read like Malcolm X did. An argument could be made that Malcolm's situation is best described in Brandt's section titled "Sponsorship and Access". Brandt understood how "access" determines one's literacy outcome. There exist a statistical correlation between, high literacy achievement and high socioeconomic status (higher wealth = more access) . It is no surprise that Malcolm situation and his race lead him to low literacy achievement. He had limited access outside but amazingly he read and wrote in prison. The words he learned from the dictionary and the books he read in his cell changed how Malcolm X viewed the world. Malcolm X experience strikes parallel to that of Dora Lopez in Brandt's article. Both Malcolm and Dora had to reach much further ( in a sense of effort) to achieve higher literacy. Compared to Raymond Branch ( also in Brandt's article), which had all the most powerful agents/sponsors of the university to work with. To conclude, Brandt states it perfectly, " Recession, relocation, immigration, technological change, government retreat all can - and do - condition the course by which literate potential develops". As we can see in Malclom's case, he almost fell trap to those limitations that Brandt's discussions.
ReplyDeleteThis "Sponsorship and Access" can also describe Sherman Alexie situation. He was also raised from a low income family and did not have the best "access" to literacy. On the contrary , he did have sponsors like his father there to support and inspire his son to read. Malcolm did not have a supporting father. Sherman read things like the Superman comic books. Also, because his father loved books, and since Sherman loved his father with an aching devotion, he decided to love books as well.
The story of Malcolm X complicates the claims Brandt puts forward. This is because when you try to fit how he became literate with the sub-argument “Sponsorship and Access”, which demonstrates how being raised in different socio-economic settings influences each individual with diverse sponsors and their access to literacy, specifically comparing to Dora Lopez’s situation, there are some similarities, but you can still see different ways in which Malcolm X reacted in more difficult and limited situations and how he brilliantly overcame these “limitations” ending up with self-satisfying and world helping results. The same approach is taken towards Sherman Alexie’s experience which in some way is very parallel to Lopez’s story since they practically shared the same type of sponsors.
ReplyDeleteLet’s first point out the similarities that Malcolm X and Dora Lopez had: these could be that they were both considered to be from a minority race, had limited resources, were autodidacts and shared the desire to learn and achieve certain goals through perseverance ignoring all limitations. Now let’s see their differences: these could be that while Lopez had her parents and her desire to learn how to write in Spanish as sponsors, X had certain circumstances like being in prison, his desire to emulate Bimbi, write properly to Mr. Muhammad and his constant necessity to learn as sponsors. This is evidence that complicates Brandt’s claims because the literate making sponsors she continuously presents do not resemble Malcolm X, and this can be seen in his biggest sponsor which is pure self-driven determination even though having better economical and social positions do help in some ways to a better exposure towards literacy it wasn’t really the case with X’s experience. There are some motivators like Bimbi and Mr. Muhammad that could be considered some kind of sponsors, but nothing could be compared to the great example Malcolm X gave out to the world with astonishing self-confidence, self-motivation and immense determination.
Sherman Alexie’s story is very analogous to Dora Lopez’s for the reason that their sponsors were their parents who raised them in an environment surrounded by books. This situation influenced Alexie in the way Brandt explains in her “Sponsorship and Access” sub-argument with no differences as it happened with Malcolm X. But if we compare the reasons why Lopez taught herself to read and write in Spanish to the reasons Alexie and X taught themselves how to read and write we can extend the argument that Brandt makes because Lopez did everything for her own satisfaction, however Alexie and X used their knowledge to become sponsor and to help others in need that shared the same necessities each of them had at the beginning of their road to becoming the role models they are considered today.
Finally we can consider X, Lopez and Alexie great role models that followed most of the points Brandt exposed in her recognizable study towards sponsors in literacy and how they can influence each person differently according to their economic and social position, determination and perseverance. It is also very important to understand that we become sponsors to those who surround us and that means that we must make an effort to become good role models for those we influence.
Brandt writes about the fact that every human being does not become literate on their own and that each person has had a sponsor or sponsors in their life that has affected who they are as a writer one way or another. These sponsorships can be positive or negative and they aren't always necessarily people. They can be places and or events in a particular persons life as well.
ReplyDeleteBrandt makes the argument that people whom are brought up and raised at a higher social level and have more access to different types of literacy are more likely to succeed than those who don't have access to many forms of literacy because of how they were raised. Those born into poverty have a harder time and have to "reach further' in order to achieve the same things as people that were born into wealth, all this according to Brandt.
When Deborah Brandt refers to the people that need to reach further, she is referring to the Malcolm X's of the world. Malcolm X was born into the world as an orphaned child who dropped out of the eighth grade, got involved in criminal activity, and was later incarcerated. Malcolm X's story ties directly into Brandt's subsection on 'Sponsorship And Access". Malcolm X somewhat contradicts Brandt's argument in that while he was in jail he was at rock bottom according to social standards, he still found a way to write at a high level because he had motivation to do so. This is one of those sponsorships that isn't a person. Malcolm X used his background and past experiences to motivate himself and become an important figure in the African American Community as he was writing at an exceptionally higher level than his peers even with poor social standards. Yet even though he didn't have access to what many other writers had access to he used what he had and used it to express his feeling about segregation at the time. Segregation was the main reason he dropped out of middle school, so here he is now writing at an exceptionally high level to become an activist in the civil rights movement at the time.
Deborah Brandt makes several claims through her article that relate closely to the lives of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie. She says that sponsors could help educate or prevent education of the sponsored. Malcolm and Alexie had sponsors in both areas. Malcolm had Mr. Muhammad and the prison's book collection as sponsors to help with gaining literacy. Alexie's father motivated him and provided him with multiple books and novels. However, both examples had a very influential sponsor that kept them from easily reaching their literacy potential, and that was society. Brandt stated that sponsors can prevent literacy, and the stereotypes during the time of Malcolm and Alexie's life kept them from being able to readily access tools to advance their literary needs. Malcolm, African American, and Alexie, Indian, both were put down by society and the people around them making their educational journey difficult yet it was still obtainable.
