Tag Archive for: dept-none-3

The development of literacy in today’s society has decreased due to the lack of participation, the lack of understanding, and the lack of sponsors. According to Deborah Brandt, “Sponsors, as I have come to think of them, are any agents, local or distant, concrete 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 166). Sponsors are your mentors who can help you in any way whether it being religiously, support in reality, or in this case the development of literacy. In Deborah Brandt’s article, she thoroughly explains that through sponsors, you can learn so much more than you expect to, and those who don’t have sponsors are unaware of their capabilities. Growing up, I looked up to my sister as a sponsor. Through her strong will in teaching, support, and strong influence, I consider my sister as my biggest sponsor in life.
Growing up in a household with two Filipino parents, I always felt so disadvantaged. My friends growing up had a parent that was an English teacher at our local High School or a professor at a nearby University. On top of that, my parents were busy working every day 8am-6pm and after they would come home tired but they still had the energy to cook for my sister and I. After dinner, they usually would watch television and relax before heading to bed. At a young age, my parents wanted my sister and I to be involved in our community and understand the concept of giving back. So in my younger days, my sister and I were apart of different clubs and outside activities such as Girl Scouts, Concert Band, Piano lessons, and Youth Group. My parents only wanted the best for our family. However, they failed to realize my struggles with school at a young age. Every time I asked my parents for help with homework, writing assignments, or just to study, they would always say, “Go ask your sister”.
In elementary school, I always struggled with comprehension in English class. Every night, I remember being embarrassed to ask my sister for something she didn’t technically have to help me with since it wasn’t her job. However, every night she would sit with me and help me do my homework and improve my comprehension skills. I had a hard time with understanding what I read without having to reread the text multiple times. My sister inspired me to try harder and gave me some tips on my reading skills. We would constantly do small exercises using the books or toys our parents would buy us. I remember using the Leap Frog books that when you press the pen on the text of the book, it would read it out loud for you. We would use that concept through every sentence I would read in my regular books and then I would have to give my feedback to my sister to let her know that I understand and if I didn’t give a good enough answer, she would have me reread the text again. In Malcom X’s article Learning to Read, he states, “Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened” (X 2). Knowing that reading was a big necessity in every day life, he knew he had to learn. Being able to read and write is what makes life crazy. Reading can teach you so much and help you become more knowledgeable whether it being the dictionary or just a simple street sign. Malcolm X used his time in prison wisely to further his education and picking up a dictionary and becoming literate. Through my sister’s strong will in teaching me, I truly look up to her as one of my sponsors of literacy and helping me understand what I was reading.
Much like Sherman Alexie, I was clueless on reading and comprehending. Whenever I read a text, I had no idea what I had just read and resulted in just looking at the pictures. In The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, Alexie states, “I cannot read the words, but I assume it tells me that ‘Superman is breaking down the door” (Alexie 12-13). With the aspiration of being like his father, I much wanted to be like my sister. In the article, Alexie claims to have taught himself to read through the love his father had with books. He took his knowledge and placed it in the hands of other children as well to help them succeed and become educated with an everyday tool. Instead of becoming a Pediatrician, he decided to write novels and short stories and shared it with young children. Although they refused his education away, he still continued to force his knowledge to help them. With the dedication of my sister, I realized that I must give my all for her. Growing up with my sister, I looked up to her for helping me when my parents weren’t able to. She inspired me to also help others which is why I’m now majoring in Psychology to help children with disabilities.
Reading and writing is very essential for society today. Through the hardships of reading and writing, I learned to put my knowledge on paper. Recently I have enjoyed writing my feelings down on paper to help me appreciate my life more. Whether it being writing why I’m mad or writing about what I’m thankful for, I find writing as a getaway from reality. Putting my thoughts down on paper, helps me to organize my life out. In Donald Murray’s All Writing Is Autobiography, he claims, “Writing autobiography is my way of making meaning of the life I have led and am leading and may lead” (Murray 69-70). Writing about my own life helps me find meaning. Without the sponsorship of my sister, I would probably still be struggling with comprehension.
Bibliography

Alexie, Sherman. “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me.” The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading. Eds. Michael Dorris and Emilie Buchwald. Minneapolis: Milkweed, 1997. Web. 29 May 2015. http://www.pasadena.edu/files/syllabi/stvillanueva_39386.pdf
Brandt, Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” College Composition and Communication. 49.2 (1998): 165-185. Jstor. Web. 29 May 2015.
Malcolm X. “Learning to Read.” The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Random House, 1964. Web. 29 May 2015.
Murray, Donald M.. “All Writing Is Autobiography.” College Composition and Communication. 42.1 (1991): 66-74. Jstor. Web. 29 May 2015.

