Comparing Johnny to Douglass

After reading the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" and the "Why Johnny Can't Write" piece, it has become pretty evident to the reason behind America's illiteracy. In modern day America, people blame children's addiction to television and poorly educated teachers for the fault of why students are illiterate. But from reading Frederick Douglass's inspirational story of how he managed to learn how to read and write under the harsh conditions as a slave proves to me that students today lack motivation.

Image Courteous of goodreads.com  

Douglass knew as a young child that he would be one step closer to freedom if he became literate. Freedom was his motivation. Students today need to understand that a prosperous future should be they're motivation. But it is difficult for students to realize that when they have teachers assigning them overloading homework assignments along with a strict grading system that determines their educational level.

With that being said, it is also the grading system we need to focus the issue on. Tests add stress to the students' learning process. They feel pressured to have an excellent grade because that's what they believe is expected of them, rather than to improve their knowledge. Frederick Douglass didn't go to school, didn't have tests, and mainly taught himself through different methods. The issue with America today is that the schools are trying to produce better papers out of students rather than better writers. Education through a student's viewpoint can be related to a video game; do well at this level and you'll proceed on to the next. It's all about the grades for them.

As a student myself, I occasionally come across the dilemma of the proper way of completing assignments versus being creative with my assignments. We are told to be our own person and are encouraged to express ourselves in our own unique way. I became fully aware of this dilemma when I enrolled in Art 10 last semester. I imagined in any class that would allow me to be creative, art would be it. But when I was given the first week's assignment, I had to follow all these guidelines to produce artwork to meet my professor's standards. As you can well imagine, Art 10 wasn't as fun as I predicted. It is the strain for the perfect grade that students in lose their motivation to learn. Because they are consumed with the quest for the perfect grade, they seek the easiest way possible rather than fully understanding the concept of the lesson.

We figure with a grading system, students would be more compelled to complete their work to receive some sort of reward for their hard work. I'm not stating that we should completely eliminate testing in general, I'm suggesting to lighten it up instead of finding ways to intensify it. Competition with employment is the main reason why there's such a strain on testing, but that should wait till college at least, when students realize what career they want to pursue. Until they reach that stage, students should be able to enjoy their classes and appreciate the lessons they are taught, not to be treated as employees on the verge of being fired.

Appreciating Literacy

Taking a class on literacy has made me realize the total dismissal myself and so many of my peers have concerning our own literary achievements. I have never appreciated my literacy, always believing it to have been a given. I went to school, and when the time came in which I was expected to learn to read and write, I did. Though I had my own initial struggles concerning placement, I never experienced any major difficulties. I never thought about the difficulties involved in a life where literacy was not a given.

The LA Times recently issued an article, “From Illiterate to Role Model” posted Jan. 5, 2011 by Carla Rivera, about adult literacy and a man who learned to read and write at age 35. Jon Zickerfoose, who has dyslexia and ADHD, went through his early life “faking” his literacy. He slid by just barely passing high school to receive a diploma, had friends fill out job applications, carried cash instead of applying for a bank account, and took his driver’s test orally, instead of taking a written exam. I was both shocked, and slightly disturbed by these facts. How can someone pass a driver’s test when they can’t read road signs? I realize that most signs have colors and shapes that mark their meaning, but what about exit signs, amber alerts, and other signs that aren’t as symbolically clear?

Anyways, Zickerfoose decided that it was time to change when his son discovered his father’s readings, which were spontaneously made up to correspond to the pictures, did not match the text in his bedtime stories. A local library offered adult literacy classes and after 6 months Zickerfoose was able to read novels. He became the literacy director for the library and founded UNITY, United Neighbors Involving Today’s Youth, a nonprofit organization.

Rivera brings in some statistics of our countries literacy rates, stating that “an estimated 30 million American adults can’t read a newspaper or fill out a job application,” and that of this number only 5% receive help to become literate, as Zickerfoose did. Only 5%! The main reason is the negative stigma attached to illiteracy. Just as Zickerfoose postponed his literacy due to embarrassment, so do many fellow Americans who believe that a silent struggle is better than a public confession of failure. This saddens me and yet, I can’t blame them. I always assume people around me are literate, having so many opportunities in today’s world. After reading Frederick Douglass’s narrative, the opportunities are highlighted even further. If an individual really wants to become literate, they can. I realize that sometimes disabilities or other matters make the accomplishment quite a feat, but I honestly believe it is possible.

