Readings on Language and Literacy

Naomi S. Baron, “Are Digital Media Changing Language?”

Reading Questions:

1. Baron describes recent “minor shifts” in English as well as new attitudes that users have about language, all resulting from computer and cell phone use. What evidence does she provide of these changes?
2. Baron is writing to an audience of teachers. What is her purpose for writing to them? What does she want them to know or do about language change?

Writing Questions:

1. Compose an Analysis Essay that uses Baron’s ideas to analyze examples of language use from your everyday life. Do you see additional examples of the “minor shifts” and new attitudes that she describes? Do you see changes that she doesn’t mention? Provide evidence by quoting and analyzing specific text messages, emails, social media posts, spoken conversations, etc., in order to support your claims.
2. Compose a Synthesis Essay in which you bring Baron into conversation with Clive Thompson and his essay, “The New Literacy.” Both of these writers are interested in how new media affect language use.  Your essay should state your own position on the implications of language change, and you should synthesize ideas from Baron and Thompson in order to contextualize and support your claim.

Deborah Brandt, “Sponsors of Literacy”

Reading Questions:

1. Brandt coins the term “sponsors of literacy” to explain how economic forces impact the way people learn to read and write. Who or what is a literacy sponsor? What does Brandt mean by “sponsorship”? How does sponsorship affect individual readers and writers?
2. To develop her ideas, Brandt analyzes several examples of literacy sponsorship. Which of her examples do you find the most convincing or informative, and why? What can you learn about writing an analysis from studying how Brandt analyzes the example you’ve chosen?

Writing Questions:

1. Compose a Summary and Response Essay in which you summarize Brandt’s article, including her claim, main ideas, and most important examples. Then, respond to what she says about sponsors of literacy by reflecting on how your own literacy has been sponsored. Which individuals, institutions, situations, or forces have contributed to your learning to read and write? How has your understanding of your own literacy changed after reading Brandt’s article?
2. Compose an Analysis Essay in which you write about one or more of the Literacy Narratives included in this textbook. You should use Brandt’s ideas about literacy sponsorship to analyze the stories that these writers tell about their own literacy development. What are the forces that supported or constrained their literacy development? How do you understand these stories differently after studying them from Brandt’s perspective?

Richard Lederer, “All-American Dialects”

Reading Questions:

1. Lederer is making an argument about dialects—about who speaks them and about how we perceive them. What is his claim?
2. Pay attention to the tone that Lederer uses in this article. How would you describe it? Why (given his audience and purpose) does he use it?

Writing Questions:

1. Compose a Summary and Response Essay in which you summarize Lederer’s article, including his claim, main ideas, and most important examples. Then, respond to what he says about American dialects by reflecting on your own attitudes about dialect. What American dialects are you familiar with? What perceptions do you have about speakers who use a dialect other than your own? How has your understanding of dialect shifted or changed after reading Lederer’s article?
2. Compose a Synthesis Essay in which you bring Lederer into conversation with Dennis R. Preston and his article on “Some Plain Facts About Americans and Their Language.” Both of these writers are interested in how we perceive different dialects of English and the people who speak them. Your essay should state your own position about the judgments we make based on language, and you should synthesize ideas from Lederer and Preston in order to contextualize and support your claim.

William Lutz, “Doublespeak”

Reading Questions:

1. This article about is about the relationship between language and reality. According to Lutz, how does language influence our perception of the world around us?
2. Lutz incorporates several quotations and examples in his article. Some are extended quotations; others are quick one- or two-word phrases. How does Lutz use these quotations to develop and support his argument?

Writing Questions:

1. Compose an Analysis Essay in which you write about one or more examples of doublespeak you find on your own–an advertisement, for instance, or a political speech. You should use Lutz’s terms to analyze your examples in detail. Ultimately, you should make a claim about why doublespeak is being used in the texts you have chosen. What is being hidden from readers? What purpose is the writer trying to accomplish by manipulating language?

Toni Morrison, “When Language Dies”

Reading Questions:

1. It’s common to call a language “dead” if it is no longer spoken or written, but that’s not Morrison’s definition. How does she define a dead language?
2. Consider the style Morrison uses to write her speech. In what ways does she try to put into practice her own ideas about what language can and should do?

Writing Questions:

1. Compose a Synthesis Essay in which you bring Morrison into conversation with William Lutz and his essay on “Doublespeak” and George Orwell and his essay on “Politics and the English Language.” All three of these writers write about the relationship between language and knowledge, and none of them believe that relationship is a straightforward one. Your essay should state your own position on this topic, and you should support your position by analyzing specific examples of language in use. You should synthesize ideas from Morrison, Lutz, and Orwell in order to contextualize and support your claim.

Donald M. Murray, “The Maker’s Eye”

Reading Questions:

1. Murray explains the difference between amateur writers and experienced writers. How does he describe the writing process of each?
2. Murray’s article is not a researched essay. He cites no sources to support his ideas about writing. Does he develop authority in other ways? Why do you (or don’t you) accept his advice about writing?

Writing Questions:

1. Compose a Summary and Response Essay in which you summarize Murray’s article, including his claim, main ideas, and most important examples. Then, respond to what he says about writing by reflecting on your own writing process. Does your process differ from the one he describes? How do you think your process could change now that you have read Murray’s advice?
2. Compose a Synthesis Essay in which you bring Murray into conversation with George Orwell and his essay on “Politics and the English Language.” Both of these writers have strong ideas about how language should be used and what makes good writing, though they certainly have different attitudes about the topic. Your essay should state your own position about what college students need to learn about writing and why. You should synthesize ideas from Murray and Orwell in order to contextualize and support your claim.

Additional Readings on Language and Literacy

1. Lera Boroditsky, “Lost in Translation”
2. Cheryl J. Boucher, Georgina S. Hammock, Selina D. McLaughlin, and Henry N. Kelsey, “Perceptions of Competency as a Function of Accent”
3. Annie Dillard, “Write Till You Drop”
4. Robert H. Knapp, “A Psychology of Rumor”
5. Maria Konnikova, “The Lost Art of the Unsent Angry Letter”
6. George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”
7. Dennis R. Preston, “Some Plain Facts about Americans and Their Language”
8. Douglas Quenqua. “They’re, Like, Way Ahead of the Linguistic Currrve”
9. Mike Rose, “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis of Writer’s Block”
10. Nancy Sommers, “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers”
11. Clive Thompson, “The New Literacy”