ReplyDeleteThis also leads to one of Brandt's sub-arguments that relates literary success to high social standings. This is a general assumption that could indeed be correct for most of the population, however Malcolm and Alexie deviate from this idea. They both were raised in a poor or middle class atmosphere which would usually deter a child from a successful education. Instead of falling into the stereotypes of the time, Malcolm and Alexie went above and beyond the expectations. Malcolm found motivation in prison not only from within but to learn more about the dreadful past of his ancestors. Mr. Muhammad was a tangible sponsor, teaching and writing back and forth with Malcolm. Prison sparked the self-motivation and provided the tools that were needed to help enhance his literacy. Alexie had a lot going against him; health issues, stereotypes, and being part of a low income family were all logical reason for him not to be very educated. With the help of his father and superman, Alexie taught himself how to read and write which resulted in him being very successful as an adult. In both cases, Brandt would have assumed with their upbringings that both men were not going have many sponsors and therefore not learning literacy. However she does state, “ Poor people and those from low-caste racial groups have less consistent, less politically secured access to literacy sponsors – especially to the ones that can grease their way to academic and economic success”, which proves that they may “less” opportunity, yet they still have a chance. Malcolm and Alexie optimized on this tiny opportunity and became very successful. These examples ties directly to “Sponsorship and Access” and help enforce Brandt's argument that underprivileged may have a disadvantage, however it is still possible, they just have to reach a bit farther.
In "Sponsors of Literacy" by Deborah Brandt she describes sponsors in multiple ways and in all these ways she organizes sponsorship as being oppurtunistic, competitive, and even enabling or hindering.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X's "Learning to Read" is a perfect example of all the types of sponsorship as described by Brandt. The passage begins by giving a background of Malcolm X and his life including his situation (dropping out of school in the 8th grade to hustle in the streets) growing up. Very quickly Malcolm X,while in prison, describes his frustration over his lack of literacy and ability to write simple English to express what he wanted to say. He becomes his own sponsor through his own motivations and ambition. Unlike in the outside world where the public gave restricted access to blacks, prison would not discriminate over those who wanted to read. This acted as a sponsor to Malcolm X by giving him access to reading and writing through the form of the dictionary and books. Most would think that being in prison would hinder the opportunity to progress but not to Malcolm, his experience in prison enabled him to become educated through reading and acted like a sponsor. He found it necessary to become a better writer so he could convey his message to his black community in a way as such to unite them. He could not do this with mediocre literacy abilities because simply the black man had been ignored in history books so not even the average black person knew of their own bloods past. He arose to meet these literacy standards and become a prominent figure for civil rights. Malcolm X himself had said that had his life gone differently and he had made it into a university that perhaps there would have been too many distractions and maybe he would not have become the person he had.
Brandt talks about 'Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards' in "Sponsors of Literacy." When she is talking about this, she is implying that there is a sponsor who is very powerful. Malcom X's sponsor was Mr. Elijah Muhammad. Malcom X, formerly known as Malcom Little didn't make it past the 8th grade and was very involved in gangs and other crimes. He says in his autobiography that he was good at commanding people to listen to what he said but when it came to writing it that he couldn't even write in a straight line. When he ended up in prison he began to write to Mr. Elijah Muhammad and began wanting to improve his vocabulary and handwriting. Muhammad was his motivation or sponsor to begin reading and writing regularly. Malcom changed his last name to X to replace his slave name. He was in competition with the people around him to prove that just because your background isn't positive doesn't mean you future can't be. If Malcom wouldn't have had his sponsor he would not have been as successful as he was. This helps to prove Brandt's theory because she states that having a sponsor of some sort is the best way to improve your reading and writing skills.
ReplyDeleteWhile Malcom had to learn on his own, Alexie had the help of his family. Typically Indians were not very smart but He loved and wanted to read and his father was a huge supporter or sponsor of him reading. His father would buy him books to read to help him become more intelligent. This helps to prove Brandt's Sponsorship and Access theory. Alexie had the access to books because of his father and thus became more educated.
In Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy,” she emphasized the importance of sponsors as “figures who turned up most typically in people’s memories of literacy learning.” These literary sponsors could be people, as in a brother or a sister, ideas, or institutions that have motivated you to become literate in specific ways. In Brandt’s article she gave numerous examples of how sponsors affected a persons life in order to promote literacy. In the two articles I read, Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie, their literary sponsors were extremely evident because it influenced and broadened their literary knowledge despite the hardships each one had endured.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Malcolm X’s early years he was involved in criminal activity, dropped out of school in the eighth grade, and was sentenced to prison at the age of 20. His autobiography is tied with Brandt’s sub-argument “Sponsorship and Access” for several reasons. In this section of Brandt’s article she explains that affluent people from high-caste racial groups have excess contacts with powerful literacy sponsors while poor people and those from low-caste racial groups have less access to literacy sponsors. This argument is linked to Malcolm X because he did not come from a high-caste racial group, therefore did not have many resources and sponsors to improve his literacy. Malcolm provides an example of this in the article due to the fact that he would become frustrated at not being able to express what he wanted to convey in letters to Mr. Muhammad as well as reading several sentences and not understanding a single word of what the sentences meant. Malcolm, ready for a change, requested a dictionary where he spent days writing down the alphabet to study each and every word. Malcolm started to become his own sponsor as he began writing in his tablet as well as in letters for the rest of the time he was in prison. He spend endless nights in his prison cell reading and spent more time reading in his room than in the library itself. Beyond that, Malcolm focused deeply on the teachings of Mr. Muhammed and a new world opened up to him through his efforts to document Mr. Muhammed’s teaching in books. Mr. Muhammed became one of Malcolm's sponsors as well because he inspired Malcolm to read hundreds of informational books in which Malcolm learned so much new information. He became knowledgable about the horrors of slavery, philosophy, and genetics from the books he devoured. This validates Brandt’s argument that with access to resources you become more literate. Malcolm had access to the library, books, and a pen pal which enabled him to improve his literacy tremendously. Finally, Brandt’s ideas that literacy is greatly used in the realm of politics is relevant in Malcolm’s situation because being literate enabled him to become one of most influential African American public speakers in this world today.
In “Sponsors of Literacy,” Deborah Brandt shows how people, regardless of their surrounding struggles, are still capable of developing their literacy projections. As seen in both Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie, the lack of resources did not halt them to continue excelling to their fullest potential. Sponsors, (“those who turned up most typically in people’s memories of literacy learning”) are metaphorically seen as the Holy Grail of an individual’s existence in the world. Without sponsors people would not be able to communicate with others. Malcolm X’s sponsor initially was Bimbi, because of his envy Malcolm X took the initiation of learning, thus becoming his own sponsor. Sherman Alexie’s sponsor was “Superman comic books.” His determination to make “reading and education a priority,” paved the way for his success of becoming literate. Overall, Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X bypassed their racial, economic, and stereotypical discomforts through the use of reading and writing.
ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt’s sub-argument, “Sponsorship and Access,” describes how individuals who are benefited economically have an easier access to resources that allows them to expand their literacy knowledge than those who are not. Malcolm X’s experience fortunately argued against Brandt’s claim. An individual does not need to be wealthy in order to receive literacy learning. In fact, even the simplest resource such as a dictionary better enforces literacy upon and individual, as shown with Malcolm X. Malcolm X “began copying” the words from the dictionary, and he read ever more so while acquiring skills such as “handwriting speed”, a broadened vocabulary, as well as the ability to understand what he was reading. Even though Malcolm X was in a prison he still had the opportunity to learn how to read and write. Malcolm X shows that an individual does not need to learn in a fancy institution in order to develop literacy trajectories. Furthermore, Brandt’s overall argument is not just about economic advantages, but rather how each and every individual, regardless of their socioeconomic and ethnicity, still manages to reach their goal towards literacy. Malcolm X wanted to break away from the labeled stereotypes of African Americans. He persisted on becoming his own individual as proof that he was a part of the American society regardless of his race. In order to achieve this, he began reading history books, he became knowledgeable of his ancestors’ experience. His determination to learn allowed him to succeed. Motivation and determination are the key ingredients to reaching one’s own goals in literacy. Malcolm X’s “homemade education,” made him into a sponsor; one that he relied on. Moreover, the ability to make oneself a sponsor permits an individual to have access to success and to his ultimate goal.
Deborah Brandt's argument stated that an individual's literacy skills are typically the result of the influences on a person's literacy, referred to as "literacy sponsors". These sponsors can be people such as teachers, editors, authors, and relatives, which played a significant role in a person's life, involving literacy.
ReplyDeleteMalcom X is a great example of a person who had no literacy sponsors and therefore, wasn't successful at first. He dropped out of school in the 8th grade because a teacher told him he couldn't become a lawyer. You could argue that this teacher is a negative literacy sponsor. Later Malcom X ended up in prison and pushed himself to learn how to read and write. Bimbi was Malcom’s first sponsor because he felt envy toward his knowledge. The dictionary was another main help in his literacy journey, which makes the author of the dictionary a sponsor to Malcom. This exaggerates Brandt’s argument that literacy skills come from influences and a person can’t be literate on their own.
Brandt’s central idea is that everyone has a sponsor paves a unique literacy path. The experiences of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie are examples of Brandt's arguments. For instance, Brandt mentions that the field of literacy is evolving and demanding; in Alexie’s story we are able to see this. Alexie says that he can not recall a single time that someone went to his school (such as a volunteer) to help students, however, since literacy is more demanding Alexie now goes to an indian school to teach students. From the time Alexie was attending an indian school the students where expected to be “stupid”, but, now we see that what Brandt is saying about institutions and sponsors evolving to meet rising demands is true. Another point Brandt makes in her article is that literacy is important and there’s competition to limit it; Malcolm was limited in his learning because of sponsors and therefore lead him to drop out. Also, in Malcolm’s class he points out that his literacy was limited as there was only 1 paragraph on history of African Americans. This school is a sponsor that limited his knowledge of what would become his favorite subject. One of the key issues that Brandt addresses is how sponsors contribute to the literacy crisis and peoples ability to meet the rising standards. In a sense, this contradicts Alexie’s story because his sponsor(the indian school) does not require achievement; this school makes it seem ok for students to be “stupid”. However, this issue can be considered true for the same example because Alexie is his own sponsor that sets high goals to meet and achieves.
ReplyDeleteThe section “Sponsorship and Access” brings up the point that a certain social standing impacts the type of sponsor someone has and the literacy path that it entails. Malcolm’s story is relatable to Dora’s in this section. Both of these people come from a lower class and are minorities, because of this, success in literacy becomes something they have to work for and bring upon themselves to achieve. Although Dora did not have much money she chose to set a goal of obtaining literacy and she overcame obstacles to achieve it. With Malcolm’s story, he had a past of crime and of low class so he didn’t have access to professional sponsors or institutions, instead, he took it upon himself to set a goal of obtaining literacy. However, Malcolm’s story may also be contradictory to this section because Brandt states that there’s a correlation between “high literacy achievement and high socioeconomic, majority-race status” yet Malcolm’s looked up to for his “high literacy achievement”.Brandt describes that coming from a high class could gain sponsors of quality institutions, but, Malcolm was able to gain an immense amount of knowledge from the books he read in a jail.
Another comparison that can be made is between Lowrey and Alexie. Their earliest sponsors where their dads. Lowrey’s father loved to read newspaper and politics so Lowrey started to read and learn about politics which lead down a certain literacy path. Likewise, Alexie’s father was an avid reader so Alexie learned to read and this lead to a certain literacy path that turned him into an author. Both people sustain Brandt’s argument that sponsors have an effect on what you read and why. Another major comparison of Brandt’s article is when she states that “people have grown increasingly dependent on their literacy skills for...protecting their civil rights” and this is exactly what Malcolm X did, he used everything he read about African American suppression to fight for civil rights.
The most blatant sponsor of Malcolm is jail for encouraging him to read/write, Mohammad is another who’s teachings influenced Malcolm’s thinking. One of the less obvious is “the streets” Malcolm said that in the streets he had a lot of power but in simple english he felt worthless. Having power in the streets was a sponsor that influenced him to learn to write so that he could feel powerful. Some of the sponsors in Alexie’s story included his father, the Spiderman comic book, and the kids making fun of him.
In Brandt’s “sponsors of literacy”, she makes the point of how people don’t become literate on their own, and there is different people, situations, places, etc… called “sponsors” of literacy. These “sponsors” are what shape the way people become literate. However Brandt doesn't confine her argument into only the positive aspects of the sponsors, she also explains how sometimes these sponsors can also close many doors, having self-interested reasons.
ReplyDeleteIn Malcolm X’s “learning to read”, he depicts some experiences that brought him to his literacy potential. This part of his autobiography is great to link to Brandt’s main arguments. Malcolm was a great example, since he was an African American orphan in the 1940’s trying to go to school and become a lawyer. During this time there was many economic, racial, and social obstacles, for a young African American teenager, so he was forced to drop out of school (8th grade),and start earning a living in the streets through crime. When he was sent to prison, Malcolm saw an opportunity to be liberated from all the pressure from the outside world. When he saw that he couldn’t understand words in books he was interested in, he took the opportunity of getting any literature material he could from the prison’s library. You could say Malcolm was his own sponsor (for his own motivation to become literate) in a way, but I think Brandt would consider, being stuck in a prison where reading and writing was available to whoever wanted to, and not having any other big responsibilities would be also a sponsor. This last example also applies to Alexie’s situation, because even though both Alexie and X were restricted economically they both had an open door to the books. Everyone has sponsors that guide them to become literate in some way or another, but one big aspect is what you will do with any obstacle that comes your way.
