Michael Holland

UWRT 1103
September 15, 2015
Literacy Memoir

The Cultural Element of Literacy

When you finish reading a book or magazine article, do you ever
consider how it may have changed your perspective, or how your previous
experiences may have influenced your interpretation of its content? Although
some may be oblivious to this relationship, these two mechanisms occur
symbiotically and are actively engaged each time you pick up a book and
start reading. In this way, it is clear that culture and literacy are
interconnected. However, the relationship between literacy and culture is
more complex than what is revealed on the surface. A persons
socioeconomic background and ideological beliefs can influence their
perspective on not only a particular piece of literature, but on the role of
literacy itself and its significance in a global and epistemological context. On
the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, a persons experiences with
literacy can shape the way that they think about themselves and their
environment.
One of the most powerful factors in determining a persons attitude
about literacy is the culture into which they were born. A persons culture
encompasses not only their traditions and religious beliefs, but also the
internal values and ideals by which they can be defined. Ones cultural
identity ultimately determines the way in which one perceives the world and

even themselves. In his article, Cultural Schemas and Pedagogical uses of

Literacy Narratives: A Reflection on My Journey with Reading and Writing,
Ghanashyam Sharma reflects on how people in his native culture regarded
literacy and education, and how this and other socioeconomic factors
affected how he thought about literacy. Sharma was raised in a remote
Indian village where the general consensus was that reading and thinking
have no use; plowing your field will bring you food. Despite this devaluation
of literacy and education in his culture, Sharma knew instinctively that
knowledge and the ability to think critically were the absolute means of
escaping poverty, and so, in defiance of this popular ideology, he pursued a
degree in English literature. However, his efforts were at first confounded by
an inability to deviate from the epistemological views of his native culture,
which dictated only that students possess the analytical capabilities
necessary to comprehend the ideas of others and reproduce existent
knowledge, thereby neglecting the importance of generating original
knowledge or ideas. This is an example of how the ideological differences
across cultures can affect the way in which one views literacy in terms of
importance, as well as in how it is used in the production and the expression
of knowledge.
My socioeconomic background and other aspects of my cultural
upbringing are somewhat different from that of Sharma. From an
epistemological view, my native culture is the complete opposite of
Sharmas, and recognizes literacy as an invaluable asset. Thus, my parents

did not discourage me from reading or from pursuing an education as

Sharmas did. My mother and grandparents read to me as a child in order to
instill a thirst for knowledge and facilitate higher learning. From an early age,
this encouragement propagated in me the confidence that I was capable of
excelling in any area, including that of literacy. However, unlike Sharma,
there was no circumstance that drove me to read out of desperation.
Consequently, I did not share his appreciation for literacy as a means of
liberation. To me, it was a useless and irrelevant construct of inflated
importance that I was forced to develop. Only with experience in reading and
writing would my perspective of literacy and its intellectual value change.
This demonstrates that people in societies based on modern values and
principles often take for granted the rights that people from other cultures
consider privileges.
One does not have to belong to a culture in which the practice and
refinement of literacy is chastised in order to feel the debilitating effects of
its ideology in learning to read and write in another culture. In her article The
Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as the Key to Learning English
Composition, Fan Shen describes the difficulties she faced in learning to
produce authentically American literature coming from a Chinese
background. In her native culture, the authority and power belong to the
collective, while individual thinking is suppressed and even discouraged. This
is the antithesis of American culture, of which individual accomplishment is
the most fundamental motivation. This contrast was apparent in her early

writing at an American institution, in which the negativity towards words

such as I and self derived from these values manifested itself in the form
of a modest and passive voice. Her instructors saw this modesty in her
writing as a weakness. So, in order to successfully adapt to the criteria of
English composition, which Shen describes as synonymous to the values of
Anglo-American society, she had to transgress the limitations imposed by her
native Chinese culture and develop a new cultural identity centered on the
principles of individualism. In doing so, she had to change her perspective of
the world and of herself, or reprogram her mind to accept a completely
new set of ideological values. As a result, Shens experiences with literacy as
the bridge between two cultures with fundamentally different belief systems
elucidated the concept of the self as the creator of the world, or as a
producer of knowledge, and thus altered the way in which she perceived the
universe and herself as an individual human being.
My own experiences with literacy have also shaped my understanding
and perspective of the world around me. One such event, and
coincidentally, the first significant event in my literacy history, happened in
the first grade, when I made an important literary discovery that instilled in
me a passion that would affect me for the rest of my life. I had borrowed a
book on marine biology, specifically the study of sharks and rays, from the
school library. At the time, I was too inexperienced and lacking in vocabulary
skills to comprehend most of the text. What intrigued me were the pictures
of the bizarre, otherworldly creatures within its pages. However, as I began

