Taylor Richards

Professor Jan Rieman

Sponsors of Literacy Assignment

English 1103

Due: Feb. 2, 2011

Recognition to the “sponsors” of my Educational Journey

As Deborah Brandt quotes in her essay “Sponsors of Literacy” a

Sponsor of Literacy can be defined as “any agents, local or distant, concert

or abstract, who enable support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate,

suppress, or withhold literacy—and gain advantage by it in some way”

(Brandt 407) Many people and other outside factors will influence the way a

person has learned to read or write. Most people perceive being literate as

being able to read and write. However, this is not always the case. You can

be literate in any subject as long as you posses the skills to be fluent in that

required subject. Some people may be computer literate, math literate,

musical literate, and numerous of other subjects.

Most children learn to read at an early stage in life. I owe thanks to my

mother for first contributing to my learning of how to read and write. I

remember many hours and nights spent at my desk doing homework with

my mother by my side. She tried to teach me how to write with those large

lined pieces of papers that kids learn to write their letters on. Learning to

read and write while young is often a long drawn out process, but my mom

stuck with me and finally succeeded in teaching me how to effectively read

and write. I owe credit to her for beginning my process of reading and

writing.

There have also been many effective teachers during my schooling

over the years that have also contributed to my learning of different reading

and writing skills. My second grade teacher, named Mrs. Tomlinson,

contributed into helping me read better and also improved my handwriting

where it could be legible. She was a kind woman, to which I found a great

deal of affection to. Since she was so nice and caring, it was easy for me to

learn from her and enjoy her teaching on a personal level. Further into my

schooling years, I had a teacher in my junior year of high school that

deserves credit for my ability to write formal papers and help argue my

point. Her name was Mrs. Agee; she was probably one of the most helpful

teachers I have ever had. She worked with students on a more personal level

to identify different writing problems and also different writing strengths. I

stayed many days after school to receive help on the numerous papers that

we had assigned in that class. Even though that class was hard and required

much work, I enjoyed it once I acquired the appropriate skills and learning.

Mrs. Agee made writing fun for me, and she also taught me how to do it in

the appropriate manner. Thanks to her, today I am able to write many

essays, research papers, and creative writing papers during my college

career. Not only did she give me the necessary skills to write, she gave me a

fun way of looking at writing to where I could thoroughly enjoy it.

 My church has also played a role into a type of literacy present in my

life. I have sang in my church choir for many years, so this could be

considered a musical literacy, as well as, a religious literacy. Singing church

hymns and songs contributes to the religion part, but one must learn how to

sing, read notes, and sing along with others. My singing skills can be

contributed to my choir direction, Barbara Geer. We have sang in many

different competitions and I have progressed over the years in understand

the different levels of music and singing. I wish I had the abilities and the

access to learn how to actually play a musical instrument. I believe that

playing an instrument is one way to express yourself. I am also a big fan of

different types of music, so I would love to be able to play different kinds of

instruments during my free time.

As in Malcolm X’s article “Learning how to Read”, we find that he had

the inner motivation to teach himself a certain type of literacy. I believe if

most people had this motivation and drive to learn a certain subject; then

most people could be fluent in that type of literacy. Malcolm X is perceived

as a famous public speaker, as well as, a famous writer worldwide today. To

me, is it ironic that he never had any formal education to contribute to his

famous attitudes and beliefs. Sherman Alexie is another example of a person

that overcame the hard situations that he was placed in, to better himself

and make something out of his own education. In his article “The Joy of

Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, we see a minority Indian boy

whom taught himself to read and write through comic books. Both of these
cases were minority citizens whom may have not received equal treatment

at their time, but they both overcame different situations to make an effort

in learning specific types of literacy. Most people can learn any given

literacy, if they will take the time and make the effort to do so.

Throughout a lifetime, many people will have different factors that

influence their literacy skills. Some of these factors can impact them

positively or negatively, directly or indirectly; but either way, it will make a

person unique and their writing unique as well. During my life, I have had

different teachers, situations, and my parents to influence my writing ability.

I am thankful for all those who have inhibited me and helped me through the

years, otherwise, my writing would not be where it is today.