ErinShelton

Dr.Harker

DALN2

November30,2015

DALN2

Inthisessay,Iwillexploreliteracyasexpression,astoldbyvariouspeoplefrom

theDigitalArchiveforLiteracyNarratives.First,IwillsharewhichtypesofnarrativesI

selectedtoanalyze,andhowliteracywasrepresentedineachofthem.Secondly,Iwill

relatetheirmeaningstoagreatermetaphorofliteracy.Lastly,Iwillrelatethese

narrativestomyown.Itismyhopethatthisessaywillbroadenmyaudiencesandmy

ownperspectiveonunderstandingthevastnessanduniquenessofliteracy.

ThefourliteracynarrativesthatIselectedeachhadadifferenttopic,buttheyall

sharedacommonthemeofart.Thetopicsincludedmusic,dance,art,andvolleyball.

Iselectedthesenarrativesbecausetheymoreorlesshadanimportantpartinmyown

literacydevelopment.Idancedballetfromtheageoftwountiltheageofsixteen,and

alsotookoncontemporaryandhiphop;itwasaveryimportantpartofmydevelopment.

Dancehelpedmelearnhowtoexpressmyself,whichseemstobe,accordingtothe

narrativesIviewed,themostsynonymouslyimportantaspectofindividualliteracy.In

DanceasaNarrativeFormofExpression,MarissaMazzastates,Danceismyformof

communication.AlthoughIwillnotattempttodefineexpression,asIwillnotattemptto

defineliteracy,Icanrelatethateachoftheseaspectsexistsuniquelyandsymbiotically.
ForthesenarrativesthatIhaveselected,theabilitytoexpressemotiononaphysical

platformisliteracy.InoneofthenarrativesIread,someoneevenstated,Ifeelthat

somehowexpressionitselfislikeavast,limitlessstorehouseofcreativepossibilities

and,incredibly,weallholdthekeytoourownuniquestorehouse(SelfExpressionis

Art).

Ineachnarrative,thepersonessentiallydescribedwhatliteracymeanttothem,

bothliterallyandfiguratively.Althoughtheinitialcommonconsensusbetweeneach

personwasthebeliefthatliteracyistheabilitytoread,writeandunderstand,theywent

onthroughouttheirnarrativetodescribeliteracyassomethinguniqueandpersonal.For

example,Ireadaninterviewwithadanceteacher,andshebelievedherownrelationship

withliteracyincludedtheabilitytoreadmovementandcreatemotion.This,inmy

opinion,wasaneffectivewayofdiscussingliteracybecauseshewasimpassionedand

articulate.Sheevencomparedlearningtodancetolearningalanguage.

Fromeachofthesenarratives,Ihavebeenabletoreflectuponthegreater

understandingthatexistsbehindliteracy.Thesenarrativesareessentialforanyonewho

wishestostudyorexpandtheirscopeonliteracy.Notonlydotheyshowindividuality,

buttheyalsoshowcommonbridges,andevengaps,thatledthesepeopletotheirown

valuablerelationshipwithliteracy.Ultimately,theDLANsequencehasmademerealize

thatpeoplecommonlyandalsounknowinglysuccumbtoinitiallyaligningliteracywith

thepublicviewofliteracy.DavidBartondefinesthisviewasonethatacceptsliteracyas

beingtheabilitytosimplyreadandwrite.Thepublicviewofliteracyoftentendsto

createthebeliefthatifsomeonecanobtaintheskillstoreadandwrite,andthentheywill
successfullyfunctionatahighlevelinsociety.Furthermore,thisviewcreatesa

