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Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

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Page 1: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt

Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Page 2: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Demographics of Study

• 80 participants interviewed• Ranging in age from 10 to 98 years old• All residing in south central Wisconsin• Interviewed early 1990’s• 54 European Americans, 16 African

Americans, 4 Mexican Americans, 2 Native Americans, 2 Asian decent, 2 Middle Eastern decent

Page 3: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Chapter 1• Comparing 2 females, Martha Day; born 1903,

and Barbara Hunt; born 1971• Both raised on 80 acre low-income dairy farms.• Martha’s academic writing experience was with

the high school yearbook, while Barbara’s academic writing experience was with the forensics association.• Both graduated from high school and shortly

thereafter left home to seek employment. • ‘Sponsorship’ refers to “agents who support or

discouraged literacy learning and development as ulterior motives in their own struggles for economic or political gain” (p. 26).

Page 4: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Martha’s Venture into Writing•Married to bookkeeper in 1925 and

attended a young married couple’s Methodist Sunday school class.• Sunday school teacher asked her to put

together a small monthly newsletter for the class.• Sunday school teacher soon bought a

small regional farm magazine and asked her to become the rewrite person.

Page 5: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Martha con’t

• 1940’s, farm journal bought out by larger conglomerate.• Offered more editorial responsibilities.• Switched over to writing on domestic

topics (preceding Ladies Home Journal and Good Housekeeping).• Sponsorship was obtained through

schooling, church, and popular press.

Page 6: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Barbara Hunt

• Transitional time for dairy farmers being bought out by wealthier farmers.• Two major sponsorships were the High School

Forensics Association and a Human resources program at a local 2 year college.• Worked in a daycare center.• Changing demographics and economic systems

caused obstacles for optimum employment and the devaluation of previously acceptable literacy standards .

Page 7: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Understanding Sponsorship and Education

“Sponsorship is a tool that can clarify for teachers how students in their classrooms are differentially subsidized in their literacy learning outside of school by virtue of the economic histories of their families and regions.” (p. 44-45)

Page 8: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Chapter 2

• Compared 2 men; Dwayne Lowery born in 1938, auto worker/union representative, Johnny Ames, born in 1950, sharecropper, resident in prison system where he became literate.• Sponsorship influenced by ‘contractarian

society’; business was conducted through written contractual agreements becoming more legal in nature requirement higher educational standards.

Page 9: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Dwayne Lowery• First employment as autoworker and later as a water

meter reader.• Influenced by father’s daily reading of newspaper and

political stance.• Attended a 4 months training session to become a union

representative and bargaining agent.• Governmental influenced a legalistic form of literacy to

restore political dominance over public workers (p. 55)• Due to oppositional lawyers writing of ‘briefs’ union reps

required to do the same at the same level of legalistic writing.• Forced to take an early retirement he was replaced by a

younger college master’s degree graduate with industrial relations writing experience (p.54).

Page 10: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Johnny Ames• Inmate for 16 years in maximum security prison.• Raised by grandmother with limited formal educational

background and literacy skills, was strong in oral tradition and religious upbringing.• Influenced by Civil Rights movement.• Taught to read by ex-nun in the prison library system.• Brown vs. Smith gave prisoners access to legal documents and law libraries within prison facilities.• Sponsorship included his grandmother, ex-nun, prison law

libraries, and change in political climate.

Page 11: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Chapter 3 – Accumulating Literacy How Four Generations of One American Family Learned to Write

• Genna May, Great Grandmother, born in 1898 South Central Wisconsin Dairy Farm• Sam May, Grandfather, born in 1925. Grew up

on extended family farm due to his parents divorce.• Jack May, Father, born in 1958. Grew up in South

Central Wisconsin suburbs.• Michael May, Son, born in 1981. Grew up 25

miles from where his great grandmother was born.

Page 12: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Genna May, 1898

• Graduated in 1917, class of 13 members• Enrolled in business college, 20 miles away from

home• Sponsors: Protestant Church and the Common

School• Divorced during the Depression years, moved

back to family dairy farm• Female clerical worker, employed by Title

Company

Page 13: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Sam May, 1925

• Victorian age of formalities, writing became a formal way of communicating, manners were stressed with the use of proper language.• Radio & Film stimulated collaborative

children’s writing of scripts and other forms of communication.• Attended radio repair course prior to

induction in the Army.

Page 14: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Sam May, con’t

• Served in the Army as a radio technician during WWII. Writing service manuals back to the factories.• Employed by the university as an

electronics technician after leaving college short of a degree• Sponsors were the Victorian age of

formalities and the Army

Page 15: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Jack May, 1958•Mother was college trained X-Ray technician• Library of technical manuals provided by both

parents present in the home• ‘Dick and Jane’ primers based on “scientific

approaches similar to Army training and orientation” (p. 93)•Writing was interpreted as a civic

responsibility influenced by involvement in Boy Scouts.