After reading this article, and the texts so far in the course, I have come to appreciate my literacy and the opportunities that result from it. It’s quite scary to imagine life without these skills and I hope that those who have failed to achieve literacy, for whatever reasons, will not be afraid to ask for help. For there is so much to gain, and little to nothing to lose.

Rivera's article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-illiterate-20110106,0,569231,full.story

George Orwell's Post-War Literacy Crisis, and Why It Matters to Us

Aside from tormenting generations of high schoolers with his satirical work Animal Farm and having one of the strangest mustaches ever, George Orwell was an avid critic of English literacy and writing, particularly in areas of stylistics. I recently read one of Orwell's essays on the matter in COMM 413: The Mass Media and Culture. In "Politics and the English Language" Orwell decries the current state of the English language, warning that current stylistic practices in English mirror the overall decadence of society, and the decline of language parallels the decline of (in this case) English civilization.



Unlike Newsweek's famous expose on declining literacy, "Why Johny Can't Write," which fears that writing skills are disappearing among school-age children, Orwell credits the decline in literacy to the prevailing stylistic tendencies of the academy and of politics. Rather than writing clearly and concisely, professors and politicians attempt to appear eloquent and learned by stringing together long sentences full of Greek and Latinate words, which can either give the work a sense of grandeur, or relegate it, in the mind of the common audience, to a piece of pretentious, lofty bullshit. Though Orwell seems to be pontificating a bit, he does have a point- too often, academic essays burst at the seams with nonsensical jargon but contribute little meaning to even a highly learned reader. To Orwell, it seems that the goal of writing has become to obscure rather than to inform.

Much like "Why Johnny Can't Write," Orwell presents actual pieces of what he considers to be overly wordy, frivolous English. These examples, which Orwell pulls from academic and political discourses, do make a point. The writers seem to value sentence length over clarity and feigned eloquence over concise and concrete prose. For example, Orwell presents a stunningly confusing sentence from an essay written by Professor Harold Laski, a distinguished British academic and politician.

I am not, indeed, sure whether it is not true to say that the Milton who once seemed not unlike a seventeenth-century Shelley had not become, out of an experience ever more bitter in each year, more alien [sic] to the founder of that Jesuit sect which nothing could induce him to tolerate.

It is important to note that Orwell has picked what he considered to be standard examples of modern English discourse. I am inclined to agree with Orwell, who, keep in mind, wrote before the post-modernist academics even began to pollute high education with nonsensical ramblings, that writing has ceased to be a method of conveying information, and instead has become an exercise in verbal acrobatics.

Why is this important to us? Orwell fears that this obfuscating language allows people in positions of power– academics and politicians– to speak for hours or pages on a subject without really saying anything, which makes it easy for the public to be deceived by those very people who are supposed to protect and enlighten it. For our purposes, however, we begin to see that whether we are trying to teach struggling students how to write or trying to rein in word-happy writers who say little of substance, the main purpose of writing must be to communicate. What good is being able to write if what you write is unable to contribute to the lives of others?

While some academics might decry the teaching of "Standard Edited English" as a form of cultural imperialism, I think it's important to remember that as teachers, journalists, or writers, we have an obligation to enlighten and better our audiences. I would consider myself a failure as a teacher if I refused to teach my students the "proper" way to write– i.e. writing the way that potential employers want. Altruism and idealism are important when teaching something creative such as writing, but to ignore the status quo and dismiss it as repressive is a complete disservice to students. While I want students to be able to find their own voice, I also think it's important for them to understand that every venue has a corresponding register of speech. Would I write an email to a friend in the same way that I would write an application letter to a potential employer? I think not. Students should learn that different stylistic moods exist, and that the correct application of these moods can truly benefit them.

From Newsweek's fears that the young couldn't write, to Orwell's fears that those in power couldn't write, literacy crises are a continual aspect of life in a literate culture. As the teachers of the future, we need to enlighten our students to the various manifestations of literacy so that they can always express themselves effectively.

