B.    Sherman Alexie’s sponsor was his dad. His dad had a yearning love for books. His childhood home was filled with books from comic books, to murder mysteries, to biographies. Alexie loved his father so he just adapted his father’s love for reading. His new found knowledge from learning how to read opened up a new mindset for Alexie. He was able to view the world from a new perspective, saying he thought of the world as “paragraphs.” His classmates also ridiculed  him for knowing how to read at such a young age, but it only encouraged him to increase his literacy and education. 

 

C.    These experiences with his father directly correlated to this sponsorship of literacy. Seeing how much his father read, and enjoyed it, sparked his desire to become literate. Him being able to see the world from the point of view of paragraphs opened his eyes. He liked the ability to break things down into smaller pieces to be able to better understand what was going on around him. This motivated him to learn and read more.

D.   The term paragraph allowed Alexie to view his books, family, and community differently. He noticed that everything was a small sector (paragraph) that worked together to make a complete picture (or essay). For example, he saw everyone one in his family (mom, dad, 2 brothers, 3 sisters, and himself) as individual paragraphs that evolved to one entire essay.

E.    I see discourse in Alexie’s life. Once he learned how to read and write he went back to his hometown. He visited elementary schools to try and inspire Indians to become literate. The children were in the same environment Alexie was in: Indians being shamed for wanting to be literate. He went to speak to these children to try and change their minds so they can be literate and gain the power that comes with literacy.

G. I would say that my literacy sponsors are the reason I am in college now. From a young child, I was always pushed to excel in education in order to reach the goal of going to college. My literacy sponsorship branch from the past failures in the family, which now make me a first-generation college student. 

H. Do you think demographics, such as gender and class, still play a heavy role in the access to education in the United States? Why do you think Lopez transferred from the college that both she and Branch went to?

 

 

  
B. Lowery had many experiences in his life where he encountered a number of sponsors, from his father's strong political opinions to working in the union. One of the first comes from his household where he grew up, always being exposed to politics and hearing his father have discussions, whether he heard him having a conversation on the phone, or just sitting at the dining table listening to his parents or older siblings speak. He had said that at a young age he had no real interest in politics and these conversations but he still picked up vocabulary from these interactions.Lowrey had said “I was sixteen years old before I knew that god damn Republicans was two words”. He did not develop a political interest until his young adult years where he would purchase and read the local newspaper. Mr. Lowrey’s participation in a public employee’s union led to his taking time off to travel and train in Washington,D.C. During this time he took classes and began writing extensively, these classes seem to have been his most prominent sponsor, providing him with information and literary skills he did not once possess. Lowery would sometimes spend up to seventy hours a week working and writing. 

C. Dwayne Lowery has had many experiences, his time in high school and lack of reading at an early age made it a bit harder for him to succeed when he returned to school, this may have held him back in the beginning. He spent time learning laws and how to negotiate contracts, this learning how to negotiate and the tractual language definitely had some effect on the way he spoke in “professional' settings. Lowery would spend time practicing his interactions with others and says he eventually “ became good at talking” which implies he altered his speech to sound socially literate and acceptable. In his field of work it was important to speak up to the social norms because people would pay attention to how well you could articulate your point and negotiate, many of the people he met could not. Though his family exposed him to politics at a young age this did not have much effect on him through life, his time in the military or working in shops did not seem to stick with him as much either. Working in unions and going back to school has been his most effective sponsor.

E. One of the concepts we noticed in today's writing that matches our profile is evolution. The reason we are saying evolution is because of the way his literacy changed over the course of his life. As a child he never really understood the importance of reading and writing, but as he got older there was a need for it. Because of his need to be able to read and write he went back and took classes for the union.  

 

G. As college students, many of our sponsors are professors and the faculty on the campus around us. Many of us are new to the campus and new to each other, we also pick up new literacies from other students who may speak differently than us. Before our arrival many of our sponsors were our parents, families, friends, and teachers back home, Brandt discusses that these are common sponsors for other people. As college students we are exposed to many sponsors, such as Lowrey who returned to school and learned how to discuss certain topics and language with colleagues. We are doing the same here at Howard.

By- Jadyn & Jakirra

B. Dora Lopez had many literacy sponsors. Her first sponsor being the Spanish-language radio program. Another sponsor she had was the books from her moms bookstore. These books helped her teach herself to read and write in Spanish. Lopez also was sponsored by her relatives in Columbia, they helped her with her written Spanish. The computers that Dora were exposed to at the age of 13 through her job at the summer school program, was also a sponsor. Her dad brought her a word processor machine from his job which also became a sponsor. Lastly, the university and technical college she attended were additional sponsors. 

C. The experiences that Lopez went through with various literacy sponsors had a better effect on her life later on than earlier. As a child she had poor records and information. She had to reach far for the proper tools and education for her self-initiated learning to become biliterate. In her adult life it had a better effect on her career because it made her economic status higher in the long run. She also gained great connections.

D. In Deborah Brandt's "sponsors of literacy", Brandt says that Dora Lopez has to reach “much further afield” in terms of the way she obtained her literacy. In the text it states that before she turned 13 she had no access to a computer and taught herself to read and write in Spanish. Brandt feels even though she made good of what was given to her, she bypassed a more potentially beneficial opportunity, in terms of her leaving the university to go to a community college.

E. I see narrative and persuasive writing when talking about Dora Lopez. Brandt good into very deep detail when telling Lopez's educational journey. Not long after she gives her persuasive insight on ways Lopez could have further increased her education. Brandt then compares and contrast Lopez's and Branch's education.

G. There are many implications of literacy sponsors in everyday life as a college student. They are most specifically found all throughout my studies. Sponsors are more indirectly found through everyday encounters and experiences not only with people, but with the environment around me. Implications such as walking down the street, learning my way around by reading signs as I go. Obvious implications are the various texts that I get to read for certain classes.

H. Would growing up in a less political household change the path that Lowrey led in life? What or whom was Lowrey's most influential sponsor in his life?