In
this course we have had the opportunity of reading the works
of several analytical minds.
Each author brought
their own view on what influences
a writer and where the writer’s
personal voice comes from. One author
in particular, Deborah
Brandt, introduced me to the term “literacy sponsors”
which are in her own words,
“any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach,
model, as well as recruit, regulate suppress, or withhold literacy”
(334). I interpreted this to mean that any person, place or thing
that has contributed to one’s
own literacy, or reading/speaking ability,
is a “literacy sponsor”. James Paul Gee,
defined literacy as not just the vocabulary and
grammar of a society’s language but the values
behind the words said. He believes that whenever one
uses a language,
one has to “say/write the right thing in the right way while
playing the right social role and (appearing) to
hold the right values, beliefs, and attitudes”(484). He calls these combinations of saying and
believing, Discourses. Gee
also believes that within Discourses there is a differentiation
between that of a primary Discourse and a secondary Discourse. He refers to a
primary Discourse as the one “we first use to make sense of the world and
interact with others”, while a secondary Discourse are like literacy sponsors;
people or influences outside of the family that teach us a fluency over other
Discourses. After these there is the Dominant Discourse, a secondary Discourse
that can provide things like money or prestige; and the Non-Dominant Discourse,
which provides a status within a certain “social network”(485). In
other words, Non-Dominant Discourses provide one with social standing within a
group of people.
In
terms of how these ideals might relate to me, I found that my
love of reading was a sponsor
that introduced me to the endless flow of knowledge that can
only be accessed
through books. It began with the Series of
Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket in the 5th
grade and it all took off from there. Books became a great
influence to my writing style through the ideas
and vocabulary that I found in them. While my
preference in novel tends to lean towards adventure and fiction, I still find
the beauty in philosophical books. I have found my ideals tested and altered
because of the lessons learned in novels. And those teachings have impacted the
way I view life and my role in the
world. Other literary sponsors were the TV
shows and the characters I
admired as a child. In my Multimodal project I introduced my
audience to a few of the TV shows I watched. The Disney movies of the time also
had a tremendous impact because
those inspired my desire for stories that would take my young mind on splendid
adventures. I began teaching myself the lyrics to the songs of the movies just
to feel more a part of the tale. I loved to sing, but more than anything
I found my passion for story telling through
the teachings and characters of these films. Yet, with
all that these aspects of my life have brought to my character, the literacy
sponsor that led me along the path with these influences was my
mother.
My
family originated in Mexico; my father from Veracruz and my mother from La
Ciudad de Mexico. It was only
natural for me to grow up in a house that spoke mostly Spanish. Yet, being
raised in America brought its own challenges when trying to raise a Mexican
child in a country that speaks mostly English. From my
perspective, my mother has always and will always be a great influence on me.
She was a large part of the reason why I took my studies so seriously. She
always encouraged me to excel in school promising me that if I put in my best
effort, I would be able to pursue any path I wished in life. She also was the
one to push my language abilities. In my early childhood that meant learning to
read and have a firm grasp on English since my family was that of a
Spanish-speaking household. My mother made it her mission to make sure that I
would not face the struggle of inadequacy in English the way she had struggled
upon arriving to America. Her solution was to read me stories before bed and
hope that eventually one book would catch my interest,
and her plan succeeded. She was the one to
ignite my passion for books.
Deborah
Brandt, author of “Sponsors
of Literacy”, talks about how literacy sponsors impact one’s
literacy learning in two specific ways. More
than anyone, my mother exemplified Brandt’s
idea that literacy sponsors
“help to organize and administer stratified systems
of opportunity and access, and they raise the literacy
stakes for competitive advantage”. She
did everything in her power to put me in a school
that would provide the opportunity for a higher education. My
mother held specific expectations for my education and my success in this new
country and environment. She continually
hammered into my head the importance
of knowledge in this society and how competitive
the system was. I felt the urgency to stand out in
academic success as her efforts
motivated me. Yet by doing this sponsors
“enable and hinder literacy activity, forcing the formation of new literacy
requirements while
decertifying older ones”(344).
As my proficiency in English grew, my Spanish dwindled away,
eroded by the years of education in the American language. I hear that as a
little girl my Spanish was much better than what it is today. And it could be
true seeing as I can understand it fine but cannot go through a conversation
without stuttering for a word or being unable to express myself through speech
at all. I have the accent but not the vocabulary. .
Gee
asserts that
“if you have no access to the social practice, you
don’t get in the Discourse, you don’t have it”(484) and
that is what had inevitably happened to me. English
ruled out my Spanish because
I was exposed to English in school, after school and at home. Spanish
became less important, less practiced and my American
identity eventually overshadowed my
Hispanic nationality. I was so focused on excelling and being accepted as an
American that I disregarded something so much more important, the individuality
and identity of my homeland and people. I had tried to
retain that piece of my heritage but everywhere I went, everyone I spoke to had
communicated the same single thought. I needed English to survive here. And
somewhere along the way, I adopted this idea into my head
and the two identities began to clash until one won out.
