Peer Post 1

This is a graded discussion: 2 points possible
due Jan 14 at 8:30am
Brandt, "Sponsors of Literacy" Reading Response and Discussion
79
142
Post your discussion and response to a peer here, after reading Deborah Brandt's Sponsors of Literacy.
Reply
(https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3854665)
Erin Martin
Jan 12, 2015
Deborah Brandt wrote this research article to highlight the role of sponsors in the development of literacy in different individuals. The article goes through the explanation of what a
sponsor is, someone who assists in advancement of a certain task, as well as the way different sponsors affect each individual differently and for different reasons. Throughout the
article, Brandt goes into detail about certain time periods, places and social classes that may affect the way your sponsors influence you; she discusses access to printing presses
during the industrial revolution, the process of slaves overcoming illiteracy using the bible, and our present day school system. As a part of her research, she conducted a study
using two women from different backgrounds and economic classes who raised in a similar environment within the same town. This was meant to show that individuals belonging to
a higher economic/social class have access to more effective sponsors, leading them down a more successful path, and visa versa (Brandt)
Although I would not read this article for pleasure, I did find it quite interesting. I like the way she used her research to highlight the differences between the socioeconomic classes
in America while showing the importance for equal academic resources. I have never given the concept of sponsors much thought but i can see now how this plays into everyday
life in every setting, whether it be solely literacy or your first day at a new job, those who teach you have a large amount of influence on your future performance in that particular
area. I also found it interesting the way that she listed environment as a sponsor because the way you live, the time period and area, can and does have just as big an effect on your
actions as the individuals who support you
-Erin Martin, Dawn Guru
Edited by Erin Martin (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3854665) on Jan 13 at 2:47pm
Alejandro Arcay
Jan 12, 2015
Excellent response Erin! This passage definitely had my mind racing but when it comes down to it, whether we believe it or not, are minds are being molded and shaped by
other human beings that have the instructional advantages (sponsors). In my personal opinion, the whole concept of literacy sponsors seems pretty accurate, but the whole
idea about molding minds for political and economic purposes seems a little too far-fetched.
Edited by Alejandro Arcay (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3853014) on Jan 12 at 6:52pm
Antoinette Walton
Jan 13, 2015
I also found it interesting when she said that the environment can be a sponsor but when I think about my transition from private school to public school, my environment
changed completely and so did my attitude and thoughts about several things. From what it seems like to me, this passage put a light on the fact that many different things do
have some sort of effect on us, whether positive or negative. We may not see that change day by day, but looking at our past and thinking about our past, we are able to see
what characteristics and abilities we learned from other people and experiences and how they may have helped molded us into the person we are today.
Samantha Merto
Jan 13, 2015
After reading your analysis, I completely agree that your environment can have a drastic impact on education. Coming from New York to Florida back in middle school was a
major change. Not only was I a year younger than everyone in my classes, the pace of school was different from was used to. Not only does the environment affect your
learning, the people around you do, and they help shape our future.
Reply
Alejandro Arcay
Jan 12, 2015
Deborah Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" discusses how literacy can be twisted and manipulated for one's own benefit. Brandt goes into detail on how these sponsors have such a
huge impact on our society and some don't even know it. Sponsors can include a wide variety of people such as teachers, parents, mentors, etc. Now what makes these ordinary
citizens so powerful? It's there instructional ability to shape and mold young (for the most part), vulnerable people in a literary perspective. This includes what is being taught,
provided texts and forms of writing. Also, Brandt talks about how literacy does change from generation to generation due to the fact that people sometimes draw their own
conclusions regardless of their literacy history. Sponsors of literacy aren't necessarily part of the cult that attempts to brainwash those for political and economic purposes. Those
who do are the ones you really need to be careful around because they might be molding you in a way that you're not okay with. Then again, how is one supposed to identify these
manipulative people when still in early grade school? Lastly, Brandt describes another issue concerning "the literacy crisis" which is the perceived gap between rising standards for
achievement and people's ability to meet them (Brandt, 169).
Interesting reading I must say! It really exemplifies how our minds are being molded by what seems to be harmless individuals that might have an alternate agenda. This isn't a
passage that can be stomached after one reading because I do feel that it demonstrated some inaccuracies based on my opinion. Then again, maybe I was molded differently? Very
intriguing, but I would say that this passage is to be read with a grain of salt.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." 49.2 (1998): 165-85. College Composition and Communication. Web.