In the wise words of Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy”, she composes the theory that people must have been “taught” their reading and writing skills rather than those skills appearing out of thin air. There is a name she has given those teachers, and their names are sponsors. A sponsor can be a person, place, thing, or even an idea/event that may have caused a person to have become literate throughout their lives. People get their sponsors from all over the places, but there are a few Brandt singles out specifically: Sponsorship and Access, Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards, and Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning. These three don’t necessarily have to apply to everyone at once, but everyone must fall into one of these three somehow.
ReplyDeleteThis brings us to Malcolm X, an orphan child who lived through poverty to become one of the greatest known civil activists today. Before his sentence to prison, Malcolm lived in many foster homes, dropped out of the eighth grade, and became popular to crime’s eye. Everything is taken from a man who is dropped in prison, but for Malcolm, he was handed the rest of his life behind the bars. Here he learned how to read and write with the inspiration to be more like Bimbi. These motivations put him further in the world then his fellow inmates were since they had the same opportunity as Malcolm did.
The Sponsorship and Access can be seen within Malcolm X’s life even though the access wasn’t all that much. Unlike Raymond Branch, a man who grew up with surrounding computers, Malcolm only had the library to his access and the motivation he equipped. This access along with the sponsorship of his situation in jail and as a dropout led him to become a great civil rights activist as well as a founder to an organization for the unity of African Americans. Deborah Brandt may claim that someone must have somebody else sponsor them to learn literacy, but for Malcolm X it was his own determination to pick himself up from where he dropped off in the world.
Throughout Deborah Brandt article “Sponsors of Literacy”, Brandt highlights the significance of a sponsor in impacting a certain individual’s improvement in literacy. Her article goes on to talk about how access to certain tools, such as books, libraries, and technology contribute to one’s maximum potential literacy level, creating a notion that the wealthier are more susceptible to higher literacy achievements.
ReplyDeleteIn studying “The Joy of Reading and Writing” by Sherman Alexie, I realized that Brandt’s subsection of “Sponsorship and Access” can relate to Alexie’s story. Alexie, a Spokane Indian boy, lived with his family on a reservation in east Washington State where he lived in poverty, with both of his parents working jobs that paid minimum wage. His father had a passion for reading books of a various topics, and tried to surround the house with books for his children to read. With this being said, Alexie’s father, in Brandt’s article, would be considered his sponsor. Alexie decided to take on books and love them due to his love for his father. Access also comes into play in Alexie’s story due to the mass number of books that Alexie’s father had brought home for him to read. Although Alexie’s interest in reading stemmed from his father’s passion for reading books and becoming knowledgeable, Alexie did not want to become a standard Indian boy who was afraid and dominated by the “White man.” Alexie was enraged when Indian students in his class were perceived as uneducated kids when outside of the classroom, they were capable of telling detailed stories and were actually intelligent people. Thus, Alexie set forth to become an example for the Indian student population, intrinsically motivated by his own want to avoid being inferior to the “White man.” Due to Alexie’s Sponsorship from his father and his access to several books in his household that were provided by his father, he was able to become extremely intelligent and knowledgeable. Although he read a significant amount of books, he is still surprised that he had actually ended up as a writer who wrote screenplays for award-winning movies.
Due to Alexie’s access and sponsorship, he was able to achieve a relatively high literacy level despite the fact that his living conditions and wealth were not all that great. Thus, Brandt’s comparison between high literacy levels and wealth may be incorrect in this instance, but the fact that Alexie’s access to resources like the books and his father’s ability to sponsor him fits perfectly into the category Brandt puts forth of “Sponsorship and Access.”
In Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy” she explains that people don’t become literate on their own, they have “sponsors” which can come in the form of either a situation or another person. These sponsors are what shapes the way in ones literacy wether it be bad or good.
ReplyDeleteThe reading on Malcom X correlates with many of the ideas Brandt proposed including her theory on sponsorship and access. Being black caused Malcom to face struggles in school and even led to his dropping out in eighth grade due to a teachers ignorance. Access to literacy was difficult for Malcom at this time and it wasn't until he was put in jail that he was able to acquire a knowledge on literacy because of library access and his own self motivation to help others that faced the same hardships. Although Brandt states that there is a “statistical correlation between high literacy achievement and high socioeconomic status” Malcom X goes against the odds and instead learns with the recourses available to him.
What I gleaned from Brandt’s argument, “Sponsors of Literacy”, was that someone with access to literary means, as well as to people (sponsors) who care about and support their literacy, are more likely to be successful than those who did not have the same privileges. She basically alleged that the wealthy would be more prosperous, as far as literacy is concerned, because they have the means to be literate; whereas those who are poor do not.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X is an example of one man who defies Brandt’s argument. X was a black male, who was constantly discriminated against, and not wealthy by any sense. He let the discrimination get the best of him in the eighth grade, and ceased perusing academic prosperity. On the streets he was known as “the most articulate hustler”, but he was, for the most part, illiterate. It took prison to really change his literary intelligence. While in prison, he attempted to write letters to Mr. Elijah Mohammed who was the leader of the nation of Islam. Unfortunately, due to his lack of literacy at that point in his life, X was unable to achieve this goal. Muhammad unwittingly served as X’s sponsor, as did a man named Bimbi, whom X envied due to his knowledge. These men made it possible for X to become literate even though they did not directly sponsor his literacy.
Another man who defies Brandt’s argument is Sherman Alexi. Alexi was not expected to be literate at all, or even live for that matter after he was born with water on his brain. However, he became an exceptional reader by three years old and never looked back. His father read just about anything that he could afford from such places as the Salvation Army and Goodwill; and his house was full of different novels. Because of the dedication he harbored toward his father, who essentially was his sponsor, Alexi was able to excel in literacy and even eventually became a writer.
In some ways, especially in the sense of sponsorship, both of these men line up with Brandt’s argument. However, they, at the same time defy it, as they were not born with access to the materials needed for literacy. Instead, through different methods and motivations, the duo gained the knowledge necessary for them to become literary geniuses, and both became highly respected individuals in fields that required the utmost literary skills to be effective.
