WA1:
Literacy
History


Description:
Making
use
of
Deborah
Brandt’s
concept
“Sponsors
of
Literacy”
(Chapter
2,
Literacies
in

Context),
reconstruct
key
moments
in
your
literacy
history
by
identifying
the
agents
sponsoring
this
literacy

and
narrating
the
way
literacy
has
“pursued”
you
in
a
variety
of
contexts.
(for
full
description,
see
Literacies
in

Context
page
39)


Questions
to
Explore:
A
number
of
generative
questions
can
be
found
at
the
complete
assignment

description
in
your
book
(see
above),
but
you
may
also
find
useful
the
“interview
script”
Brandt
used
in
her

study
of
print‐based
literacies
in
the
Midwest
(from
the
extended
study
Literacy
in
American
Lives,
though

earlier
results
are
discussed
in
the
much‐cited
“Sponsors
of
Literacy”).



If
you
are
interested
in
exploring
your
literacy
development
through
technology
(computers,
video
games,

etc),
you
may
find
the
“interview
protocol”
Cynthia
Selfe
and
Gail
Hawisher
used
in
their
follow‐up
study

Literate
Lives
in
the
Information
Age.
In
this
project,
Selfe
and
Hawisher
studied
the
technological
literacies

across
generations
and
through
individual
life
histories.



Both
Brandt’s
interview
script
and
Selfe
and
Hawisher’s
interview
protocol
are
available
at
our
course
blog.



Consider
interviewing
a
classmate
to
gather
a
great
number
of
details
for
this
project.




Purpose:
To
begin
exploring
literacy
through
your
own
lived
experiences
with
literacy
and
the
technologies

that
sustain
it.

This
project
should
lay
the
groundwork
for
more
in‐depth
studies
of
literacy
as
a
manifests

itself
in
Commerce,
Texas—on
campus
and
in
the
community,
right
now
and
over
time.



Resources:
Draw
from
the
interview
scripts
noted
above,
the
questions
available
in
the
description
of
WA1
in

your
textbook,
your
Research
Journal
on
the
subject,
our
class
discussions
leading
up
to
WA1,
and
the
videos

and
texts
provided
under
the
category
“inspiration”
at
the
course
blog.
A
model
for
how
WA1
might
look
can

be
found
in
Pamela
Baxley’s
essay
“The
Pursuit
of
Literacy”
in
Chapter
6
of
Literacies
in
Context.
For
a
model

of
how
WA1
might
extend
into
the
final
ethnographic
project,
see
Eric
Pleasant’s
study
“Literacy
Sponsors

and
Learning”
(also
in
Chapter
6
of
textbook).



Contribution
to
the
Scholarly
Conversation
in
Literacy
Studies:
To
do
well
on
WA1,
your
project
must

make
some
kind
of
contribution
to
the
scholarly
conversation
in
literacy
studies.
That
means
you
must
go

beyond
merely
describing
your
experiences
with
literacy
thus
far.
Instead,
you
should
draw
some
conclusions

about
literacy
as
it
manifests
itself
in
the
lives
of
real
people
in
their
day‐to‐day,
lived
experiences.
To
do
this,

draw
upon
your
reading
of
Brandt’s
“Sponsors
of
Literacy”
and,
where
appropriate,
James
Paul
Gee’s

“Literacies
and
‘Traditions’”
(Journal
of
Education,
1989)


Constraints:




Page‐length
minimum
for
Peer
Review:
2‐3
Pages
(double‐spaced,
Times
New
Roman,
12‐point
font)



 Due
Date:
Tuesday,
9/8/09


Page‐length
minimum
for
Instructor
Review:
FOUR
Pages
(double‐spaced,
Times
New
Roman,
12‐point
font)



 Due
Date:
Thursday,
9/10/09




Responding
to
WA1

Peer
Feedback





Activity
(in
pairs):
In
order
to
a
get
a
real
reader’s
perspective
of
your
current
draft
of
WA1
and
some
ideas

for
revising
it
(and
give
the
same
with
respect
to
their
piece),
trade
drafts
with
someone,
take
out
a
pen
and

paper,
place
your
name
(as
reader)
and
the
writer’s
name
at
the
top
of
it,
and
respond
to
the
following

questions
in
as
much
detail
as
you
think
will
be
useful.
You
are
going
to
give
your
responses
to
your
partner,

so
try
to
make
them
as
legible
and
clear
as
possible.


