Szwed Reading Response

1.       In the article, Ethnography of Literature, by John Szwed, he discusses what it means to be literate and how there is no definite answer due to the fact that everyone has their own criteria to base it off of. If it is based on passing a test, if so then how were the questions created, how was the test administered, and what was the set-up of the test? The problem with this is that, as Szwed referred to, what schools may categorize as reading may not consider what students read in other contexts rather than just the classroom. I have personally experienced this because in class, the readings that are required for school, and then tested on is drastically different than what I read at home or within my social circles. This is then creating inaccuracies and difficulties in determining literacy levels.

2.       A simple conclusion that Szwed portrays is that since there is no set standards of how to determine literacy levels, there is no one method or level that can determines ones’ literacy level. Szwed then discovered that “What I would expect to discover, then, is not a single level of literacy, on a single continuum from reader to non-reader, but a variety of configurations of literacy, a plurality of literacies” (423).  He came up with so many reasoning’s to why people read and write, and simply came to the conclusion that there is no agreement. People can define ones’ literacy by someone at home reading their twitter posts, or could also be by someone reading a scholarly article about history. This is why literature can differ from person to person through different ways at home, school, and at work. It also does not just take where the person is at, to determine the person’s literacy level, but also their ethnicity, gender, age, and socioeconomic class.

3.       A question that was brought to my attention as I was reading this article was whether learning proper literacy skills would actually guarantee someone a more successful future in life? It kind of seems like an obvious question, and of course the more education you obtain in your life the more you will thrive, however, I always wondered if those who are less fortunate, or those who never bothered to learn proper literacy skills will ever be truly successful in life. I do feel that having literacy skills is a crucial part in succeeding in life, but I also agree that it takes more than just that. You need characteristics that literacy skills cannot teach you, such as communications and personality skills. Similarly, how Szwed commented that there is no argument to what creates literacy skills, and therefore could mean it is not just limited to that.