How Hailey Became Literate As Pi Beta Phi

The discourse community I have chosen is within my sorority, Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delta). There are many stereotypes associated with Tri Delta, and that is the most irritating thing about being in a sorority. Anyone from my high school would insist that I am not a sorority girl if someone were to ask them. When I started my fall semester, I was not expecting to rush because once again again, I am not the “sorority type”. Greek life at Boise State is unlike any other campus. Some may think that being in a sorority is all about social standing, parties, and being better than the people around you. In reality, it is the exact opposite. For the rest of this paper, I am going to prove to you why Tri Delta is a discourse community.

In “Sponsors of Literacy,” author Deborah Brandt attempts to explain literacy, its history, and how there are influences that form the way we learn and practice literacy. Brandt argues that the forces that influence an individual’s literacy are sponsors of literacy. Some “forces” that Brandt discusses are influential people, such as parents, siblings, teachers, and mentors. Other forces can include culture, race, gender, language and location, access to technology, and politics. Brandt described several events in our history to help define what exactly a sponsor of literacy is. She spent several years interviewing people from all walks of life to find their unique literacy history and used them as examples in her writing. Varying ages, backgrounds, and sponsors indicate that literacy changes with each generation and is viewed as a valued commodity.

Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy” attempts to understand literacy by delving into its history and factors that influence how human beings acquire literacy and practice it. She argues that the forces

When thinking about ones literacy, what first comes to mind is reading and writing, but literacy can cover many other aspects of life. It is usually not until a student reaches his or her college years that they realize they are “literate” in anything they are passionate about. This could include sports, technology or music because literacy is defined as “fluency in any given topic” (Writing about Writing 798). I am literate in lacrosse, a sport with rules and vocabulary that most people don’t know about and frankly I would have no idea about those things either if it weren’t for the people that helped me become literate in the sport. Sponsors of literacy often turn up in people’s memories when asked about how he or she became fluent in their

Literacy plays a huge role in many people’s lives everyday, whether it is learning how to read and write for the first time or writing a five-page essay for the hundredth time. We experience literacy differently and have our very own unique stories on how it has impacted our lives and had made us who we are today. It is an essential aspect that I use in my everyday life, such as in relationships, daily interactions with others, and learning. It has become such a powerful aspect and human right in which it allows one to speak his/her mind and in some cases express their opinion to the world. My personal literacy history has shaped me into who I am today because without my experiences I would not have been able to gain the confidence and

Literacy embraces reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Integrating all of these into a literacy program is key. Teachers must provide endless and ongoing opportunities for their student to read, write, listen, and speak.

People are exposed to literacy all throughout their lives through learning and experiences. The way one is exposed to literacy varies from person to person. In Deborah Brandt’s Sponsors of Literacy she states that literacy is not only the ability to read and write but also one’s ability to apply those skills to daily life. One gains much of their literacy through the different sponsors they experience. A sponsor is “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” (46). Throughout Brandt’s essay she gives examples of different types of people who experienced different upbringings with a variety of sponsors.

Literacy plays a huge role in my daily life. Every single day I read and write. Whether it’s writing an email or reading a text message, class assignment, discussion board, etc. My literacy journey is unique because I have had different experiences. As a result, this is how my literacy journey has let me to be the reader that I am.

Integrity is when you do the right thing, even when nobody's watching. “You working with a group cutting bushes in the woods when two of the men started to argue Joe looked up and saw the guy slapping angrily toward each other both raising their axes, and without thinking Joe jumped between the men ‘you give me your axe’ he demanded of one, then he turned to the other ‘and you give me your axe’. Joe took the axes and the fight was over.” (131) Joe showed integrity in that situation because he did the right thing, even if it meant potentially putting himself in danger, even when no one was watching.

Discourse communities are everywhere. Everywhere we and go and almost everything we do relates or falls into a discourse community of some sort. Whether it’s a long, pointless conversation on the phone with a best friend or being part of a school croquet club, it’s part of a unique discourse community in some way. Every discourse has it’s own distinct qualities and almost all have a different way of communicating. These discourses are strong influences on all of our personalities. The way every human in the world acts and communicates is influenced by one or multiple discourse communities.

John Swales (1990), professor of linguistics, defines a discourse community as an exclusive group of people brought together by a common goal. According to John Swales (1990), every discourse community has six characteristics that makes them a discourse community. Overall the group must have a shared goal, in which they communicate with each other through different genres and lexis they have developed; genres are different types of communication that the group employ and lexis is the specialized language utilized by that particular discourse community. They also tend to have a hierarchy within the group and require individual group members to truly participate to be counted as a part of the discourse community. (p. 471-73)

When I first started researching discourse communities I thought to myself. Why were there so many definitions of a discourse community and which one is right? To answer that question, discourse communities are “groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals”(Borg 1). To put this into even simpler terms, every group that you have or ever will be apart of is a discourse community. The discourse communities that you are a part of shape the way you think, write and evaluate others. Every group that you are a part of influences you whether it be your friends, your family, or even your English class. For me, all of the discourse communities that I am apart of influence the way I think and write.

Literacy is defined as being literate, that is, being able to read and write in a language. My personal experience with literacy began at an early age, at the age of 4 when I began to sit and read words and letters in the back of my mother’s car. Soon enough, she would bring me a magazine called “Majed” which, in the 90’s, was a popular magazine. With this, I began even more interested in reading and writing and reviewed every word in the magazine associated with each of the short pictured stories. It was the first memory I deeply recall of literacy and it was what laid the foundation for my personal love of reading and writing. The methodology used for this is an interview. There are three interviews which are analyzed and brought together in the form of a narrative. This narrative serves to better explain the emotions and thoughts that the interviewees had about the idea of literacy.

Where to begin? Literacy has been in invaluable part of my everyday life since I was a child. Whether public speaking, writing or reading; I can say that all three of these areas have been vital parts of my life that have been developed as time went on. However I did not accomplish this alone. Whenever there was writers block I always managed to find a source of inspiration. There were teachers, friends, and family who were always willing and able to guide me and motivate me to accomplish my goals. Throughout everything I can truly say I am glad that I have made it to today.

Throughout life, everyone will face challenges one way or another. Some challenges may be more difficult than others and they may perhaps require one to do something they have never done before but it is never impossible. Literacy is one of the most controversial issues that is talked about and discussed throughout the world. Literacy is having the capability to read and write, and being able to put those abilities to great use. Literacy is the first step into getting an education; without literacy anything else that one wants to learn is nearly impossible. Learning literacy is one of the most common challenges children with Spanish speaking parents’ face, which can be a huge disadvantage for the kids when they enter school. Literacy is