Reader’s
Name:
_______________________________________________________


Writer’s
Name:
_______________________________________________________


Note
to
Reader:
You
should
respond
as
specifically
as
possible
to
each
and
every
question
that
follows..

Anything
less
will
be
quite
useless
to
the
writer.


1. What
did
you
find
most
compelling
about
this
essay?
Be
very
specific.
This
can
be
a
specific
story,
a

specific
feel,
or
some
other
aspect
that
really
caught
your
attention
and
made
you
want
to
read
more.

2. What
did
you
want
to
hear
more
about?
Be
specific!

3. What
does
this
draft
make
you
think
about?
Do
you
have
any
similar
experiences
you
can
share
with

the
writer?
Other
ideas
that
came
up
as
you
read
this
draft?

4. Underline
your
favorite
passage
in
the
text.
What
makes
it
your
favorite?

5. How
does
the
writer
make
use
of
Deborah
Brandt’s
arguments?
In
what
ways
does
this
project

contribute
to
the
scholarly
conversation
represented
in
Brandt’s
article?

6. Offer
a
choice
passage
from
Brandt
that
might
serve
this
draft
well.


7. How
does
the
writer
make
use
of
James
Paul
Gee’s
arguments?
In
what
ways
does
this
project

contribute
to
the
scholarly
conversation
represented
in
Gee’s
article?
(NOTE:
You
aren’t
required
to

use
Gee
in
this
essay,
but
it
would
likely
be
helpful
in
defining
literacy
and
offering
another,
deeply

relevant
and
highly
influential,
perspective
on
literacy)

8. Offer
a
choice
passage
from
Gee
that
might
serve
this
draft
well.


9. Talk
about
the
title
for
a
minute.
What
is
the
current
title
for
this
essay?
Now
that
you’ve
read
the

essay,
does
the
title
seem
appropriate?
If
so,
what
makes
it
so?
If
not,
why
not?
Offer
the
writer
three

possible
titles
that
might
work
to
catch
the
reader’s
attention
and
give
him/her
a
hint
about
what
the

essay
will
offer.
Offer
these
three
suggestions
even
if
you
LOVE
the
title
they
already
have.
More
ideas

are
always
useful.



10. The
revised
draft
must
be
four
pages
long.
Offer
some
specific
suggestions
that
would
help
the
writer

make
this
draft
at
least
one
page
longer.



Discussion
(in
pairs):
Return
the
draft
to
its
writer
and
discuss
your
responses
to
it
(question
by
question).

They
have
a
written
version
of
it,
but
they
may
have
questions
that
will
only
come
up
if
you
discuss
your

responses
face
to
face.
After
you
discuss
your
answers
to
the
above
questions,
make
certain
the
writer

receives
your
written
feedback.
Make
sure
your
name
is
at
the
top
of
the
paper
(as
reader)
and
his/her
name

is
at
the
top
of
the
paper
(as
writer).


Response
(Individual):
After
you
have
both
responded
to
one
another’s
WA1,
take
a
few
minutes
to
jot
down

your
revision
plan.
Write
about
a
page
in
response
to
one
or
more
of
the
following
questions:
(1)
How
did

your
reader
react
to
your
text?
(2)
Were
his/her
reactions
the
ones
you
expected?
(3)

What
suggestions
did

the
writer
offer
with
respect
to
revising
this
draft?
(4)
What
are
your
specific
revision
plans?


When
you
submit
WA1
for
instructor
review,
you
will
need
to
include
these
answers
and
the
draft
to
which

your
reader
was
responding.