Narrative of Fredrick Douglass

Frederick Douglas, throughout his narrative, accounts his own experiences and analyzes them. He generalizes the details of white supremacy and how they made slaves ignorant. Douglas integrated both horror and his conquest to make something out of himself. Reading Frederick Douglas makes me wonder how people couldn't see the cruelty that existed right in front of their eyes. Douglas, most eloquently, tells the reader that some people thought this was a social practice but in turn it was not a social norm.
Frederick Douglas is able to incorporate an effective use of language. He uses tactics in the narrative to show how the institution of slavery works. Blacks were inferior to whites and were only good to work. During those times blacks were dehumanized. This theme reminded me of something similar that came up in an English class I had in the past. We studied poetry by black writers. A few that we focused on were about lynchings. The lynchings were punishment of alleged transgressors or to show power. They were also used as a tactic to manipulate the population and to control a certain area or areas. It reminded me of slavery because if a black would look at a slaveholder the wrong way they would get whipped. Well. . . in the case of lynching, when a black person looked at a white women a certain way they were in line to possibly be shot or lynched. In both cases whites wanted to make sure blacks knew their place and would use death as a consequence if they did not.
Blacks were treated so poorly during past times. When I read Douglass it made me realize that we should take time to read his story. We should accept that Douglass's story was real and not fabricated. We should not look away to the horrid punishment of the blacks but rather learn from them. Douglass is an inspiration because he overcame his harsh and troubling life to start anew; he dreamed only of what he knew he could do and more.


({{Information |Description=A man lynched from a tree. Face partially concealed by angle and headgear. |Source=Library of Congress[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.12928] |Date=1925 |Author=National Photo Company |Permission={{PD-National Photo Company}} |)

(Below, taken from a poet named Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer, is a small excerpt from her poem called, Lynching).

Lynching

Have you ever heard of lynching in the great United States?
'Tis an awful, awful story that the Negro man relates,
How the mobs the laws have trampled, both the human and divine,
In their killing helpless people as their cruel hearts incline.

Not the heathen! 'Tis the Christian with the Bible in his hand,
Stands for pain and death to tyrannize the weaklings of the land;
Not the red man nor the Spaniard kills the blacks of Uncle Sam,
'Tis the white man of the nation who will lunch the sons of Ham.

To a limb upon the highway does a Negro's body hang,
Riddled with a hundred bullets from the bloody, thirsty gang;
Law and order thus defying, and there's none to say them nay.
"Thus," they say, to keep their power, "Negroes must be kept at bay."

Dialect's Different Uses

Last semester, I took COMM 205, a course in Women, Minorities, and the Media. We watched a documentary HBO had aired entitled, "Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives." Even though we looked at the movie from strictly a minority standard, I chose to bring it up because I noticed such a stark contrast from the way that the actors were instructed to read/portray the characters and the way that Frederick Douglass had written his narrative. Here is a link to a YouTube clip of the documentary.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0pAhzsWFyM&feature=related

As we discussed last class and Meg mentioned below, Douglass had obtained significant instruction from saying his ABCs to being able to coherently express himself in standard English in his narrative. It is safe to say that after watching "Unchained Memories," that most of the former slaves interviewed spoke in some form of southern dialect, and HBO tried to recreate by instructing the actors to speak in that distinct dialect. If you skip to about 0:55 seconds on the YouTube link, you're able to see the interview the reporter conducted with Sarah Gudger in text format, exhibiting misspellings and expressions of words that look preposterous but serve to help the reader gain an understanding of how exactly Sarah spoke.

Presumably, this reporter knew that the record she was creating was filled with grammatical errors that would make any English teacher grimace. In fact, the text interview looks stunningly similar to the examples of student writing in "Why Johnny Can't Write." The difference is that Sarah's interview was purposely written incorrectly to capture dialogue in a historical context. While it appears Sarah herself was probably unable to read or write based on the interview, the way the dialogue is structured in the text raises an interesting issue as to the impact of dialect on the narrative.

Even though Douglass is able to express himself in an elevated level of standard English in his narrative, and Sarah Gudger, an illiterate slave, orally recalls her experiences for another to transcribe, the dialect element in Sarah's account appeals more to the emotion of the readers. In reading Douglass' narrative in comparison, the writing itself seems to lend itself more to showcasing his literary accomplishments vs. relaying the actual events of his life.

It is interesting, therefore, to consider how the use of dialect in writing can change the intended meaning of the story. Even though dialect itself has seemingly caused issues between written and spoken language, it definitely has some substance in this type of expression.