to read about their many unique characteristics and respective ecological

niches, I became fascinated with these marvelous creatures. I remember
admiring them for being able to adapt and thrive for hundreds of millions of
years, and contemplating all of the incredible things that must have
happened since they came into existence. I became enamored of these
misunderstood creatures and their alien world. Now I wanted to learn as
much as I could about the underwater environment and the living things that
dwelt there in order to help secure its future. This book influenced my
perspective to a greater degree than I could comprehend at the time. In
retrospect, it changed the way I thought about marine life and persuaded me
that it is not only a valuable resource but a keystone on the global ecological
scale, and that it must be protected and conserved at any cost. In a broader
ideological context, it was the catalyst that engendered in me a greater
understanding of the value of literacy as a means of enabling one to satisfy
curiosity or empower one to make a difference. To this day, I still read
anything I can get my hands on concerning marine ecology.
Perhaps the most significant event in my literacy history occurred
when I was in the third grade. Before, I had never been fond of reading
fictional narratives. That was, until I discovered J. K. Rowlands Harry Potter
series. Though the first book of the series had recently been adopted into a
major film, I had not yet been introduced to the world of wizards and magic.
However, this was what prompted me to pick up Harry Potter and the
Sorcerers Stone, despite having never read anything of more than one

hundred pages or so. I would not come to regret this decision, as I was so
captivated by the illogical yet extraordinary nature of the story and its
characters that I nearly refused to put it down. I had never been able to
immerse myself in a book to such a degree. I read the entire time I was at
school, often neglecting to pay attention in class, and even during lunch.
When I opened its pages, I was transported to a mythical universe which
seemed unbound by logic. By the time I had graduated from elementary
school, I had read all of the series that had been published at the time, and
have since read it in its entirety. The Harry Potter series introduced me to
what would become my favorite genre, and inspired me to read other fantasy
literature, including The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis and the
Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate. The experiences of reading these books
augmented my imagination and brought me to the realization that a book
could be something other than a compendium of information. It could also be
an escape into a different world, one that was not constrained by the
limitations of this world which we call reality. They even inspired me to write
my own fantasy narratives, which was perhaps the only mode of composition
which I have ever thoroughly enjoyed. The only limitation was the scope of
my imagination. Learning this concept of creating new worlds through
literature to supplement the limited reality in which we live was a pivotal
literacy experience that enabled me to see beyond the rules of logic, and as
such, altered my standards of thinking.

My experiences with literacy have also altered my perspective of

something about which man has speculated since the dawn of civilization:
the very origins of the universe. I was raised on the principles of Christianity
and the belief that there was a kind and omniscient God who single-handedly
created the universe. As a child, I accepted this truth without question
because I did not know of any theory to contradict it. However, as my
experiences with literacy increased my knowledge and enhanced my ability
to think independently, my understanding of the world grew into maturation,
as did my understanding of the ways of men. Consequently, I began to
question the beliefs on which I was raised. Instead of continuing to believe in
something unconditionally, I studied many systems of belief from a variety of
cultures and came to the realization that none of them were more "correct"
than any other. Considering the similarities in the ideology of the many
different religions, I experienced a paradigm shift and concluded that deities
and other religious constructs were simply, and paradoxically, an invention of
man; an attempt to establish order, or simply to explain something which will
forever remain an enigma. I consider this change in my perspective of what
is perhaps the most ancient and powerful construct of human civilization to
be the greatest impact that my experiences with literacy have had on my
cultural identity.
The evidence that ones experiences with reading and writing shape
the cognitive lens through which one perceives the world is incontrovertible.
Literacy development can restructure and even reverse our ideological

schemas in a multitude of different contexts. Conversely, our attitude toward

literacy can be attributed to elements within our particular culture, which are
in turn reflected in our writing. As Donald Murray argues in his article All
Writing is Autobiography, all aspects of our identities and even the way we
think are incorporated into our writing, intentionally or unintentionally, and
can be extrapolated from the smallest and seemingly most insignificant
detail. One can conclude that literacy is in fact an integral part of our culture.
However, it does not embody all of our ideals, as it is only one aspect of what
determines who we are.

Works Cited

Sharma, Ghanashyam. "Cultural Schemas and Pedagogical Uses of

Literacy Narratives: A Reflection on My Journey with Reading and
Writing." College Composition and Communication 67.1 (2015): 104-

10. Sept. 2015. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

Shen, Fan. "The Classroom and the Wider Culture: Identity as the Key
to Learning English Composition." College Composition and

Communication 40.04 (1989): 459-66. Dec. 1989. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

Murray, Donald M. "All Writing Is Autobiography." College Composition
and Communication 67.1 (1991): n. pag. Rpt. in Writing About Writing:
A College Reader. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 66-74.
Print.