According to Deborah Brandt, there are many external influences that affect a person’s literacy. The main attributing factor to someone’s literacy is sponsor, or people that influence ones literacy, this person could be a parent, teacher, sibling, etc... While sponsors are the main focus in Brandt’s argument about literacy, sponsors are not the only aspect that forms a person’s literacy, Brandt also involves ones social standings (opportunities),rise in literacy standards, and appropriation as big determining factors to persons literacy.
ReplyDeleteSherman Alexie came from an Indian cultured family, and his father having an extensive library of books. He learned to read at a very young age, through the practice of reading superman comic books. His father encouraged this, further raising the bar of literacy learning. Sherman as an Indian child, was not expected to do much with his life, it was expected and accepted that he would not have a chance at literacy, but Sherman refused to accept this fate. The literacy standard that his father obtained set president for Sherman literacy success. Sherman quickly started following his father’s example and loved books. Through his personal ambition and his fathers “sponsorship” Sherman was able to achieve a higher level of literacy and higher learning than anyone had expected of him.
Malcolm X was born into poverty, and dropped out of school in the eighth grade. Malcolm X next found himself in prison. This is where Malcolm X learned how to read and write; through the prison library. Reading the dictionary through multiple times, learning words he never knew existed. He was motivated to reach a higher level of literacy and higher learning because he could not express how he truly felt through the letters he was trying to write while in prison. Malcolm X shows by example that even in a horrible situation (coming from poverty, dropping out of school, and going to prison) that motivation is a huge determining factor to literacy success.
Deborah Brandt claims that people do not teach themselves to be literate all on their own. She argues that literacy is taught by a sponsor, like a parent, sibling, teacher, or supervisor. Sponsor is not limited to a singular person or position, but rather a sponsor is an influence, like location, situation, or ethnicity. Sherman Alexie and Malcolm X both had a sponsor of some sort.
ReplyDeleteBrandt argues that a higher social status allows one to have more access to more powerful and knowledgeable sponsors, while a lower income lends more towards less proficient literary sponsors. Sharman Alexie’s story is an exception. Though he came from a lower class household, Alexie's father was a more than capable literary sponsor. Alexie saw the love for reading and knowledge that his father had, and decided to emulate his hero, his father. Sherman Alexie was Indian, and the belief at the time was that Indian children were stupid. Alexie comments on this belief, saying, “As Indian children, we were expected to fail in the non-Indian world.” Sherman Alexie made reading his life, thanks to Superman; by looking at the pictures in a Superman comic book, Alexie slowly began to understand what he was reading. He started reading all the time, from morning till late at night.
Another exception to Brandt's argument begins in a jail cell. Malcolm Little, later renamed Malcolm X, spent his time diligently studying and copying the dictionary, teaching himself how to read and write, feeding his desire to learn. In his autobiography, Malcolm discusses how the more he copied, the more he learned, and as he began to read, his eyes were opened. There was a world in books that Malcolm had never seen before. He became his own sponsor in a thirst for knowledge and power. It could be argued that Elijah Muhammad was Malcolm's sponsor, however it was not Elijah that helped Malcolm copy the dictionary. It was Malcom's hunger black history that made him his own sponsor.
I believe one of Deborah Brandt's main points emphasizes access. She describes a correlation between literacy and access to knowledge. She states that the higher class families tend to be more literate because they can access the knowledge and tools to learn. This is Evident in Malcolm X's case. An excerpt of his autobiography shows how, as he grew up, he did not have the kind of access he desired, to learn and nurture his literacy. However, when he went to prison, he was able to develop his literacy with variety of books which he was provided through the prison. Another young boy, Sherman Alexi, lived in poverty and was not provided the access to nurture his literacy. Not through school anyway. Alexi's father would bring home books for Sherman to read and this became his access. This was his gateway into becoming the figure he stands to be today. This also connects to a point which Brandt stresses throughout her article.
ReplyDeleteIn her title named, "Sponsors of Literacy", she discusses the various forces and influences that shape our literacy. Sherman Alexi's father acted as a "sponsor" to develop his son's literacy. Brandt states that sponsors can be various experiences, people, places, objects, ect. Alexi had his father to bring home books and encourage him to grow. Malcolm X had a similar experience with the prison. It became his outlet, his step to growing and walking in a direction of literacy.
While both these examples might show Brandt's point about there being a relevance to access and sponsorship, she also believed that there existed a correlation between high literacy and high class. Both of these examples reject and falsify that statement because both of these men were born in poor areas and grew up in places where they struggled to become literate. Even your situation and how badly you strive to get out of it, can sponsor you and jolt you forward on the path to literacy.
Brandt claims that people who have access to "sponsors" are more likely to succeed and have literacy strategies those who don't have access to a support system while growing up. She continues to state that people who grew up in opulence also have easier access to a literacy learning than those who are underprivileged. Malcolm X's story contradicts Deborah Brandt's theory of sponsor impact. Malcolm was an African American male growing up in the 1930's era in an underprivileged family. Malcolm was not given opportunities like others around him. Indeed, Malcolm dropped out of eighth grade after a teacher he would not become a lawyer because of his race. Consequentially , he was sent to prison. Malcolm used his envy towards Bimbi to learn how read and write. Evidently, he used what was available to him such as books and dictionaries to teach himself. As a result, Malcolm X increased his literacy level on his own.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Sherman Alexie, in spite of being poor and not expected to survive due to being born with water in his brain, Sherman Alexie learned how to read by the age of three. Because of this he was bantered by his classmates, even so he made reading a priority. Alexie learned how to read with the pictures in a Superman comic book. Since then, he started to read books everywhere, even late at night until his eyes couldn’t stay open anymore. This also contradicts Brandt's theory of sponsor impact. Sherman Alexie did not have access to a sponsor while growing up and he came from a desitute family, yet he still managed to educate himself by reading on his own and being his own literacy sponsor.
Deborah Brandt interviewed a large number of people about how they developed their literacies. Throughout the process, she came to realize that the stories these people told involved an influence or sponsor that shaped their literacy to this day. Brandt later wrote an article about how literacy is acquired from a sponsorship, calling it Sponsors of Literacy. In this article she specifies that literacy is not something you are born with; rather a sponsored force that makes it possible for a person to become more literate, while shaping the way they view literacy itself.
