Images of Empowerment 3b

Flowers opens the fifth chapter entitled "Images of Empowerment" with a discussion of what empowerment means. By examining who is being empowered, for what, and how, Flowers builds a working theory of empowerment. The scripts for empowerment involve speaking appropriatley, speaking up, speaking against, and speaking with. Flowers points to a set of cultural differences that may potentially disrupt intercultural communication in the speaking appropriatley section. In speaking up, Flowers talks about the expressivist tradition in writing and mentions Gloria Anzaldua. Anzaldua's distinctive writing style reflects the frustrations of the marginalized members of our society and point to the double binaries that exist in the formation of one's identity.

Defining Community Literacy (Weekly Writing # 2)

In Part I of her book Linda Flowers discusses how we as a society define terms such as community and literacy. Communities, Flowers claims, are a symbolic construction. Her definition of the term community seems to fit since the word has different meaning to varying peoples. By surveying the landscape around the Community House in her native Pittsburgh, Flowers highlights the fact within the diverse landscape of Pittsburgh there are three kinds of communities. Pittsburgh, like many large cities in America, is a civic community in which individuals are loosely connected with one another. Flowers envisions community literacy as a  kind of fourth community. This community is more in line with the familial sense of the word, and works to create a place to talk across difference. After discussing in depth what makes a community, Flowers talks about how her idea of community literacy shares similarities with John Dewey's vision of progressive education as well as Enlightenment ideals. Flowers is concerned with bringing silenced or marginalized voices forward within the community.

Goody talk about the effects literacy has had on society. By examining writing forms in ancient societies like the Sumerians and Egyptians, Goody shows how the construction of an Alphabetical system influences speech and thought. While acknowledging the importance of the Alphabet, Goody also mentions lists as evidence for the cognitive effects of literacy. Goody examines the written texts of Mesopotamia which often came in the form of administrative lists. Lists Goody explains are a form of oral communication separate from speech, which represents "modes of thought". When we arrange words in a list, we are classifying that object. Goody uses lists written by ancient literate cultures to show the impact writing has on the world and our psyche.

Schriber and Cole continue talking about the effects of literacy on society. They argue that the invention of the alphabetic system has changed the basic forms of human memory. Scribner and Cole examine the Vai culture, specifically the phonetic writing system they invented and continue to use. Since the Vai have no formal schooling, Schribner and Cole are able to see the relationship between literacy and thinking more clearly. They speculate that literacy impacts memory, communication skills, and language analysis. By taking a look at the intricacies of the Vai alphabet, we see that how we learn to read and write effects the way we write and even the way we think.


   

Introductions

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Josh and I am aspiring to be an English teacher. Reading is something I do both out of habit and necessity. Whether it is Greek mythology, the back of a shampoo bottle, poetry, or my car manual I love to read. I read anything I can get my hands on because I enjoy it and find it relaxing. When I am not reading or reflecting about something I have read I am probably playing the guitar or watching sports on television. I hope that this Community Literacy class can show me how I can teach others to enjoy, or at least appreciate, reading. Finding out new ways for me to utilize my enthusiasm for reading in the community is something else I hope to learn in this course. My expectations are that this course will show me how I can take my passion for reading and writting and apply it in the real world.