In the reading, "Theorizing the Space for Literacy Practices, a figured world is described as contained environment with specific

significance that only matters within the realm of the figured world and its situation. Within a figured world there are various artifacts present that may be a tangible item, or merely just an idea or concept relative to the specific figured world. Artifacts fill up the empty spaces within a figured world and are of high importance, though outside of that world, may not have any meaning. Besides the artifacts, actors also fill up the empty spaces of a figured world. They are given specific roles to play and take part in tying it all together. Bartlett and Holland define a literacy practice as a combination of culture, community, surroundings, and the people who perceive the specific world. A figured world comes into play when concerning actors and artifacts because technically neither of them can exist without the other. A figured world without actors or artifacts is just simply a specific environment with no life, detail, objects, nor concepts. The same goes vice versa, without a figured world actors and artifacts are just details with no purpose or place where they belong. So a figured world is a space that the actors and artifacts give significance to. Questions: 1. I was slightly confused at what the sociological parts had to do with it? 2. I understand the parts of figured worlds, actors, and artifacts, but seem to have not really understood the rest of the text. I felt like it was alot of rephrasing the same thing and also that some parts did not relate? 3. Do all artifacts ONLY have significance in their one figured world? For example, if the figured world were a classroom and one of the artifacts were a chair, I see that the chair is highly significant in this world, but a chair does not loose its significance outside of a classroom figured world. It has meaning outside of that world and even in other figured worlds, does that not make it an artifact?