ReplyDeleteBrandt divides the article into three sections that address her theory on the relationship between the sponsors and the sponsored. In one section she discusses the correlation between Sponsorship and Access. According to the text, there is a statistical correlation between high literacy achievement and high socioeconomic status in results to national tests of reading and writing performance. Literacy sponsor access depends on social class level; lower class have less of a chance for access and upper have more. This section offers two examples that support her claim of a person’s background influencing their advance with sponsors, specifically in literacy. Although both examples shared similarities experiences, they both had different backgrounds and had very different paths towards their success in literacy. Randy Branch, the man who came from a higher class family and with more access to resources, acquired his success more easily due to the more resources/family connections he had in the process of his literary advancement. While Dora Lopez, the minority who came from a lower class family with less access to resources, acquired her success with more difficulty due to her limited resources she had in the process of her literary advancement. In the analysis of both cases, they both involved reaching for projects with self-initiated learning. These case studies do make us consider how it isn’t just how various groups have developed their literacy in various ways, but in fact every group develops their literacies through different degrees of sponsorship in order to progress.
These principles that are stated in Brandt’s article correlates with Malcolm X’s account of how he became motivated to read. Malcolm X was a famous influential leader who advocated towards the rights and unity of African Americans. In his excerpt, Malcolm X recounts the days of when he was incarcerated and developed a determination to improve his vocabulary. Everyday he would copy pages of a dictionary and memorize the words to expand his vocabulary and soon was motivated to read almost every book in the library. Through his readings, he developed a new world of knowledge that showed how the “white-supreme” race had affected his own race in malicious ways in the past century. The realization of how badly his race was mistreated created many emotions that motivated him to fight for justice of his own race. The literary journey that Malcolm X had gone through is a perfect example of Brandt’s discussion on Sponsorship and Access. Even though Malcolm’s background limited him to the sponsors he could’ve received, he later on accessed a sponsor (the dictionary) through self-initiated learning in order to improve his literacy with the limited resources he had, similar to the example of Dora Lopez.
In conclusion of the analysis of how Malcolm X’s piece proves Brandt’s theory on Sponsorship and Access, I begin to recollect of how my own literacy can be improved by following the examples of Lopez and Malcolm. These two examples prove even though you may not come from the richest of backgrounds, doesn’t mean you should allow yourself to put a limitation on what you can achieve. I never realized how many sponsors I have had throughout my life and how grateful I am for them pushing me beyond my limitations. After reading Brandt’s Sponsors of Literacy and Malcolm X’s Learning to Read, I know now that I will utilize my sponsors in order to reach my fullest potential.
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ReplyDeleteIn Deborah Brandt’s article “Sponsors of Literacy” she goes into detail though several examples of how everyone has had someone in their life who has aided them in their quest for literacy. The two main examples relative to this discussion are Raymond Branch the well to do son of a college professor and Dora Lopez and lower middle class Mexican American who had to overcome man brick walls. (Randy Pausch reference) Brandt suggests that race, income/status, and region also influence your literacy.
ReplyDeleteBoth Sherman Alexi and Malcolm X offered life lessons for literacy which should be taken into account and used for your own benefit in life, however to best prove Brandt’s ideas about sponsors of literacy Malcolm X seems to do it the best. With Malcolm being a young man who is then influenced by a man named Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the very beginning of this excerpt of Malcolm X’s biography the reader is immediately introduced to Mr. Muhammad who both directly and indirectly becomes a sponsor for Malcolm. Malcolm was already influenced by Mr. Muhammad and his message and when Malcolm wished to send him letters he was afraid of his written use of the English language.
Once in prison Malcolm took advantage of the time and began to enhance his writing skills by copying the dictionary which was an arduous task for Malcolm to perform as it took him an entire day to copy down the first page. After his initial day of practice it became easier. From this point on Mr. Muhammad is no longer Malcolm’s sponsor of literacy; Malcolm is now his own sponsor thanks to his tenacity and love of books and thirst for knowledge. Much like Dora Lopez, Malcolm X uses the resources regardless of their usage or age; he will read whatever he can find. However, Malcolm is also like Raymond in that he has access to an awesome amount of material. Malcolm states that “A variety of classes was taught there by instructors who came from such places as Harvard and Boston Universities” (355).
Overall, Deborah Brandt’s ideas on sponsors of literacy are true, especially with regards to Malcolm X and his experiences in the Norfolk Prison.
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ReplyDeleteIn Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy”, she discusses the forces that shape our literacy learning and practices. Brandt believes that people do not simply become literate on their own, rather that a literacy sponsor plays a huge role. Literacy can be sponsored by a person, institution or circumstance, which would essentially make that person in the circumstance his or her own sponsor. Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie fit perfectly into Brandt’s sub-argument, sponsorship and access.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X grows up on the streets and while he does have access to an institution, which would be his school, he has no motivation to learn as he is told that him being black will hold him back. This lack of motivation to learn leads him to being involved in criminal activity. Malcolm X eventually finds himself in prison, where his circumstance becomes his sponsorship and fortunately he has access to books through the prison library. He motivates himself (becoming his own sponsor because of his situation) and discovers what he describes as a new world through reading, which he would have never found if he had not been placed in prison. Malcolm X, with his now profound knowledge, goes onto fight for the black race. As it goes, everything happens for a reason. On the other hand, Sherman Alexie grows up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, where Indian boys go to school, but are not expected to learn much. However, Alexie is different as his dad is a lover of books and he essentially becomes his son’s sponsor. Alexie develops a thirst for reading and writing. He teaches himself to read through a Superman comic book and becomes an “oddity” in his community, as he is an Indian boy that is succeeding in literacy and school. Alexie goes on to become a writer of novels, short stories and poems. He was successful because he had a sponsor and had access to an institution. Brandt argues that having sponsorship and access will lead to higher rates of literacy, as is the case of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie, who both wind up having sponsorship and access. Sponsorship and access can still be hard to come by, even in today’s society, but when they do, a person must take full advantage.
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ReplyDeleteDeborah Brandt claims in her article titled “Sponsors of Literacy” that literacy rates have dramatically increased since the mid 1890’s. Brandt states that people do not become literate on their own, but by being sponsored by a person, circumstance or even a foundation. Sponsors help shape a person to become literate by either empowering or discouraging them. For example, a sponsor or “support person” can encourage you to get an education and push through any obstacle that may come your way. Whereas a sponsor, who may be discouraging, would probably disable any dreams you may have; consequently, firing a spark from within you to prove them wrong. Brandt also makes a direct effort to illustrate what the actual definition of literacy really is by revealing how literacy is involved in politics, economy and social castes- it is not just about reading and writing. She also expresses that being literate depends on what social background and social caste your family is from.
