Kayla Farrell
Concept of literacy sponsors
Quote from Brandt – “Sponsors, as I have come to think of them, are any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy–and gain advantage by it in some way.” (Brandt 166)
Quote from Farrell – “Freshman year of high school my English teacher, Mr. Stritch, was the person who ruined writing for me.” (Farrell 1)
Explanation – This is a relatively obvious connection to the concept. Literacy sponsors are people or things who can either increase or suppress the idea of literacy, and for Kayla case, her freshman year English teacher suppressed it for her, by not caring about what she was doing and giving a lackluster effort and being negative towards her topic, it has ruined her experience and she has not since recovered.
Sam Michaud –
Concept of child prodigies
Quote from Williams – “Some students portrayed themselves as “child prodigies,” able and willing to excel at reading and writing from an early age” (Williams 343)
Quote from Michaud – “I became so in love with this writing thing, that my Mom was having to make constant trips to Staples for more white lined paper” (Michaud 4)
Explanation – This, as shown from Williams quote of how child prodigies are those who are able and willing to excel at reading and writing from an early age fit the description of Sam near perfectly. He excelled at reading and writing at an early age, and while he may not have 100% of the passion remaining, it is still very high.
Hannah D –
Concept of Williams “Complicate students definitions of literacy”
Quote from Williams – “Some teachers have realized that these narratives can help uncover… to complicate students definitions of literacy” (Williams 342)
Quote from D – “Writing has never been my strength, but I wanted to go above and beyond for this paper” (D 2)
Explanation – As Williams says, narratives can help complicate students definitions of literacy, and in the case of Hannah, it was originally something that she was bad at in the past, however upon learning to write about a difficult topic and hard situation, and even after receiving a bad grade, she learned that literacy isn’t just about pleasing everyone and receiving a good grade.
Blake Beverage –
Concept of connection to students parents
Quote from Williams – “Some teachers have realized that these narratives can help uncover… connect to students parents” (Williams 342)
Quote from Beverage – “Mrs. Johnson would always tell my Mom the same thing, that if I just took my time instead of rushing I would produce a much higher quality of work.” (Beverage 1)
Explanation _ Like Hannahs case, the literacy narrative that Blake writes allows for him to realize the connection that literacy brought between him and his parents, as his outstanding work brought forward pride and accomplishment for them.
