I Am A Teacher : An Assignment About Fatherhood After Watching By Deborah Brandt

In “Sponsors of Literacy,” Deborah Brandt attempts to explain literacy, its history, and how there are influences that form the way we learn and practice literacy. The author talks about how literacy for individuals is in relation to the economics of literacy. Brandt argues that the forces that influence an individual’s literacy are sponsors of literacy. In the text the sponsors are defined as “any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy—and gain an advantage by it in some way” (Brandt 166). Some of these forces Brandt mentions are influential people such as parents, siblings, teachers, and/or mentors. She specified culture, race, gender,

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

In Deborah Brandt’s essay “Sponsors of Literacy,” Brandt describes the process of how people become literate, the effect of their experiences, and influential people on their learning. The term that Brandt uses frequently to describe those who have a profound influence on a child’s learning is “literacy sponsor.” She defines literacy sponsors as, “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,” (Wardle 46). Essentially, Brandt is saying that every literate person has had the support of a person or idea that inspires their desire to read and write. The concept of sponsorship can be applied to fields outside of reading and writing too. There are sponsors of science, sponsors of art, and sponsors of medicine. Similarly, these sponsor help students learn to understand the principles of their individual fields. This paper focuses on the sponsorship of first-year and second-year University of Minnesota Medical School students from the Nu Sigma Nu fraternity. Data was collected through interviews with four students from this fraternity. The guiding question for this research paper was, “Can Brandt’s definition of literacy sponsor be applied to other fields of learning, such as the medical field.” If it is found that the definition for sponsorship can be applied to the medical field, then sponsorship can be applied to other

Can you remember what your teacher taught you back in kindergarten? Chances are she was introducing you to the basics of reading and writing. Literacy is the ability to read and write, and because I did not think I was very good at either of the two, it had never been my favorite thing to do. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I had an English class that I actually enjoyed. My teacher was Ms. Holly Eubanks. The past classes had boasted about how good of a teacher Ms. Eubanks was and how, even though she may take a while to grade your papers, she was always trying to help you improve in every possible way she could. On the first day

My first experience to literacy came as a young adult. I have always been reluctant with my education, because of the family problems I experienced growing up. The harsh treatment our family received growing up made it very difficult to study in school, my body was physically in class but my mind was not. The trials and tribulations I went through growing up as a kid continued throughout my teenage years. Dropping out of high school I believe brought upon literacy difficulty. At the age of twenty-three, I finally had enough of feeling undereducated. Living in my mother’s basement with no job and an 8th grade education, the walls started to close in on me as my frustration became greater by the minute.

I can recall many people who have enriched my literacy development in some way or another throughout my life. The most influential literacy sponsors in my life include my mother, myself, my high school English teacher, and even my librarian. Even the authors Deborah Brandt, and Malcom X have supported my claim. The essay, “Sponsors of Literacy” was written by Deborah Brandt, who connected her writing with her sponsors. Malcom X’s essay, “Learning to Read”, reminded me of one of the most important things I know. These people, myself included, have made a crucial impact on the literacy information I have and will always need in order to succeed with literature and in life itself.

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

Before one ever starts attending school, their very first lesson is to become literate in the language they speak. From reading sentences to reading paragraphs to reading novels, we try to achieve literacy. However, some of the greatest public speakers and writers did not achieve it through the way most people did. This is shown in the literary works of Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, and Sherman Alexie. Like these people, literacy isn’t achieved by simply going to school. It’s achieved through great perseverance and through great tenacity.

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.

My literacy cannot be traced back to one specific moment but is rather a journey that included several key figures and many experiences. By the time I was born and began my schooling it was typical for everyone to learn to read and write. I was no exception. The main portion of my journey to literacy took place over the course of about three years, the time between starting kindergarten and finishing second grade. The exposers I would have during those few short years would lay the foundation for which I am able to write to you today. My greatest influences were teachers, experiences, and eventually books, but I’m sure a lot of people can relate to that.

Literacy, whether it is reading, writing, or listening, can mean many different things to people. Each form can impact everyone immensely. In 2016 I had a literacy encounter that made a lasting impact on me. That summer I began babysitting John, a precious five-year-old boy, for the sole purpose of building up my bank account. Since both of John’s parents worked long hours at the hospital, John did not get to spend as much quality time with them as he or they would have liked. I felt badly for John, so I made it my goal that the time I spent with him would be meaningful and memorable.

Being literate has been, let’s just say an uphill battle for me. I say “battle” in the most literal sense possible because I am dyslexic. Dyslexiais defined as a learning disability that impairs a person 's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read. With that being said, reading has not been easy for me and as a result is not my favorite thing to do. This is a major part of my relationship with literacy, and life in general. Having dyslexia has made me realize how much of a role language and literacy plays in everyday life.

To be literate, is not just the ability to recite and inscribe. It is something I think more than that. It involves a very intricate mechanics of linguistics, but eventually forms a sophisticated yet beautiful form of language usage. I was not born with literacy sense. I gained reading skills from bedtime stories from my parents and eventually learned formally to read and write at school. From that, I was able to mold my style of writing with the help of the teachers. I believe that most of us have been through a similar experience as I did in attaining literacy. Even with the majority of the necessary literacy skills I gained from school and at home, I was still wondering the reason behind all the hard work to read and write. Until one day, I was sent to a leadership camp as a representative from my school. From that camp, I knew that all of my gained literacy has now made sense to me because it has changed my perspective of the world through literacy.