Edited by Alejandro Arcay (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3853014) on Jan 12 at 6:51pm
Shakeena Lubin
Jan 12, 2015
I agree 100% with you Alejandro! While I was writing my response I also figured out how sponsors can try to mold you into believing something that you don't. Not everyone
can come up with the same ideas and thoughts, but usually when someone close such as a family member or friend gives you an idea that you're not sure of yourself, their
opinion can make you lean a different direction as well.
Erin Martin
Jan 13, 2015
I also agree with your post. I definitely found myself thinking back on times my mentors (who i now know were also my sponsors) influenced me to think a certain way or to
react a certain way to different situations. However, I also found it interesting that my parents and I have completely different views on a lot of major topics even though they
were the ones who taught me how I was supposed to feel about these things. I think there is something to be said for the fact that sponsors can influence individuals in
extreme ways but as humans, we also retain parts of our individualism as well.
Joshua Kernica
Jan 13, 2015
You made a really good point about how sponsors could brainwash you into believing something that you don't and I couldn't agree more with that. The sponsored really need
to pay attention to the sponsors beliefs and what they stand for because it could ultimately make the sponsored look bad. As I stated in my post, a sponsors relationship with
whom they are sponsoring works both ways and could hurt both parties as well as help.
Reply
Shakeena Lubin
Jan 12, 2015
In Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt explains literacy and how it shapes the way we learn to read, write, and practice different forms of literacy. Brandt later goes on to explain
Sponsorship, Brandt explains that sponsors are those that help influence the way literacy is today such as: parents, relatives, friends, coworkers, teachers, and/or mentors. She
explains how most literacy can range from a persons race, gender, location, technology that they have available to them, as well as politics. Brandt explains how literacy can be
defined as both access and denial. Socioeconomic also played a major role in literacy and its sponsors. A higher literacy achievement the higher the socioeconomic class. Brandt
gives examples of technology with Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez, she also gives other examples such as a literacy gap with Dwayne, a religious situation with Carol, and a
social family change with Sarah.
What stuck out to me the most in Deborah Brandts essay was how people around us, known as sponsors really have a major impact on how we read and write. For example, as a
child I always looked up to my brother because he read so well and had pretty handwriting, so when ii begin to read and write I wanted to be just like him. Another point that was of
my focus was how around the world not everyone has the same opportunity to and access to sponsors and technology to help them. Dora Lopez example stuck out to me the most
because she was able to teach herself Spanish. Spanish is such a hard language to learn especially without enough technology, but she was still able to teach herself which has
helped her.
Brandt, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication 49.2 (1998): 165-85. Print.
Payton Kuenzli
Jan 13, 2015
Those two parts stuck out to me also. I too had very strong literacy sponsors in the past so I was inspired by them. At the same time, it also made me realize that not everyone
was as lucky as me to have had such strong literacy sponsors. Having good literacy sponsors definitely gives you a head start in college and the work force, which is why
people strive so hard to develop these skills. For some people, unfortunately, it can be hard to obtain them because of negative literacy sponsors in their lives, whatever they
may be.
Kelsey Paris
Jan 13, 2015
I can completely relate to the second portion of your response. Growing up, my brother and I were on the same team. I looked up to him for guidance. Along with my coaches,
parents, and other teammates, I had many sponsors growing up. Literacy is not just forms of communication, but also any knowledge or skill useful in a discourse community.
Sponsorship is a huge part of any learning process.
Beth Fidelo
Jan 14, 2015
Sponsors definitely shape our thoughts and believes eventually. With a strong understanding of ones culture from a sponsor, lets say an older family member like a
grandfather talking about politics to a just turning 18 year old, might shape the way the 18 year old votes, believes and understands the literacy behind the political community
they are incorporated in. This is just like your example of how you wanted to be just like your brother and write just like him.
Michelle Foote
Jan 14, 2015
You have a wonderful point Shakeena. I sometimes forget the rest of the world isn't as fortunate as we are with resources such as AP classes, ACT prep courses, and even
classes to assure you have the best college essays possible. And especially here at UCF with our abundance of opportunities such as the writing center and Career Center we
should really take more advantage of the opportunities we are blessed with so we don't have to dive into subjects (such as Spanish) alone.
