Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Multiple Literacies? Or Humanities B.S.?

I think that there are multiple definitions of literacy. I do not
think that it applies to just the reading and writing aspect. I think
that it can be applied to other subjects like chemistry and math,
computers and there are an abundance of other things that it can
pertain to. One of my friends who is a journalism major exemplifies
this exactly. My friend is a journalism major because she is an
excellent writer. She also can understand things in literature that
most people do not. If she had to take any sort of chemistry or upper
level math class she would probably die. She has told me several
times before that she would fail miserably if she was any type of
class like that. She does not understand numbers and symbols used in
math or know the difference between reactants and products in
chemistry. Her brain sees figurative language and underlying meanings
in literature. This is why I feel that literacy can pertain to many
different things.
-Cordonier

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The multiple literacy idea is very true. Some people can excell in certain areas such as math, science, english, or a foreign language. All my life I was an English person. I always performed well in English class and enjoyed being there. Math class was a different story. I only got to the introductory level of geometry in highschool because I was so "Math Iliterate." I absolutley hate math. Thats why I am an English major. I've heard of famous musicians who are so musically brilliant that every other aspect of their life suffers. The guitar player from the Red Hot Chili Peppers is a musical genious. He is an accomplished and successful man. Did you know he can't drive a car? Did you kno he can't balance his check book? There isn't anything wrong with him but thats just on instance that proves that some people are literate in other ways than other people.


Chris Progar

Anonymous said...

I think multiple literacies is very true .People can become very successful, even famous because they are literate in something.I think it goes further then subjects like math,science,and english though.Many people are literate in things like acting,sports,singing,and cars. When it comes to cars, my boyfriend can do every and any thing to any kind of car.I believe everyone has something they are great at and should be very proud of what ever it may be.

Tamara Gilmore

Anonymous said...

I would have to agree with Cordonier about the many definitions of literacy. I agree with her in that literacy is not just in english but also in math, sports, and computers, etc. Like we were talking about in class the definitions of literacy are being able to use basic functions, competant of a subject, and just understanding the workings of a certain subject. Giving an example of myself, is that I am so illeterate when it comes to reading, but when it comes to computers or math it comes so easy to me.
-Stephanie Learn

Anonymous said...

I agree with everyone saying there are multiple definitions of literacy. When I told my roommate what I had to blog about she started telling me about an activity her english class did that day. They each had to make a list of seven categories that they feel they would help them win during a game of Jeopardy. She continued to tell me some of the categories she picked: her home town, candy, and Laguna Beach. This made me realize that not only are there many categories of literacy, such as reading, math, writing, and computers, but basically you can have literacy about something as long as you can know and understand it.

-Andrew

JG said...

Crap! Now you know what we're doing tomorrow!

At least you know it'll probably be fun!

Anonymous said...

Everyone has a different "literacy level" for everything. Like Progar
said, the RHCP guitarist can play the guitar like I can drive a car,
but I can't play the guitar and he can't drive. Literacy can not be
confined to how well you read or write or speak. Fifty percent of the
US can not fill out a job application. Just because they don't know
how to fill it out doesn't mean they can't do the job they are applying
for.
-Cunningham

Anonymous said...

I also agree with the fact that there are multiple literacies. I am very illiterate in math, don't ask me how though! Haha, joking! When reading an article or anything, I usually do not understand the first time. My boyfriend is another one who can do anything with cars at all,but has a tutor in math because he is not very good. Some people are just very illiterate in some subjects or items and literate in others, that's just life.

O'Roke