This week’s challenge assignment was to research and report on social issues that are relevant to us. There are many things that we must be aware of, as students and as members of society. Some of the social issues I believe that we should be taking more action with are being more “green” and recycling more, being more involved in LGBTQIA rights, as well as proper sex education for the masses.

Many colleges nowadays are contending to be the “greenest” campus. I think the issue of recycling and pollution is important because it not only affects people, but it also affects animals and more obviously affects our earthly home. I’ve seen many shock-value images that aim to get people to recycle and not pollute, but I think that we as society must do more to protect ourselves, the animals, and the earth.

When the Supreme Court ruled that all marriages are legal in all states, it was a major win for the LGBTQIA community! There is no doubt that this change alone has altered so many lives for the better. It is important to recognize what this community sees a lot of hate and faces many challenges, but they won something big and are finally stepping towards the right direction. However, this community still has a long way to go. The LGBTQIA community still faces a lot of discrimination and hate; they are still fighting for many rights. I believe that as a society, we must help this community in any way we can, whether it is through organizing clubs for awareness or donating to charities such as The Trevor Project. For a community that has seen so much tragedy over the decades, we must work together to achieve a place of peace.

Sexual education in some conservative parts of America is dismal. In my own health book in high school, sexual education was only two pages of information, and it still left me with so many questions. Leaving the youth with these questions does nothing to inform them of STIs as well as available methods of birth control and the fluidity of both sexuality and gender. These questions will either go unanswered, or they will be turned to the Internet which can foster a myriad of different answers that can be fueled by opinion. I understand that the “innocence” of the youth is something that people want to protect for as long as they can, however this “innocence” can turn into ignorance. In order to better educate the future of our generations, the youth, and even the adults, must be taught to the fullest extent.

These are just some of the issues that I felt most connected to, and I also believe that we can accomplish much for these issues if we really get into them and get involved instead of just reading about them.

This week the Student Research Steering Council is sponsoring a roundtable of student researchers. Aimed at current students, the roundtable will focus on students’ research experiences. Student presenters will provide advice about how to get involved in research and how they have benefitted from their research experiences.

• Date: September 17^th
• Time: 5.45-7.00
• Place: Anacapa Commons

The objective of the roundtable is to empower students to pursue student research. Among the questions panelists will address are:

• Is research scary?
• Have you had notable successes in your research?
• Have you had notable failures?
• How did you first get involved?
• How did you first approach a faculty member to get involved?
• What’s it like to work with a faculty member?
• What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in research?
• What are your future plans?
• Did research cause you to change your plans?
• How will research help you as you move to grad school or into the workforce?
• What do you think Freshman and Sophomore students need to know about research?

Plenty of time will be allowed for audience questions. All students are welcome to attend.

by

The overwhelming feeling of excitement and nervousness was completely consuming me, I sat quietly waiting in desperate hope of seeing a familiar face, nothing yet however was early. I look forward and there she is, an amazingly tall woman, thin, brittle, short blonde hair, and a serious face with a slight hint of excitement dwelling within it. our eyes meet and I smile an awkward smile, she smiles back but her smile is telling me that I’m in for a hell of an year. I’m not exactly sure how I feel,  I suppose i’m slightly intimidated. I finally see two familiar faces my two friends and we sit together, as class commences I see everyone is feeling intimidates as well. Who knew AP language and composition would be so frightening, perhaps it was the teachers introduction to the course, were she stated that all those who think they can write realize they actually can not when they take her class, however she did reassure us that once the course was over we would be more developed writers due to the amount of work we were going to have and the high demands she had for it. She was absolutely correct.

It was our first writing assignment, I believe we had to read Kate Chopin’s “The awakening” and do an analytical essay were you simply had to analyze the novel in regards to theme,  foreshadowing, character analysis, symbolism…etc. So there I was orchestrating my outline. Then I really dove in and began analyzing the novel, dissecting and utilizing what fascinated me into my paper. I loved the novel, I believe I was the only. I recall my classmates saying it was extremely boring and a few even said they did not bother reading it and simply got their information of cliff notes because of how dull the read was. Nevertheless I kept reading, completely enthralled by the novel, I began to really comprehend the protagonist Edna Pontellier and her actions. The protagonist Edna was an absolute symbol of freedom and independence to me, her entire character was so audacious, it intrigued me. It was a Very feminist novel, which is why I think I loved it so much, not only did it illustrate the overwhelming amount of social oppression women faced in the late nineteenth century along with the dreadful gender roles expected from women, but it illustrated a brave young women who attempted to break away from all the oppression and become independent. The resemblance of the novel to my absolute favorite novel being Oscar Wilde’s “The picture of Dorian Gray ” is what ultimately captivated me about the novel although Wilde’s novel touched more on hedonism and Chopin’s more on feminism.

