English Literacies: A New Perspective

Another semester has ended. However, this time in English class, it was different. It started out the same: the required course work , the dreaded reading assignments along with the required essays for the class. Once class started, the professor went over the syllabus. I thought to myself that this was going to be a long first day. By the time I got to the second essay (about the sixth week), I started to realize that this English class is not like the others; it had much more to give. Before this class, English was all about structure and writing without errors. It concentrated more on the skeleton of the content rather than the content itself. This class taught me to look at English or more precise, literacies, in a different light. I have been able to develop a clear line of argument that incorporates ideas and evidences from sources; recognize that writing is a flexible and recursive process; and incorporate conventions for source integration such as paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting. I have a newfound respect and exhilaration for the English discourse.
I really enjoyed chapter three: “Literacies: How Have You Become the Reader/Writer You are Today?” The chapter talks about literacy but not just about reading and writing; “[the experts are] more broadly referring to fluency or expertise in communicating and interacting with other people. (Wardle and Downs 328)” In my essay titled, “Coerced to Read and Write”, I was able to develop a clear line of argument that incorporates ideas and evidences from sources. I used Deborah Brandt’s essay titled “Sponsors of Literacy”, to show he relationships between the sponsors and the sponsored. I also used an excerpt from Malcom X’s biography to illustrate the influences sponsors have...

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