discussionthatsurroundsliteracywithsimplebinariesthatlimit,mostoften

unintentionally,thebroaderscopeofhowindividualismexistswithinliteracy.For

example,inthenarrativeDanceisaLanguage,thewomanstates,mydefinitionof

literacyistohavetheabilitytoexpressyourselfclearlythroughthewrittenword(write),

tobeabletounderstandit(read)andtobeabletothinkcriticallyaboutit.Sheliterally

includesthewordswriteandread.Thisishergotodefinitionofliteracy,anditaligns

withthepublicview.However,whenthisdanceteachergoesontodescribeherown

relationship(whichIfindtobeakeywordinthisanalysis)withliteracy,herdefinition

broadensthatitexpandsmuchfurtherthanthesimplepublicview.Itblossomsintoa

personalanduniqueconnotationofexperiencesandemotionsthatunmaskthemselvesas

literacy.Sherelatesthatshegets[her]choreographicideasfromliterature,usuallya

quotethatresonateswith[her]andhasthepotentialtobedevelopedintoachoreographic

idea.Forexample[she]madeadancepiececalled'PrehistoricAnimal'basedon[a]quote

byWinstonChurchill.

Beforethisassignment,Ididntcomprehendthevastvarietyofentriestherewere

intheDigitalArchiveofLiteracyNarratives.Iexploredmanyentries,andoftenfound

theliteracymythorothermetaphorsthatwevestudiedinclassthatlaywithinsomeones

definitionofliteracy.Yet,Itoofoundmanyuniqueandunexpecteddefinitionsof

literacy.ThenarrativesIselectedalldefinedliteracywithwhatBartoncallsthepublic

viewofliteracy.Yet,whentheydiscussedtheirstory,thedefinitionofliteracy

blossomedintoamuchmorecomplexanddevelopedmeaning.Frommyinterpretation
oftheliteracynarratives,IhaverealizedthatIlendgreatimportancetoartand

expression,asameansoffreeingandexpandingtheselfandsoul.Afterall,asBarton

states,weassertouridentitythroughliteracy(Barton46).Iamawarethatmyown

valuesareinfactindividual,andthatthemaynotalignwithothers.However,this

furthersprovesthatliteracyisdelicateandmustbetreatedwiththeunderstandingthat

therearelimitlessscopesandlensesthatcanbeusedtolookobserveit.

Inconclusion,Ibelievethatwhenaskinganindividualtodefineliteracy,they

oftenstraytowardsusingthepublicdefinitionofliteracy:theabilitytoreadandwrite

andmakesenseofit.However,Ifeelthataskinganindividualtodefineliteracy,once

acceptingtheyusethisdefaultmode,islimiting.Adefinitionisconcreteandfinalized;it

leaveslittleornoroomforgrowthandaddition.However,literacyitself,inordertoexist

insideofanindividualexperience,cannotbelimited,concrete,orfinalized.Each

narrativehasaparticulardifferenceaboutit,andbecauseofthat,wecannotsimplydefine

itwithasentence.Itcantakeformofexpression,laughter,sadness,orevenstill

education.But,wemustacceptthatwecannotsimplydefinethisnotion.Itisfartoo

immenseandindividualizedforustoachieveafinalmeaning.[Literacywillneverhave

afinalmeaningbecauseittakestheshapeofmanydifferentdomains,andisattachedto

somanyindividuals.]

FromexploringtheDigitalArchiveofLiteracyNarratives,Ihaverealizedmany

things.Throughoutthisclass,IfeltthatIhadagreaterunderstandingofwhatliteracy

was.However,readingtheseindividualspathstoliteracyandpersonalconnectionstoit,
mademerealizethatIwillneverfullyunderstandtheextentofliteracy.Wecanattempt

toplaceitinasmallboxofdefinitions,butultimatelyitwillalwaysbegrowingand

expandingoutsideofthisbox.Everyindividualwhocontributeshisorherstoryis

contributingtothefreeingofliteracyfromabox.

Bibliography

Barton,David.Literacy:AnIntroductiontotheEcologyofWrittenLanguage.Oxford,
UK:Blackwell,1994.Print.

DLANInclusions:

1.LearningLiteracyThroughVolleyball(ErinBlake)
2.SelfExpressionisArt
3.DanceisaLanguage:Interview3
4.EarthWithoutArtisEhMarilynMedina
5.DanceasaNarrativeFormofExpression(MarissaMazza)
6.TheMusicinMeMistyHill