As Gee states “when such
a tension exists, it can deter acquisition
of one or the other or both of the conflicting Discourses, or, at least, affect
the fluency of a mastered Discourse on certain occasions of use”(485-486).
I couldn’t find the balance of two conflicting Discourses and had unconsciously
let one slip through the cracks. Upon
coming to that realization I struggled to reclaim that of my mother’s and
father’s. I had always envied everyone else’s culture and customs but never
seen the magnificence of the one I belonged to. I wanted to sing, read, and
speak anything I could. And for a while it worked. But it was like learning a
second language again. I tried convincing myself that I had not
lost anything at all but simply repressed it. Yet I had done more than repress
and I did not want to admit it to myself because the weight of what I had done
and lost began to burden my mind. I could no longer be considered a Hispanic
because I had lost my people’s tongue. I was now an imposter with the face that
would claim belonging but lacked the communication to say so. I blushed whenever
someone spoke to me in Spanish because I most likely could not respond. I was
frustrated because when speaking with relatives in Mexico, I had to ask my
mother to translate. I was now an American. No longer a real Mexicana. But then the question became,
was I ever really one at all.
My
mother witnessing my efforts to regain my
Mexican identity set me down one
day and told me that I was Hispanic but I was also American. My
language is a combination of both cultures because it was to both that I was
born into. I thought about what she had said and acknowledged that although my
Primary Discourse was now my
American identity that I had embraced growing up, my people’s language stayed
with me in some shape or form despite the inadequacy with which I handled it. Lisa
Delpit, a writer who disagreed
with Gee about relinquishing one
Discourse for another, states that “Acquiring the ability to
function in a dominant discourse need not mean that one must reject one’s home
identity and values, for discourses are not static, but are shaped…by those who
participate within them and by the form of their participation” (135). I was
a part of two Discourses and from Delpit’s point of view,
had created a Discourse that applied to my own situation. And I could see
my Hispanic identity in the prayer
books that were found around the house. I would hear it in the songs that were
played in every room. I would find it in conversations in birthday celebrations
when we all would sing “Las Mallanitas” and yell at the birthday girl or boy
“que lo muerda” bite it! And ultimately push their faces into the cake. I saw
it in the letters written to our extended family and caught in on the TV series
that my mother so enjoyed.
I improved in
my Spanish but did not rush it. I went to mass and absorbed the sound and
relished in the familiarity of it. I learned my prayers and felt the lyrical
element in the speech. It was not something to be lost, but something I had to
find again for it was always a part of me to begin with. It was found in my
mothers voice as she cooed her lullaby to me as a baby. It was my father’s
strong and willful voice of encouragement. It was the urge I felt when I needed
to get up and dance to our music. The kind that everyone joins and laughs to
and dances to because it calls to all of us and tells us that we are family and
that we belong. Spanish and my customs and
traditions are not something that needs to be sacrificed to live in the land
that I live in.
Over the years
I have found the right mix of both. Like Delpit claims, I found a way to keep
both identities and remain a member of two Discourses. In my experience Gee was
wrong to think that one had to relinquish a part of them to fully take another
role. As a result my writing carries characteristics of my people and hints to
our history and stories. I chose to embrace my heritage and reflect it in my
writing so that everyone who reads my work can say with out a doubt that I am
Latina and I am proud to be. And that pride comes mostly from what my mother
has made it represent for me.
Based upon my experiences I have come to the conclusion that one’s literacy
development is greatly impacted by one’s environment and ones’ own interests. So
many people have helped me become the reader and writer I am today. My family
and culture have given me an identity that is unique and that I can be proud
of. My mother has introduced me to so much of what makes me who I am today; my
likes and dislikes; my passions and my dreams. But in the end I think that
nothing can really be accomplished without the strength and perseverance of
one’s own self. And all of these factors have contributed to my own literacy
journey and development.
Citations:
Lamott, Anne.
"Shitty First Drafts." Trans. Array Writing
About Writing: A
College Reader. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 301-304. Print.
Delpit, Lisa.
"The Politics of Teaching Literate Discourse." Trans. Array Readings
on Writing: Ohio University Composition Committee. 2nd Edition.
Cincinnatti: Van-Griner Publishing, 2013. 126-139.
Print.
Gee, James Paul.
"Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction." Trans.
Array Writing About Writing: A
College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 481-497. Print.
Brandt,
Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” Trans.
Array Writing About Writing: A
College Reader. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 331-352.
Print.
NOTE:
I don't know why most of the text is underlined, but the site won't allow me to get rid of it. Please, know that this is all my work. The only exception would be quotes I took from a few authors, authors whom I have cited correctly right above. There are a few places in the text where my writing is the same from the original, however my intention in this revision was to reorganize and add to my ideas in a way that would develop and communicate them more efficiently.
Thank you,
Jazmin Perez
