Reading Response Six
Dan Feuerbach
English 354
2-16-06
Reading Response Six
For this response, I am discussing “The Ethnography of Literacy by John F. Szwed. This was a look at the current school of thought on literacy in America and made a lot of interesting points. This essay discusses different types of literacy and how it is difficult to measure because there are so many different kinds.
What worked particularly well in the piece was the discussion of trends in literacy. I had no idea that fiction, poetry and drama were on the decline but non-fiction was ascending. This says a lot about what Americans think is important to read and maybe says our society is not concerned with creativity as a whole anymore.
The essay is written in a very informal, easy to comprehend style. This was a refreshing change from the normally stuffy, bloated academic essays that this class has required in the past. The ideas were much easier to follow than in almost any other essay we have read this semester.
The piece details different kinds of literacy and states that all we know about modern literacy is enough to cast doubts on previous assumptions. This piece asks the question how literate is literate? Does reading/understanding a novel make a person literate or does the ability to read a stop sign? Why or why not?
The one thing that this essay could improve is length. I don’t think it needs eight pages to be effective. Some of the information was unnecessary and sprawling. Maybe if it was reduced to five or six pages it could be more effective than it already is, but it’s really not that important.
Szwed’s essay is an interesting philosophy pertaining to life as we know it. Literacy is important, but he argues that Americans are not grateful for the gift to read, and are slowly turning against it. He points to an example of using books for decoration. Although it can make a house look nice, if the books aren’t read there useless.
He also says that a problem today is the way literacy is viewed because it is seen as something for the wealthy elite, not the average working class man. This model is outdated and wrong, according to the author, and needs to be changed if there will be progress.
In conclusion, this piece was very effective. It combined clear language with interesting ideas; it wasn’t too long and made a resonating point. I enjoyed reading this piece and feel Szwed it an excellent author. I give this piece an eight out of ten.
English 354
2-16-06
Reading Response Six
For this response, I am discussing “The Ethnography of Literacy by John F. Szwed. This was a look at the current school of thought on literacy in America and made a lot of interesting points. This essay discusses different types of literacy and how it is difficult to measure because there are so many different kinds.
What worked particularly well in the piece was the discussion of trends in literacy. I had no idea that fiction, poetry and drama were on the decline but non-fiction was ascending. This says a lot about what Americans think is important to read and maybe says our society is not concerned with creativity as a whole anymore.
The essay is written in a very informal, easy to comprehend style. This was a refreshing change from the normally stuffy, bloated academic essays that this class has required in the past. The ideas were much easier to follow than in almost any other essay we have read this semester.
The piece details different kinds of literacy and states that all we know about modern literacy is enough to cast doubts on previous assumptions. This piece asks the question how literate is literate? Does reading/understanding a novel make a person literate or does the ability to read a stop sign? Why or why not?
The one thing that this essay could improve is length. I don’t think it needs eight pages to be effective. Some of the information was unnecessary and sprawling. Maybe if it was reduced to five or six pages it could be more effective than it already is, but it’s really not that important.
Szwed’s essay is an interesting philosophy pertaining to life as we know it. Literacy is important, but he argues that Americans are not grateful for the gift to read, and are slowly turning against it. He points to an example of using books for decoration. Although it can make a house look nice, if the books aren’t read there useless.
He also says that a problem today is the way literacy is viewed because it is seen as something for the wealthy elite, not the average working class man. This model is outdated and wrong, according to the author, and needs to be changed if there will be progress.
In conclusion, this piece was very effective. It combined clear language with interesting ideas; it wasn’t too long and made a resonating point. I enjoyed reading this piece and feel Szwed it an excellent author. I give this piece an eight out of ten.
posted by Dan at 12:51 AM
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