Page 16: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Jack May, con’t

‘Distributive Education’ – Distributive Education Clubs of America. A precursor to present day ‘work-study’ program where high school students attended school half a day and worked in local employment half a day.

Page 17: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Michael May, 1981

•Middle class environment, most parents were white collar workers vs. agrarian society.• Technological influences became apparent

with indoor vs. outdoor play activities.• “Schools promote critical thinking and

creativity to accommodate a complex and changing world” (p.99).

Page 18: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Michael May, con’t.

• First one to actually be known as a “writer”• Kept a personal journal, stated, “I like to

look back on what happens in my life.” (p.100).• Became a member of Future Problem

Solving Program (FPSP) providing an enrichment curriculum for gifted and talented students.

Page 19: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Michael May, con’t.

• FPSP “stresses brain storming, critical reflection, and verbal presentation, all done within small-group settings”. (p.100)• “Each of the Mays developed literacy

within key moments of economic transition in their region” (p.101).• Their literacy attainment was indicative of

their schooling and environmental influences.

Page 20: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Chapter 4 - The Power of It

• The African-American community had slightly different sponsors of literacy than their white European decent counterparts.• They lacked the economic sponsors which denied them

opportunities that were afforded other groups.• African-Americans who attained the same educational levels and professional status as their white counterparts

were not viewed the same in regards to their ‘tradable value’. (p. 106)

Page 21: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Literacy Rates of African Americans• 1910 – 30%• 1930 – more than 80%• 1970 – more than 95%• The sponsors that were responsible for this increase were the African-American churches, the

African-American press, national attention due to periods of temporary crisis (WWII), and the

modern civil rights movement.

Page 22: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Cultural Agents of Racial Survival• Self-Determination• Emancipation from slavery and

stereotypes• Education • Self & Family Advancement• Unity between religious and secular

existence.

Page 23: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

The African American Church

• The church remains one of the important channels within African American society to provide what larger political systems withhold and to offer conscious alternatives to the hostility and negativity that those larger systems often deliver. (p.123)

Page 24: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Chapter 5 – The Sacred and the Profane, Reading & Writing in Popular Memory

• Through the 18th & 19th centuries:• Reading was associated with conventional morality and

religious duty (147).• Writing was associated with trade, earning a living, and

everyday functions.• During this timeframe, some religious leaders believed that students’ devotion to writing ruined their devotion to

reading.

Page 25: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Shift in Literacy Dominance•With the onset of the technology age writing

is rising to the forefront of literacy.•Writing is the productive member of the

reading/writing pair.• Literacy is a key productive force in the

workplace.• “Writing not only documents ‘work’ but

comprises the work that many people do” (p. 148).

Page 26: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Differences in Reading/Writing Memories

• Positive Reading experiences – associated with bedtime stories, parents/grandparents reading, pleasurable experiences organized by adults• Negative Writing experiences- associated

with loneliness, secrecy, and rebellious feelings.

Page 27: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Handwriting

• Emphasis on handwriting skills influenced one’s attitude toward writing• Pretty handwriting was honored and

praised while sloppy handwriting was severely criticized and shamed.• Left-handness was discouraged and left

the child with a negative school experience overall

Page 28: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Authors?

•Many people who wrote during this timeframe did not view themselves as actual authors.• The characteristics of a ‘reader’ were well

established and well known in contrast to the identity of a writer was illusive in nature and not well received. (160)

Page 29: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Chapter 6 – The Means of Production, Literacy and Stratification at the Twenty-First Century

• At the turn of the century, with the onset of the ‘Information Age’ or the ‘Knowledge Economy’, literacy’s gap due to the ‘rich get richer, while the poor get poorer, can be applied to the

abundance of technology or the absence of it.• Comparison of two individuals who were entering adulthood at the same time, Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez from the same

mid-western community.• Raymond born to ‘privileged parents’ had the economic advantage that afforded him the opportunity to participate in

computer technology at the ground level.

Page 30: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Comparison of Two Individuals

• Dora Lopez, born into a blue-collar Mexican-American family.• She did not have economic sponsors to encourage her nor the

economic means for her to compete with other students who had the technical background.

• Her only means of support, both financial and moral support were her parents of modest background.

• She sought a second language of Spanish, which was valued in regards to her family but not her broader community.

• Raymond’s second language was that of ‘computer language’ which opened doors for him both experientially and financially.

Page 31: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Rapidly Changing Pace of Literacy

“We can see how both a legacy of dispossession and the rapid pace of economic transformation translate into new round of disadvantage.” (p.185)

Page 32: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

Conclusion

The democratic ideals that this nation was founded on must apply to all citizens giving each individual both the educational status and the opportunity to advance through technological means so as to create a balance of both power and status.

Page 33: Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt Wendy S. Angleman Becky A. Palomo

References

Brandt, D. (2001). Literacy in American Lives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.