Feb. 8th Homework

Baron Summary:
In his article "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies", Dennis Baron talks about how his frustrations with how technology has made our population very lazy.

QD: 2, 4, 6
2. Yes, I do agree that this is one of Baron's messages, but I don't agree with the message. I don't think the new technology is making us "lazy", but just expanding our knowledge and it's a more efficient way of communicating.
4. I think of cameras (not digital) and CD's. These used to be really big back in the day, but now there are digital cameras to where you can upload them on to your computer and print out pictures from your own computer and the iPod and MP3 players make CD's no longer useful.
6. I think the images make the reading more interesting and helps to explain his points in a better, more understanding way.

Baron Response:
I didn't really like reading this article because it was kind of confusing and I don't really agree with a lot of the things he was saying, nor do I feel like most other college students would agree with him either.

Malcolm X Summary:
In his writing "Learning to Read", Malcolm X discusses how he learned to write while he was in prison by rewriting the dictionary and writing letters.

QD: 1-4, 6
1. I feel like Malcolm X's article was intended to other people that don't know how to write because it's very inspirational and some people could probably relate to it easily.
2. He defines "literacy" as being able to understand what is being said to you and being able to understand what you're reading. With school-based literacy, they define it as actually being able to read and write effectively.
3. Books, prison, school (until 8th grade), and the library were his literacy sponsors. I would say that the library would be the most influential because the library contains all the books that he needed in order to learn how to write.
4. I think it may have been his case a few times, because he may have misunderstood what some books where saying because of his lack of vocabulary knowledge.
6. I think he probably read more than college students because he actually began to really enjoy it, but I know I don't like reading when I'm forced to do it.

AEI:
I believe that technology gives us more ways to become literate because we can connect with any literacy sponsor at any place, any time, you can search for more things, and it's the fastest way to gain all this knowledge.

Malcolm X Response:
I really enjoyed reading this article just because it is a story that maybe some people can relate to and shows how less fortunate people can really make something of themselves and it was very motivational and inspirational.

Alexie Summary:
In his article "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me", Sherman Alexie talks about how he first learned how to read by looking through comic books.

QD: 1
1. When I was younger, any time that I got a paper back with an A, my confidence rose so much and felt more confident writing papers. When it came to my 7th grade science class, which has never really been a strong subject for me, I remember getting a D on a science project that I actually somewhat tried on, which then made me hate doing science projects.

AEI:
1. I do believe that this is the case because for anyone that has enough motivation and determination, they can do anything that they want to. Even if it seems "too hard" or "too difficult" for someone, if you have the motivation to make yourself better, then you will.

Alexie Response:
I really enjoyed this article because it really showed that less fortunate people can really pull through, even if they don't have all the resources that wealthy people do.