Post 9

Heath defines literacy events as “any action sequence, involving one or more persons, in which the production and/or comprehension of print plays a role." Unlike American children who experience most literacy events though one-on-one readings with adults children in Trackton experience literacy events though communication. The responses they hear and provide are the means by which they learn. Adults in Trackton practice both oral and written traditions. The church plays an important role in the literacy events people in trackton experience. They read and sing hyms, they listen and repeat prayers, and they discuss the Bible. They also translated almost all of their printed texts into oral versions for the illiterate within their community. Since a large amount of the working class in Tracton are illiterate the local mills ask the workers questions and fill out forms for them instead of having the workers read documents and write their responses. Heath points out how the people of Tracton recognize their deficiencies and are able to accommodate for them. The main point Heath tries to make in her essay is that written and oral language and the relation between them is always changing and these changes cause different meanings for what defines literacy in different societies.

Sherman Alexie describes how he was able to become a success as an Indian boy and how other Indian children respond to living amongst non-Indians. He talks about how he would read anything he could get his hands on; books, backs of cereal boxes, newspapers, bulletins, mail, manuals, magazines, anything with words and paragraphs. Now he visits schools as often as possible and finds them scattered with Indian children. Some remain resistant and refuse to submit to how society defines them.  He tries to convince the children how important books and knowledge are, but he cannot make them read because he is not a superhero he is just a man.