Course theme: “Literacies of Power” 

From Deborah Brandt’s article “Sponsors of Literacy” CCC 49.2 (May 1998):

“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. Just as the ages of radio and television accustom us to having programs brought to us by various commercial sponsors, it is useful to think about who or what underwrites occasions of literacy learning and use. Although the interests of the sponsor and the sponsored do not have to converge (and, in fact, may conflict) sponsors nevertheless set the terms for access to literacy and wield powerful incentives for compliance and loyalty. Sponsors are a tangible reminder that literacy learning throughout history has always required permission, sanction, assistance, coercion, or, at minimum, contact with existing trade routes. Sponsors are delivery systems for the economies of literacy, the means by which these forces present themselves to—and through—individual learners. They also represent the causes into which people’s literacy usually gets recruited” (166-67). 

Activity 1 (in ENG 101 class) 

What is literacy? Share initial impressions in a class discussion. (Do this on a jamboard if online or in a computer lab.) After sharing, introduce, in very simple terms, literacy in three metaphors (literacy as adaptation, literacy as power, literacy as a state of grace). How do these concepts relate to or challenge our initial ideas about literacy? 

Activity 2 (in ENG 101 class) 

Answer rhetorical analysis questions–author, audience, purpose, subject–to preview literacy sponsor articles [excerpt from Brandt and one application of her theory written in a more journalistic style—2nd source TBD]. 

Activity 3 (ENG 101 homework) 

Read excerpts from the two articles, in particular digging into highlighted concepts and vocabulary in the excerpt above. 

Activity 4 (in ENG 101 class) 

Thinking about what we’ve read about literacy sponsorship, students will answer close reading questions (modeled on Adams): 

1. Describe the differences between the two texts. How do you explain the differences? Which is better writing? Why? 

2. Who do you think the author of each article was writing for? What kind of reader was he writing for? 

3. “Translate” the first sentence in the scholarly article into more ordinary language: “In his sweeping history of adult learning in the United States, Joseph Kerr describes the intellectual atmosphere available to young apprentices who worked in the small, decentralized print shops of antebellum America.”

4. Brandt argues that we are “neither rich nor powerful enough to sponsor literacy on our own terms.” Does that idea surprise you? Why or why not? 

Activity 5 (in ENA class) 

Previewing the literacy sponsor study, watch excerpt of Brandt discussing “literacy as a resource” 

Activity 6 (ENG 101 homework) 

Read interview with Brandt: 

https://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/sponsors-of-literacy-in-contemporary-cult ure-an-e-interview-with-dr-deborah-brandt/amp/ 

Activity 7 (begin in class and continue as ENG 101/ENA homework)

Annotate Brandt’s literacy sponsor article. 

Activity 8 (in ENG and ENA class) 

Thinking about the literacy sponsor concept through small group discussion: how has your reading so far changed your impressions of literacy? 

Activity 9 (ENG 101 homework) 

Summarizing literacy sponsorship. Discuss a sample summary. 

Activity 10 (in ENG 101 and ALP class) 

Analyzing literacy sponsorship summaries 

Activity 11 (ENG 101 homework) 

Writing about a personal experience with literacy sponsorship 

Activity 12 (in ENG 101 class) 

Discussion of activity 11 

Activity 13 (in ENG 101 and ALP class, maybe in small groups) 

Research literacy sponsors–locate and evaluate one reliable source that describes and/or applies the concept of literacy sponsorship. Depending on the students’ abilities and engagement I may give them excerpts from pre-selected articles about literacy. Will model source evaluation questions based on Adams: 

1. Who is the author(a)? What can you find out about the author(s)? How expert is the author on the subject? 

2. Where was the article published? What kind of journal, book, or website? 3. Who seems to be the audience this article was intended for? 

4. Would this be a useful 

5. Resource for you to quote in an essay? Why? Write out 2-3 sentences showing what and how you would quote from it.

Activity 14 (in ENG and ALP classes) 

Thinking about audience: guiding your reader (Who is your “reader”? What might they have experienced? What might they know already, and what concepts will be new to them? How do you want them to feel after reading your essay?) 

Activity 15 (ENG 101 homework) 

Essay 1 will be a 3-4 page essay where students are asked to explain the concept of literacy sponsorship to incoming college students and describe how this concept changed their previous understanding of literacy 

Activity 16 (in ENG 101 class after receiving feedback on Essay 1 draft)

Complete hyper rubric self evaluation that asks student to assess their ability to explain a complex concept