Going From ABCs to a Narrative

In class we discussed some explicit and implicit literacy used by Frederick Douglass. One of the questions that was brought up during this discussion was how Frederick Douglass went from tricking little white boys into giving him "lessons" to writing his own narrative, which is both stylistic and grammatically sophisticated. Frederick doesn't go into any detailed explanation as to how he managed to hone his skills, but there are some small inferences that the reader can make. First, on page 368 Frederick says, "If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book." What the reader should take from this is that Frederick had access to literature. He also mentions reading newspapers several times throughout the narrative. Knowing that Frederick was able to read, we (the reader) can assume that he took those opportunities that he could to read (just as he found those opportunities to learn how to write). Reading would enhance his vocabulary and show him by example the rules of correct grammar/syntax. On page 370, Frederick mentions looking up "abolitionist" in a dictionary. That he had access to a dictionary would further improve his ability to both read and write.
Judging by his efforts in finding creative ways to learn how to write and improve that skill, the reader can assume that, though removed from Baltimore, Frederick continued working in the same way to find and consume reading material (I would make an exception to this assumption when Frederick worked under Mr. Covey, who barely gave his slaves time to eat much less time for any other activity that did not involve working the farm).
On page 401 Frederick tells his reader that he began a Sunday school where he taught other slaves reading and writing. This, too, would improve his own literacy skills, for teaching a subject tends to generate a deeper intimacy between subject and teacher.
Finally, on page 428, Frederick mentions that once he had enough money he subscribed to the "Liberator". Reading abolitionist literature would familiarize Frederick with the prose of anti-slavery arguments and attacks on that institution. This would also help to develop the style and sophisticated rhetoric that we see in the "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass". I guess one could say that though Frederick never tells his audience explicitly how he was able to develop his writing skills, he does leave little clues and the provide some basis for understanding his growth was a writer.

Also, I found this website that I found to be interesting.
http://www.theliberatorfiles.com/

Comparing Slave Narratives

Last semester, I took a black feminist literature class here at Penn State. The class had us reading plenty of slave narratives, all written by females. In our class discussions of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (another one of the stories in our book), our professor had us note several differences between male slave narratives and female slave narratives. One was the difference between how men wrote about how they achieved their freedom and how women wrote about it.


Frederick Douglass' tale of achieving freedom seems to be mostly attributed to his own hard work. Through using various methods to teach himself how to read and write, standing up to his master in a physical confrontation, and sometimes sheer effort of will, Douglass seems to earn his freedom by his own means. However in Incidents, Harriet Jacobs continually addresses the fact that she would not have been able to achieve her freedom without the help of others. Frederick does acknowledge a few places in his book when he purposefully omits names (in order to not implicate certain people in the crime of helping a slave), but his narrative style focuses the burdens on himself.

It is noteworthy to say that Douglass did not have children as Jacobs did. With the extra burden of acquiring the freedom of her children, Jacobs had a lessened ability to simply run away. She also felt a strong familial connection with her grandmother who Jacobs did not want to leave behind either. Indeed, in comparing these two narratives, it seems that connections of any kind hinder the slave from obtaining freedom. This can also be seen when Douglass' group of friends is stopped from running away due to other slaves that had betrayed their plans to their masters.

The main point I'm trying to make here is the difference of opinion between Douglass and Jacobs towards their emancipation from slavery. Douglass wrote from a very individualistic point of view. Indeed, at one point in his narrative Douglass says that he could not even trust people of his own color. He very well might have been a firm believer in the quote, "if you want anything done right, you have to do it yourself." Overall, Douglass takes a stereotypical male view in his narrative. Jacobs makes use of her friendships and community to achieve freedom and gives plenty of credit to those who helped her. Her collectivist view comes across constantly as she mentions those who help hide, house, and transport her to freedom.

Do you think there is a better view or a right view? Do you think that Douglass left out the names and stories of others who may have had a helping hand in his escape?

Frederick Douglass

Image from Library of Congress

In  A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), Frederick Douglass describes literacy events throughout his narrative. At one point in the narrative, for example, Douglass says that he read the Columbian Orator.


He not only explains how he learned to read and write but also notes literacy in more subtle ways. For example, when he writes of slave songs: "The mere recurrence to those songs, even now, afflicts me; and while I am writing these lines, an expression of feeling has already found its way down my cheek" (p. 349). Here is a powerful linking of memory, emotion, body, song, and writing.


I call these instances examples of "explicit" literacy--e.g., the pen in the crack of his foot, Mrs. Auld's teaching, the street children and writing, and the title page self-authorship note. All of these are specific mentions of literacy in the narrative.


Douglass also uses "implicit" literacy throughout his narrative via literary devices--chiasmus, metaphor, dialog, narrative structure, and intertextuality. By looking at these literary devices, we see the profound writing abilities of Douglass. In the end, Douglass both tells and shows his literacy abilities.


