Gee-- Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics

There are two concepts in Gee's writing that were intriguing to me. The first one has to do with the fact that language is not just language it "often suggests grammar" (Gee 525). He makes a great point that you can't just being able to say something, you have to know how to say it ("It's not what you say, its how you say it".) He gives the example of how you speak to your bar buddy. Although you may be asking for a match, something you would normally ask your bar buddy for, if you don't say it in the right context you aren't saying it "right". Its all about the situation you are in. Along with knowing how to say something the "right way", you also have to act the "right way" when you say something. Gee gives the example again in the bar when asking your bar buddy for a match you say something along the lines of "Gimme a match" and wipe your bar stool off so you don't get your pants dirty you aren't presenting what you're saying. These two ideas show that just because you are using correct language or correct grammar doesn't mean you are using either right, or presenting yourself right while using them right.

The second concept I liked reading was that of "D"iscourse. I put the 'd' in parenthesis because Gee believes in this context it should be capitalized. He explains Discourse as something that is acquired, and acquired in experiences and situations throughout your life. In this case, you can teach someone a certain thing, the example Gee gives in linguistics, but you can't teach someone to be a linguist. You may know all the concepts of linguistics, but you cannot be taught how to be what you learned.

Illiteracy

Kozol's writing on illiteracy is so real and so true that it is scary. His goal, I believe, is to make us realize how important literacy is and how detrimental illiteracy is. Those who are illiterate not only hurt themselves they hurt others around them. They are hurting themselves by limiting their lives. You need to be able to read and write it is survival in society today. Whether you're taking medicine or walking to the store, it is completely necessary to be able to read. If you can't read the back of your bottle of medicine you could overdose. If you can't read a street sign when you're walking to the store you will get lost. As I said those who are illiterate hurt others too. The children of illiterate parents are at an extreme disadvantage. Not only do you learn to read in school, but you learn to read at home. If you're parents can't read or write, you are more likely to not practice it at home. Without literacy it is impossible to survive. If you can't read you won't get a job and if you don't have a job you don't have money to support yourself or your family.

What is Literature?

I thought Szwed's writing was very eyeopening. Although I felt when I read it I already knew what he was talking about, this writing helped bring it into my conscious mind. On page 424 he poses the question of what literature is. Szwed says "No agreement. Distinctions between genres and categories such as functioning literature versus artistic literature are of little use." He goes on to ask if a subject such as sports could be artistic literature or functional literature or both. This part of the writing brings up a great point: there is no actual "literature" because there are so many different definitions and ideas of what it really is. To someone who does not attend college but works, their idea of literature will be completely different from the one who attends college. Does this make it wrong? I can't really answer that question. To me when I hear the word literature I think of reading novels or books. On the other hand, I just took a literature class and the only writings we read were articles. So to answer the question of what literature is, we would have to have pages upon pages of responses from everyone and anyone who has an idea of what it is.