Carson Clement 1 Narrative Analysis English 1103 Literacy is Power Group Members: Lexi Turner, Emily Adams, and

Elizabeth Koehler Upon analysis of the papers in my group, one idea shines out: literacy is a form of power. Power exists whenever one person or group is superior over another whenever certain situations arise such as decision making. This idea of power comes at a young age, which is described in both my own and Elizabeths narrative essay. While considering these essays and the so what theme I have noticed that the theme of power has been in all of them. This reflection is based on essays written on literacy and what literacy meant to us during a situation in our life. We can then take these experiences to see how they will effect our future in literacy which is therefore the so what theme. Without the power of knowing how to write with details, how would Lexi have ever gained the confidence to have her story posted on the bulletin board? Emilys great grandmother now held the power to write her name, address, and even sign her own checks all because of the power of literacy. I had power over my classmates simply because I could read and was allowed to read to them. These examples of each of our literacy narratives show how literacy equals power, or in this case ability to control others, in todays society. People often consider those who are illiterate as inferior and as dumb simply because we may not think they can properly read and write but they may be literate in various other talents that help our society just as much as reading and writing. Often people also think that there is a difference in a persons knowledge if they are considered literate. Once you believe that literacy inevitably makes people and

Carson Clement 2 Narrative Analysis English 1103 cultures better, then you also believe that nonliteracy marks nonliterates as intellectually inferior, or less humane and uncivilized.(Lindquist 40). This belief is often found in our book, but also in our essays. Whether literacy is defined as reading and writing or as a simple skill it still can be compared to power. Here, I was the princess! I had the castle of students all listening to me, criss crossed legs on the floor, eyes glued to the pages, and ears just loving every word off of my tongue(Clement 3). As a young reader I had already conducted power over all of the students in the classroom. I was superior to my classmates and held power over them during my time of reading because they did not possess the talent that I had. Other students may have been good at other skills in the classroom, but since I could read I was viewed as superior to them. Although we often view literacy as being able to read and/or write, such as how I was considered literate whenever I was in kindergarten, there are often other forms of literacy that we forget about. For example, we can view literacy as the ability to work on cars. Those who are literate in cars are going to be a better car repairman than a businessman who is trying to fix his car on his own. Even such as Emilys grandmother, She would always teach me about her literacy, which was different flowers and instructions for each (Adams 2). Although Emilys grandmother struggled at reading and writing, she excelled at flowers. She often loved to teach Emily of her literacy as much as Emily loved to teach her to read and write. Literacy as power can often be encouraged by competition. If a person sees that someone is superior to them because of their literacy they may be inspired to become more literate. But as far as reading went, I wanted to beat Catherine Tyree,

Carson Clement 3 Narrative Analysis English 1103 the girl who beat me the summer before, when we were first graders. (Koehler 1). Elizabeth is going to be a more competitive reader and try to win a better prize than those children in her elementary school that would rather sit around all summer and watch cartoons. She takes the competition and the fact that Catherine beat her last year to heart and determined to take the power of literacy into her own hands and read! It is simple that literacy is power and that those who are motivated and excel at a trait in which they are literate will be successful. Although literacy can correlate to power in todays society, this is often a hard obstacle such as what Emilys great grandmother experienced. It was hard for her grandmother, as it is for most, to simply open themselves up and begin new activities to improve themselves and their knowledge. It is not an ability we just wake up one morning and want to do. Literacy in anything often takes practice and hard work, which can often lead to many people simply giving up. I figured my obsessive reading was over, and that it would be next summer until I picked up another book. But that night, before bed, I felt lonely without that steady hardback in my hand(Koehler 4). Elizabeth was pushed to read by the force of competition but then realized she really did love to read. The feeling of having the ability to open up a book and escape to a fantasy land is something that Elizabeth was fond of and became one of her passions. This drive took her to a whole new level where she discovered her love for books. Lexi was often hurt because she could feel herself falling behind in class but she stayed after for tutoring and realized that she was just as good as the other students and began to excel like her teacher knew she could. Literacy is a complex ability in which one must practice in order to excel but each

Carson Clement 4 Narrative Analysis English 1103 one of our narratives possesses great drive in order to grow and take our literacy to a new level. Power can be a good thing in which we become confident in what we are literate in, but we can often become overly confident. In my narrative, I was the child who was very confident in what she was doing and would even challenge the teacher whenever she told me to go back into my role as a student. This can often lead to many struggles of hierarchy especially in the classroom where many children are taught various forms of literacy. Elizabeth wanted to knock the overly confident winner, Catherine, off of her pedestal simply by reading more books that she had during the summer. Although we can see literacy as power, it often allows people to view themselves as a better piece of society. If you watch Stanley and Iris, youll notice that as he moves further and further into the world of the Literate, the more he begins to take on the conventional markers of responsibility and good citizenship he is neater, more confident in his demeanor, more elegant in his movements, even more nattily dressed.(Lindquist 31). This piece from The Elements of Literacy, shows how being literate can shape a person and make him/her more confident in society. I had the power to read to my class and therefore walked with my head up into that class the same way that Stanley viewed himself in society towards the end of the movie. These examples exhibit how literacy can alter a person and make them a more confident and educated person in society. Although these examples of literacy all have to do with reading and writing they can also have to do with other forms of literacy that can equally benefit a culture.

Carson Clement 5 Narrative Analysis English 1103 It is clear to me whenever I read over these essays that power is an outstanding factor which is often visible in any form of literacy whether it be reading, writing, or developing some other task. It is important for those of us who are literate to not view literacy as superior to others but try to help those who are not as fortunate. It is also important to not view literacy as simply reading and writing but take it to the next level as to any expertise that we express and can share with others. We should not become over confident in our expertise but use these, such as literacy, in their different forms to help educate others who would love to learn and become more literate in their lives.

Carson Clement 6 Narrative Analysis English 1103 Works Cited Adams, Emily. "My Focal Point." English 1103. UNC Charlotte, 2011. Clement, Carson. "The Bossy Little Princess." English 1103. UNC Charlotte, 2011. Koehler, Elizabeth. "The Day I Lost." English 1103. UNC Charlotte, 2011. Lindquist, Julie, and David Seitz. The Elements of Literacy. New York: Pearson, 2009. Turner, Lexi. English 1103. UNC Charlotte, 2011.