I never really thought of what it would be like to be illiterate. I could not think of an activity that did not include reading and writing. So the very thought of being illiterate is a scary thing for me. Take away my literacy, I basically inhibit myself from intellectual growth. I believe reading and writing is the basis of learning. The ability to obtain knowledge everyday from reading is something I took for granted. But now I realize after brainstorming a list of things I could not do if I were illiterate....
A day without the adaquate skills of reading and writing will probably be like this:
- I have to go get groceries, but I can't read the road signs that leads to the grocery store - I starve.
- Need to do blog for my English 103 class, I can't type - I fail.
- Need to respond to girlfriends text; I can't reply back - girlfriend gets mad, and dumps me
- I'm starving because I couldn't go to the grocery store, I try to make my own food, but I can not read the instructions -I starve more.
- I log on Facebook to update my status, but I can't express feelings - I lose friends.
Well maybe this is a little much, but you get the point, its hard to do everyday tasks without the proper writing and reading skills. The two main things that will probably affect me if I were to lose my ability to read and write is the ability to obtain knowledge from what I read everyday. And secondly, it will be harder for me to express my self the way I do without the ability to write.
Gaining knowledge from reading is something every student probably took for granted. Because reading to me is like breathing, I was fortunate enough to learn the language skills I have at a young age. Its easy to take for granted because it seems natural for most people. If you think about the idea of not having the set of skills to read a text book, phone book, newspaper, internet articles – imagine how much information you are potentially missing out on. Language is a powerful thing. It is what connects your mind and your expression and can lead to gateways of priceless information.
Try imagining expressing yourself, but cannot read or write. You cannot talk to your family, your loved one, your boss, your teacher. This can greatly affect your life. Expression through writing is very powerful, as you can see from this week's essay assignments. Helen Keller learned certain emotions through descriptive words of how she felt. Malcolm X found freedom through his words by expressing his mind the way he wanted to.
The thought of being illiterate is quite humbling, I came to a realization that literacy should not be taken for granted. It is a powerful skill that greatly improves expression and learning.
I'm beginning to enjoy blogging, it's the perfect way to reflect through your own thoughts and learn stuff about you. I learned quite a few today about my self..
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ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love your title! I also agree with your first sentence, I never really thought of how it would be if I were illiterate, just because I feel as if this ability was given to me. I mean we’ve practice it over and over in our daily lives, but it seems as if we’ve really taken it for granted. I like your list of things that you would fail in doing if you were illiterate funny, yet sadly true. I am a fan of expressing myself also and I noticed this was the second main thing that would be affected if you lost your ability to write and read. I completely agree with this point because I am who I am because of the way people see me, I hope that makes sense to you.
ReplyDeleteYou used great examples when it came to bringing up Hellen Keller and Malcolm X, I personally thought this was genius, but that’s just me (and hopefully others). I responded to your blog because I agreed with all of the things you put down, I had nothing to complain about, I really liked your blog and I hope to read more of your intriguing blogs in the future!
I enjoyed reading your blog this week and thought it was very clever of you in using such a title for your blog. As well I do agree learning to make out a grocery list and learning how to cook up a frozen meal or something from a cookbook would be difficult. What can I say I love food and that’s something I love doing on the weekends. Cooking up a new recipe requires being able to read a cookbook.
ReplyDeleteHow right you are that being illiterate would make it difficult to express our ideas with one another not to mention someone we are in a relationship with. Words can powerful when we chose to use them appropriately. I could not even imagine what it might be to not understand and let others how I felt if I were upset or enthralled about something that excited me.
You referenced Malcolm X about feeling a powerful of freedom from being able to express himself through words. I’m sure many of us today feel the same way today and also having the freedom to do so. As with this blog aspect of the class, it is a great way to communicate, express and exchange our ides with one another. I hope to read further blogs from you this term.