I recall sitting in my desk at home and reading Chopin with Wilde’s novel right beside me as I took in every word of the novel with such a fascination that time even seized to exist for the moment. I felt confident about my Essay and even began to read Wilde’s “the Picture of Dorian Gray” for the third time to compare the themes of freedom they bot shared in regards to being what one wants to be opposed to what society demands. Nonetheless, noting the compelling nature of the two novels I further compared their resolutions that inevitably led to death or the refutable conclusion of suicide in the novels. It was an intriguing assignment, however I would soon learn I was missing something.

As I wrote my essay I focused primarily on the social norms in the late nineteenth century and Edna’s action that were deemed degrading in that era. I also focused on Chopin’s diction, her eloquence, symbolism, and foreshadowing. The due date was approaching, I could not think of anything besides my paper, I was beyond excited to turn in my paper. It reminds me a lot of the article “writing to remember and reflect” by Toby Fulwiler were he states that as students we all want to give our teachers our paper and hear them say the magical and esteemed words that it was really good because we’ve put so much of ourselves into it. Dwelling on his statement now I don’t think I’ve read anything more relate able to that in my life. It’s like what Basil Hallward said when Lord Henry Wotton asked why he so fervently refuses to exhibit his portrait of Dorian Gray at the Grosvenor, ” I really can’t exhibit it. I have put too much of myself into it.” those statements were my precise thoughts and feelings at the time and they were consuming me entirely.

The due date finally arrived, it all seemed so swift like sleeping for ten minutes and later awakening to an infectious feeling of rejuvenation taking over and providing waves of energy and life. I walked to class and spoke to a few of my fellow peers before entering the classroom, they were also excited to see what the teacher had to say. We walked and in unison my peers and I reached into our backpacks and pulled out our papers then stifling to the tray laying our papers one after the other. The teacher was very short on the topic that day all she said was that she would try to have them all done and graded by next week and after that once we received our papers we would commence revisions.

It was Friday afternoon and the winter was crisp and paralyzing, we all shuffled around outside the classroom until she came to open the door. The warmth of the classroom impacted us all like a wave on the rocks, it was heaven. We all quickly sat, she immediately began walking around handing out the papers, however I noticed she was handing them all face down. I felt slightly uneasy upon this discovery, but she finally came and put my paper down on my desk, face down. I took it and to my utter surprise it was covered in red pen markings.

Looking at all the red pen markings was overwhelmingly difficult. I did not read anything they said I simply put my paper away and began to observe. Many of my fellow peers were distraught at the sight of the white and now suddenly red papers. Others were spilling with anger and frustration. The rest I would say were puzzled and very absorbed by their papers taking their time and analyzing their feedback with a look of disbelief in their face. It was after school and I was standing in line to buy football tickets for that night, the line was long so I decided to take a look at the paper and began reading the comments. My paper consisted of various “stupid” “awkward” and simply crossed out sentences and paragraphs with “?” on it. I could not stop looking at the “stupid” comment written on my paper. I guess she was correct when she said that we thought we knew how to write but in reality did not. I was suddenly filled with encouragement, I realized I was able to comprehend the assignments, I was just not able to translate my knowledge on paper. I suppose that disability at the time is something I shared with Malcolm X as he states that he “became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters” in “learning to read.”

Filled with encouragement and determination to improve I began listening intently to her lectures, asked questions, stayed up late at night making sure my work was as perfect as I could make it, and I even spoke to my peers to help one another out. We acknowledged our literacy was not at the level she was demanding it to be at and with only the options of improving and propelling forward or dropping the class, we pushed forward. Acquiring the level of literacy needed to be successful in the class and in the future was a tedious and complex task that I struggled in. However it was that precise paper and her audacious comments that unveiled my impediment and allowed me to pin point what needed work to improve it.

Mid year we were all meeting her demands and the class became more of a competition rather than a challenge. It was truly a great experience. Despite the early feelings of inferiority due to her methods of “constructive criticism,” it’s honestly what infected everyone with a wild determination to overcome that class. I will never forget that paper and my teacher, i am thankful for the experience especially because I was later able to pass the AP test and get into another AP class. It was all very similar to Deborah Brandt’s “sponsors of literacy”  were like Lowery the demands of literacy being set were foreign to me. However I was able to overcome this and progress in my reading and ultimately in my writing.

Wilde, Oscar. The picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Barnes & Noble books, 2003. print.

Fulwiler, Toby. College writing: a personal approach to academic writing, 3rd ed. Portsmouth, NH : Boynton/Cook Publishers, Inc. 2002.

Malcolm X. “Learning to read and Write.”The Autobiography of Malcolm x. New York: Random House, 1964. Web. 29 May 2015.

Brandt, Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” College Composition and Communication. 49.2 (1998): 165-185. Jstor. Web. 29 May 2015.