My Bondage and My Freedom is available from the University of Virginia Library. Life and Times of Frederick Douglass is available from the University of North Carolina. The Library of Congress has a useful collection of Frederick Douglass materials.


Note: It was not initially illegal to teach slaves to read and write in the South. After 1740 and the Stono Rebellion, states such as South Carolina enacted laws limiting literacy. By 1830, Southern states such as Alabama (1833) passed the anti-literacy laws that we think of today when we think of prohibitions on slave reading and writing. PBS provides a useful timeline of laws related to slavery in the U.S.

Appreciation of Education

After reading the first few chapters of Frederick Douglass' narrative, I was shocked at the undercover measures that had to be taken in order for slaves to become literate. Douglass understood that the ability to read and write was the first step toward freedom. To work toward this goal, he would steal his young Master's old spelling books and practice writing words over and over again until the words looked similar to those of which his Master transcribed in the book. He would also ask young white boys walking home from school to help him learn to write the alphabet or a word on a sidewalk or wall. He said that a slave could write better than them when in reality, he only wanted to learn what they knew.

Thinking about my own literacy journey, I most definitely have taken for granted my education that was so easily handed to me. I never had to challenge anyone to teach me, and I sure didn't have to steal books to teach myself. When I was younger, I just assumed that literacy came with being human and learned what I needed, but I never once really appreciated the instruction or thought about what it would be like if I didn't have the teachers or materials I needed.

More broadly, I think most children in American society take their education for granted. They come to school with a lazy attitude, don't do the work required, and "float" through each day of their primary and secondary schooling while just trying to "get through it." As a future educator of English in an American high school, I think it is my duty to make my students understand that they are the lucky ones, getting instruction handed to them so easily. Perhaps in the beginning of each school year, I will make my future classes read Frederick Douglass' narrative in order for my class to appreciate the education they receive and to learn all they can.

Literacy and the Discourse of Crisis

In “Literacy and the Discourse of Crisis” John Trimbur writes that phrases such as “Johnny Can’t Write” are powerful because “they condense a broad range of cultural, social, and economic tensions into one central image” (p. 277).

But why do we care about Johnny’s writing abilities?

Trimbur argues that literacy “transformations” via cultural shifts bring about crisis. He writes:

 Literacy crises are always strategic: They perform certain kinds of ideological work by giving a name to and thereby mastering (rhetorically if not actually) cultural anxieties released by demographic shifts, changes in the means of production, new relations and conflicts between classes and groups of people, and reconfigurations of cultural hegemony. By representing literacy in crisis, the discourse of literacy externalizes these deeper structural changes and shifts in the political balance of power and refigures them in the problem of language and education--of learning how to read and write (pg. 286).

Trimbur tells us that the literacy crisis discourse waxes and wanes. Likewise, the achievement gap discourse comes and goes. I tracked the achievement gap discourse over a couple of years in the Boston Globe. Over a four-year period (1999-2003), the Boston Globe ran an article about the achievement gap every 7-10 days. I noticed a rise in the instances of the achievement gap discourse as Massachusetts moved closer to requiring its MCAS test for high school graduation.

Why Johnny Can't Write

In 1975 Newsweek published the article “Why Johnny Can’t Write,” claiming that the U.S.  educational system was spawning “a generation of semiliterates.” As evidence of the dire quality of student writing, Newsweek author Merill Sheils presented four examples of student writing. What strikes me about those samples is that the errors offered as evidence are accessible to a general audience—misspelled words, misplaced prepositional phrases, and convoluted prose. They are all errors that readers can “get.” The assumption is that educated writers would not make errors in their writing. Yet, grammar, punctuation, and usage errors can be found in many pieces of writing. It’s just that some errors matter more than others if we are to provide evidence of a literacy crisis in the U.S. I doubt errors in semi-colon usage would get readers as interested as the samples provided by Sheils.

Another fascinating aspect of the “Why Johnny Can’t Write” article is the visual imagery. On the cover is Johnny—white, middle class, and on his way to college. He obviously represents the establishment, but the images included with the article show quite different faces.  Here, for example, we find images of white children watching TV and attentive African American high school students with their white, female teachers.  We never see Johnny in the classroom. Why do we never learn the fate of Johnny?

For a useful analysis of the "Why Johnny Can't Write" article, see the National Conversation on Writing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykOtgK2sKy0

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