"Sponsors of Literacy"

In this essay by Deborah Brandt she tells about

that from the industrial revolution till now that literacy has loomed as one if

not they greatest engines of profit and competitive advantage in the 20th

century. What Brandt calls sponsors of literacy have influenced these individuals?

These sponsors of literacy are agents local or distant, concrete or abstract,

who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or

withhold literacy and gain some advantage by having it in some form or another

The key quote that I felt was important in this essay was one in which she compared

literacy to a sort of commodity, or good. Brandt states, "literacy, like

land, is a valued commodity in this economy, a key resource in gaining profit

and edge. This value helps to explain, of course, the lengths to which people

will go to secure literacy for themselves or children" (page 558, Sponsors

of Literacy, By Deborah Brandt). It is true about literacy that it does hold

high regard in society. By being able to speak and write well gives you the

advantage over others that aren't quite as able to express themselves in a

certain way. That is why people place such high standards for acquiring

literacy for themselves and others around them.

The key term critical to the work is that of sponsors (page 556, Sponsors of

Literacy, By Deborah Brandt). Brandt explains that these individuals are people

who are a tangible group of people that literacy has required learning

throughout history have always had to ask for permission, sanction, assistance,

coercion, or at minimum, contact with existing trade routes. In simpler terms

it means that individuals have always had to gauge their discourse to somebody

else to make sure that they are following the rules and guidelines that for mentioned

group is participating in.

Overall, the essay contends that sponsors are the type of people whom we look for guidance

and assistance when it comes to looking for the proper literacy necessary for

some sort of skill set. These either can be real people or simply by just

picking up a newspaper, book, or magazine. Sponsors can have the impact of

being able to affect one's feelings towards that person. It can affect how,

what, why, and how people read and write.

Finally, Brandt states that the affluent people in society have better access to

powerful literacy sponsors as part of their economic and political privileges,

whereas poor people or low-caste racial groups have less consistent, less

politically secured access to literacy sponsors. Individuals have the ability

as elder literacy sponsors to pass on their knowledge to other individuals.

Literacy can accumulate in layers from families, workplaces, schools, memory,

and ones in which literacy was shaped out of ideological and economic struggles

of the past history.