ReplyDeleteMalcom X’s situation describes how a sponsor could be a particular situation. In Malcom X’s case, he was not born into a literate family nor was he considered to be a part of a superior race. As a young teen he dropped out of school and became involved in criminal activity. He was soon arrested and sentenced to prison. There he was able to realize how important being literate really is. He claims that he was jealous of his friend that used an advanced vocabulary. Malcom X says that he had a motivation to read and reading fed his motivation. Becoming literate affected Malcom X because he was able to voice his opinions on human rights and civil rights. Literacy made Malcom X sensible to the blindness of African Americans and this initiated his incentive for the Nation of Islam.
Sherman Alexie was a young boy who was born with life-threatening illness. Nevertheless, he was an avid early reader due to his background. His father always had books in the house for him to read and always sparked his interest in reading. With such a positive sponsorship, he became an acclaimed author and was able to publish many novels. As an underprivileged Indian boy, who was expected to fail he surpassed those expectations triple fold and decided to return to his community to inspire children to read and do the same as he did. He wanted to save the children with books similarly to how they saved him. This ties in with Brandt’s claim of sponsorship because it shows how being literate enables others to learn
In "Sponsors of Literacy" Brandt proposed the idea that people who have sponsors are more likely to gain literacy. She also put forth the statistic that poor people are less likely to have access to literacy sponsors, and therefore, will not be as literate as those who are wealthier. Although there seems to be a lot of evidence behind these arguments, Malcolm X is an example that defies this reasoning.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X did not have either of the two aforementioned advantages. He was not born into prosperity, nor was he surrounded by sponsors who encouraged literacy. Malcolm didn't continue his schooling past eighth grade, actually. Later in his life, Malcolm went to prison. He essentially became his own sponsor while imprisoned. He took up reading and writing down pages of the dictionary every single day until the entire dictionary was written, and this is how he gained literacy. Though Brandt presents many examples of her sponsor idea, Malcolm X is more of a counterexample due to how he overcame his background in poverty and lack of sponsorship to immerse himself in literacy.
Sherman Alexie could be considered a better example of Brandt's claims. Sherman Alexie is an Indian man who grew up on a reservation and, at a young age, was expected not to be very smart. According to Alexie, it was more acceptable for Indian boys on the reservation to be dumb. Smart Indians were ridiculed and feared by others on the reservation. Though Alexie may have been expected to be stupid, but he did have more sponsorship than Malcolm X. Alexie's father loved to read, and he saw that as initiative to read, himself. Though possibly unintentional, Alexie's father was a sponsor in his life. This sponsorship inspired Alexie to dig deep and teach himself to read, ultimately opening up a world of literacy for him.
Deborah Brandt’s argument in “Sponsors of Literacy” is that when a people do not become who they are on their own. They are who they are because of their surroundings. Brandt’s point of view on the matter is that if a child from a higher social class will tend to have more access to better literary sponsors compared to some one in a lower social class. Sponsors can either help or hurt you in the long run of your literary life. She uses two examples, Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez to support this claim. Lopez came from a lower class family and it was harder for her to reach the level of literacy she wanted, whereas, Branch came from a higher social class family and her knowledge was practically handed to her.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X, on the other hand, contradicts this claim. He did not grow up in a higher social class family nor have the access to an education like other people his age. He was kicked out of school in eighth grade for the lack of ability to read and write. His life began to revolve around crime and that put him in prison. Normally, in Brandt’s argument Malcolm X would be a good fit the bad literally skills since he came from a poor childhood, but Malcolm X was the outlier in her data.
Malcolm X in prison began to read and write more. He taught himself even though he came from a tough past. At night, he would read through dictionaries and copy words down. Malcolm X wanted to be more than what he was viewed as, he strived for greatness. He began his own sponsor throughout his hardship. This complicates Brandt’s argument.
Throughout Deborah Brandt’s writings she emphasizes the importance of availability. She talks about how it doesn’t matter how smart you are or can be if you don’t have access to the tools that provide you with the basic knowledge. This has the most importance while growing up and is exemplified through the examples of Malcolm X and Sherman Alexi. Both come from poverty stricken areas, both a minority and neither have the proper learning utensils that are needed. They had nothing to improve their personal literacy until they were much older. In Malcolm’s case, he went to prison before he could actually make something of himself. In prison he found the love for reading and the kind of access he truly desired. Sherman Alexi on the other went to school and did right for himself but not even the school he attended gave him literate skills. His father brought him books every day, different kinds on many different reading levels and this shaped the man he is today. He now has all the literacy skills he desired as a child but never thought he would get.
ReplyDelete“Sponsors of Literacy” is an article written by Brandt herself that discusses sponsorships to promote literacy instead of sports. Sports are the first thing you think of when you think “sponsor”. In reality sponsors can be for any cause. It is someone or something that pushes you and influences you in a positive or negative way. Alexi had the sponsor of his father which was a very positive one. His father helped develop his literacy instead of the school that was supposed to. Malcolm had a rather unusual sponsor. Prison. This started out as a complete negative (when is prison ever a positive to begin with?) but eventually was a great thing for him and forced a sense of self-sponsorship. He never wanted to be in prison again and literacy brought a sort of safe haven and prevented the negative influence of his younger years from ever returning.
This brings us to Brandt’s next point and most inaccurate point, your social class and how it affects you. Both of these men came from nothing. They both were in the core of rough and tough times but made something out of themselves. Their access may not have been ideal but they were motivated enough to become their own sponsors and become literate in every sense. Their past and low social class in fact gave them more reason to get out of there and show other kids from the same background that it is one-hundred percent possible of you just have the sponsors to help you out and motivation to better yourself.
In Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy” she explains that there are different parts to what or who a “sponsor” is and the amount of influence them or it have one a person’s literacy. One of the points she addressed was sponsorship and access. She says that the more privileged life someone is grown up with, the more literacy opportunities are available to them. Raymond Branch grew up with a mother and father who both had successful careers and he was someone who could easily have access to computers and computer labs. Because of the opportunities available to him he was able to become very successful with computers. While as Dora Lopez on the other hand had parents who did not make much money and they were people who did not have the opportunities available to them right next door. She became successful but in a different way than Raymond. She had a lot more steps to climb to become successful. Brandt’s article shows that not everyone has the same sponsorship and access but it is up to the person to decide what they want to do with it and if they are motivated to be more than what they are dealt with. These two people demonstrate Brandt’s ideas.
