Michelle Wilson ENGL 1101-040 Professor Dutta Mid-Semester Quiz What is m Literac !

Literac " definition is the a"ilit to read and #rite accordin$ to the We"ster dictionar % ho#e&er ' #ould li(e to "elie&e it is a #ord that encom)asses an act of learnin$ done " a human "ein$* 't is somethin$ #hich almost all +merican citizens no# ta(e for $ranted% if in fact ' thin( hard on the su",ect of Literac ' realize that it is &er fortunate to "e in a )lace #ere "ein$ literate is somethin$ common and e-)ected of " others* +s ' read throu$h the researcher re)ort " Leseman in )re)aration for class some da s a$o% it lead me to "e$in thin(in$ a"out ,ust #hat e-actl is m o#n literac com)rised of* Li(e Leseman ' #ill di&ide m anal sis of literac into four main conce)tual areas "ein$ o))ortunit % instruction% coo)eration% and socio-emotional .ualit * ' am also limitin$ the area of o"ser&ation% m literac domain% to that of the home en&ironment /Due to m en&ironment $ro#in$ u)% ho#e&er communit and home o&erla) $reatl % this is "etter e-)lained in the ne-t )ara$ra)h of this essa 0* ' am doin$ this for the sa(e of clarit and sim)licit for "oth m self and for ou% the reader of this )iece% in attem)t to limit confusin$ to)ic-crossin$ as much as )ossi"le* Gro#in$ u)% ' must admit that ' ne&er trul had a )ermanent home* Since m father #as in the militar #e mo&ed from state to state sta in$ onl a"out t#o ears in an one location and u) to 1 in an re$ion of +merica* +dditionall ' also come from a

famil of man different cultural "ac(dro)s and s)ea(in$ t#o lan$ua$es at home* M famil is some#hat uni.ue "ein$ a mi- of Scottish% 2is)anic% and 3hinese in herita$e* 'n a #a 4hese circumstances )ro&ided me #ith man o))ortunities such as access to different re$ional customs and traditions% and the a"ilit to lea&e this countr and see another5s cultures* 6rom these ' $ained literac on ho# to ada)t and acce)t almost an situation* +fter all it is hard to constantl mo&e a"out if ou are not a"le to find solutions in order to ma(e ourself more comforta"le #ith all the ne# thin$s around ou* M )arents also reall &alued education so ' had to (ee) m $rades hi$h in school and stud a lot #hen ' #as at home* ' #ent to se&eral different schools fi&e or si- that ' could name off the to) of m head* 4his is )ro"a"l the reason m )arents )laced such &alue on m education% ' thin( the ma ha&e "een #orried that there #ould "e $a)s in m learnin$ due to all the mo&in$ a"out* 4he al#a s )ro&ided me #ith an "oo(s or tools that ' #anted or needed to "e a"le learn* 4heir coo)eration and s)onsorshi) in m education #as #hat dro&e me to as)ire to ta(e ad&anta$e of an o))ortunit that ' can find no#% as ' realize that alone these are difficult to find* 4he one thin$ #hich #as #ron$ #ith m learnin$ or literac at home #as that #ith the amount of mo&in$ around ' feel li(e ' "ecame a "it more isolated from e&er thin$ that #as $oin$ on around me* 4he socio-emotional )art of m de&elo)in$ literac lac(ed some (e )arts of the 7social7 )art of the conce)t% so m home8communit literac is some#hat of a lonel e-)erience ' #ould su))ose as ' met lots of )eo)le "ut ne&er reall $ot to (no# them #ell*

4o summarize and conclude% m literac en&ironment #as &er rich and full of su))ort et also #as &er isolated* M home #as the communit and m communit #as

m home "ecause the constantl chan$ed% no# that is chan$in$ and se)aratin$ those t#o domains*