Sponsors for Literacy
My Literary Sponsors
In order to understand how a person becomes literate, it is best to look at the sponsors of literacy that allowed for that person to learn how to read and write. Literary sponsors can come in many different forms and will differ greatly depending on a persons social class, family, and access to education. For some people becoming literate was a part of childhood and was as normal as learning to walk. For others becoming literate was a seemingly impossible obstacle that they had to overcome. The best way to understand the subject of literacy is to compare very different people and analyze who or what became their literary sponsors.
My earliest memories of reading and writing go back to when I was very young, my parents would read me a bedtime story every night before bed. At this time I was too young to read the words myself but I loved the stories and would soon want to be able to read my own. My parents were my first and largest literary sponsor. They filled my room with books and gave me every opportunity to learn how to read. After my parents had started my course to literacy my next sponsor would be my elementary school. I can remember sitting in class and sounding out the letters of the alphabet. Then we learned the sounds that came from combining certain letters together. Finally we could put all of this together and read and sound out words. Once we had this base for how to read the school system helped me go from being able to read very simple words and sentences to being able to read anything I desired. This transition from illiterate to literate seemed very natural for me because I was fortunate to have two very good sponsors that both encouraged me and provided me with all the necessary resources to be successful. Unfortunately this is not the situation for many people and their path to literacy would face much more adversity.
Sherman Alexie grew up on an Indian Reservation in Eastern Washington. Similar to me he had a father who strongly encouraged him to read. Despite being a fairly poor family his father filled his house with books and was his strongest literary sponsor. (Alexie) However, he did not have the benefit of having a strong school system to act as another literary sponsor. The school system and the mentality of the people on his reservation were actually negative sponsors for him. Becoming educated was actually frowned upon by the people who surrounded him in school and in his community. (Alexie) This made his fathers sponsorship extremely important for him to learn how to read and write. Having access to a vast quantity of books and a dad who constantly encouraged him to read were the only reason he became literate. This however was not a normal situation for kids on his reservation and many of the other children in his community never learned how to read. Sherman Alexie was able to become literate without the help of a school system because of his fathers great efforts to help him and provide him with the necessary resources. Malcolm X however, had to face this challenge without a school or parental sponsor.
Malcolm X went to school through the Eighth grade. The education system he was in failed at teaching him to read. His family had not been able to teach him this skill either and he was an illiterate street hustler. (X,1992) During his time on the streets he was convicted of robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison. This unfortunate event ended up being his most powerful literary sponsor. During his time in jail Malcolm X became frustrated with his inability to communicate with Elijah Muhammad through letters. In his frustration he requested a dictionary from the prison library and began writing down every word of every page.(X,1992) He painstakingly taught himself how to read and expanded his vocabulary. Due to a large donation, the prison he was in had an extensive library which he spent the remainder of his time in prison reading from.(X,1992) His ability to read was the product of his desire to communicate through writing and his access to books and time from the prison system. His literary sponsors came in a different shape then most peoples but provided the same essential ingredients to become literate, access to books and encouragement to read.
Literary sponsors are who or what have allowed us to become literate. Once we learn how to write our sponsors will stay with us for the rest of our lives. In “All Writing is Autobiography” Donald Murray discusses how everything we write has a unique style that was created by our life experiences. Our access to books and more importantly what type of books our sponsors provide for us is a major factor in the style of writing that a person develops. About his own style Murray says “My voice is the product of Scottish genes and a Yankee environment, of Baptist sermons and the newspaper city room, of all the languages I have heard and spoken.” Everyone has a unique style of writing just like everyone has unique literary sponsors.
The challenge of becoming literate can only be overcome with literary sponsors. In “Sponsors of Literacy” Deborah Brandt states “Sponsors are a tangible reminder that literacy learning throughout history has always required permission, sanction, assistance, coercion, or, at minimum, contact with existing trade routes.” Sponsors will be different for everyone. They change depending on a person’s family, social class, and surrounding community. No matter what form they come in they are essential in enabling a person to become literate.
Work Cited
Brandt, D. (1997). The sponsors of literacy. Albany, N.Y.: National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement, University at Albany, State University of New York ;.
Murray, D. (n.d.). All Writing Is Autobiography. College Composition and Communication, 66-66.
X, M., & Haley, A. (1992). The autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books.
Alexie, S. (1998). The Joy of Reading and Writiung: Superman and Me. Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times.