ReplyDeleteMalcom X has challenged Brandt’s literacies ideas. Malcom X was someone who ended up in jail because he was born into a bad environment and had to drop out of the 8th grade. But, he was someone who was extremely motivated and forced himself to learn how to read and write while he was in jail. Malcom X’s sponsor was being in jail. Without his dedication and time and energy into learning how to read and write he wouldn’t have become the activist he was.
Alexie was similar to Malcom X because he was able to teach himself how to read and had the motivation and dedication to do so. He started with a Spiderman comic book. Alexie was an Indian boy who was stereotyped as someone who was just supposed to be dumb and to get nowhere in life because he was Indian.
There are many ideas and claims from Brandt’s ideas in “Sponsors of Literacy” that she thinks makes us how literate we become. She traced stories of people in the 20th century and how they learned to write and read. Memories of literacy can come from authors and other people. The foundations and forthcomings of our literacy are based off of sponsors. Some poor or underprivileged people are not directly offered sponsors and some that are don’t take advantage of it and regret it later such as the story about Lowery. He worked in automobile manufacturing and the demand of literacy was increasing and he had to work extra hard because he didn’t take advantage of sponsors from high school in the past. Again, it is the individual’s choice of achieving high standards of literacy in the end.
ReplyDeleteBrandt never said that the poor couldn’t achieve a high order of literacy like in he case she mentions with Lopez. Those people find their own motivation and drive. Malcom X is a prime example of this. He had his own motivations in literacy and overcame adversities and proved people wrong with his literacy capabilities. He did it for himself and had a sense of self-sponsorship along with authors he liked, like Muhammad.
Both Alexie and X lived in a time and place where their backgrounds had altercations on how people felt about someone of a different race being as literate or having greater literate capabilities then everyone else. Alexie, like X, taught himself to read. He had plenty of material to handle. Alexie taught himself his own literacy skills and became a writer this way and wouldn’t comply with failure. It is solely based on the individual and how bad he or she wants to achieve a higher order of literacy to actually do so.
Deborah Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" underlines the significance of sponsors and their ability to shape the learning and practice of literacy of individuals. Brandt provides a number of examples of individuals and their sponsors such as Malcolm X and Sherman Alexie. Malcolm X's, previously known as Malcolm Little, sponsor was Mr. Muhammad who he would regularly write to while imprisoned. Malcolm X urged himself to increase his literacy knowledge because he became frustrated that he couldn't express his ideas and goals properly. As a result of this, he would spend his nights engulfed in a dictionary and practicing his penmanship. This led to his success and ability to prove that a minority can overcome his social standards and supports the phrase "knowledge is power"; tying to Brandt's sub altercation in the Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning.
ReplyDeleteSherman Alexie, similar to Malcolm X, was fond of books. This was due to his father who also played the role of his sponsor. At a growing age, he learned to read and challenged the stereotype that Indians were not capable of becoming literate. Furthermore, he became a victorious writer therefore agreeing with Brandt's statement that social standings can positively contribute to literacy.
Deborah Brandt claims in her work “Sponsors of Literacy” that people from rich and privileged backgrounds have more access to resources and sponsorship opportunities which allows them to reach higher literacy levels than those who come from destitute families. While this statement is accurate, more often than not. There are so many instances where this is proclamation proves false that it makes it no more than a casual first observation.
ReplyDeleteThe proof that high levels of literacy maybe achieved by people even at the lowest levels of the social ladder is evident in case of Malcolm X. Malcolm was an orphan who dropped out of the eighth grade when it became evident to him that world was set up for him to fail, therefore by no means was he brought up under good or even normal circumstances. Malcolm was sent to jail in his early twenty’s where he found a sponsor in a fellow convict, and the access to resources in a prison library. Malcolm was also highly self-motivated to increase his level of literacy because he was embarrass that he could not express himself in a way satisfied him, and he knew it was because of his limited vocabulary. He began studying the dictionary to expand his vocabulary and eventually got to the point where he could and felt comfortable conversing with his spiritual leader Elijah Muhammad a man that he held in such high esteem. Though Brandt’s theory on Sponsorship and Access was wrong in this instance, another one of her claims is reinforced by it.
Brandt also said that people use literacy skills they gained for one purpose and re-appropriate them to use the skills in a new way, this is exactly what Malcolm X did. Once he had increased his vocabulary to become a more eloquent writer and speaker he used his expansive vocabulary to read books whose meanings were once lost behind alien words, the books that pertained to subjects that mattered to him and gained their knowledge. And in turn use the knowledge to preach to his followers.
Malcolm X’s achievement combats Brandt claim on Sponsorship and Access while exemplifying what she said in regard to appropriation and re- appropriation. And in the future Malcolm’s story will only further the opposition to the sponsorship and access claim made by Brandt, by inspiring (sponsoring) children raised in rough situations to achieve.
In Brandt’s writing “Sponsors of Literacy” she states how people do not gain literacy on there own, in fact they have sponsors that help improve their literacy. A sponsor may be any person, institution, or anything influential that may aid a person’s literacy. In Brandt’s sub-argument about Sponsorship and Access section we can depict that there is a link between literacy learning and systems of opportunity and access.
ReplyDeleteAs Malcolm X grew up he experienced many hardships in the younger years of his life. He grew up in many different foster homes while he was a child and had a hard time finishing school due to the fact that he was African American. As he progressed through his life he began getting into trouble and was eventually sent to prison. In prison Malcolm X had a great upcoming. He was very motivated to educate himself in the field of literacy; so everyday he would copy down a list of words from a dictionary and define it. Because Malcolm did this he was now able to actually understand what he was reading instead of it looking like a foreign language to him. Before Malcolm went to prison he really had no opportunity or access for him to enhance his literacy learning abilities. The fact that he had access to a library in prison was one of the key elements that helped drive his learning abilities.
Sherman Alexie grew up much differently than Malcolm X. Alexie’s main sponsors were Superman comic books, as well as his father’s love and passion for books. When he would read Superman comics he was able to determine what happening based solely on the illustrations. Basically he was his own author because at this time in his life he did not know how to read and by understating what was going on in the pictures alone really helped improve his literacy. Another sponsor that really helped improve his literacy was the numerous amounts of books that surrounded him in his home. The exposure to books at a young age really helped “jump start” his literacy and vocabulary.