Reply
Payton Kuenzli
Jan 13, 2015
Brandt's piece is all about literacy sponsors and how they impact our ability to read, write, and analyze text. Literacy sponsors can be anything, from the people we interact with to
the environment we grew up in as kids. Brandt shows us not only how sponsors effect our literacy history, but how our literacy history effects our world. For example, when Brandt
examines Dwayne Lowery we see exactly not having strong literacy sponsors in the past made his training more difficult when to Washington, DC. Lowery even acknowledged that
had he read more in high school, it would have been easier for him.
What I think we can take from this is that literacy sponsors can have both a positive and negative impact on a person; something is not only considered to be a literacy sponsor if it
is good. If someone grew up poor and had a poor educational background, they are going to struggle more with literacy than someone who grew up in the middle class with a good
educational background. Not only that, but our positive or negative literacy sponsors effect our entire lives. One's ability to communicate is essential in the working force to be
successful; the better communicator you are, the farther you'll go. It's important to have good literacy sponsors- great teachers, growing up in a good environment, etc.- to help get
you there.
I connect well with this article because I had strong literacy sponsors growing up. I came from a school where reading and writing were always made fun and interesting when I was
a kid, so it drew my interest. Once I got to high school, each and every one of my English teachers taught us about searching for deeper meaning beneath the words in the text.
Because of what they taught me, I am able to analyze text very well and I realize what a boost that has given me now that I have gotten to college.
Literacy sponsors effect your entire life because of how much we rely on reading and writing to interact with people in school, work, social events, etc. and everything we experience
in our lives impacts our literacy history. We're impacting each others literacy history right now just by sharing our ideas with one another. Brandt is successfully able to convey how
important literacy sponsors are in this piece.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication. May 1998. Web. 13 January, 2015. <file:///C:/Users/P/Downloads/Brandt_Literacy%20(1).pdf>
Edited by Payton Kuenzli (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3859758) on Jan 13 at 1:27am
Mikayla Thomas
Jan 13, 2015
Your personal examples are very relatable. It is sometimes easy to overlook people other than our teachers and instructors as literacy sponsors. Sponsors can come in many
different forms including parents, peers, or members in the community. It is really eye opening how one's economic situation can influence their literacy. I completely agree with
you when you mention that literacy sponsors have an effect on your whole life because they really do have the power to either show you new things and expand your
knowledge or choose to limit what you're exposed to.
Reply
Deleted by Kali Walker (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3861095) on Jan 13 at 12:03pm
Kali Walker
Jan 13, 2015
Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" article was very complex read. Although it took sometime to understand the full meaning what she was explaining, I have come to understand
what exactly she is introducing. Brandt introduced the idea of literacy sponsors. Literacy would be the ability to read and write. Literacy sponsors are known as anyone or
anything that could have influenced one's reading and writing ability. For example that could include a teacher, parent, coach, manager, peers, etc. Brandt explains that everyone
literacy ability varies do to more than just literacy sponsors. Influence could be caused by economic situations, political views, and educational systems.
Personally, some literacy sponsors that I have encountered throughout my life have been past teachers, dance coaches, and my parents. Although at the time, didn't realize that
some of these people have actually helped me in reading and writing. Now that I look back and compare Brandt's meaning and examples, it is clear that their are more literacy
sponsors in my life than just teachers.
Fortunately, I have lived in a higher social class most of my life. Like Brandt explains, this fact has lead me down a higher educated path which I am so grateful for.
Brandt, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. Writing About Writing. 2nd ed. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 43-64. Print.
Reply
Mikayla Thomas
Jan 13, 2015
In this article, Brandt focuses greatly on how literacy changes over time. She makes the point that literacy sponsors are the basis for a persons literacy history. A sponsor according
to Brandt is essentially somebody who has information and will share it with somebody else for some sort of benefit. That would make a literacy sponsor a person who will share
their knowledge of literacy with another person so as to increase knowledge and understanding, or a particular mindset. A sponsor could be anybody who has influenced another
persons literacy.
In the Sponsorship and Access section of the article, Brandt shows that literacy sponsors have the power to limit access of what the sponsored sees. She gives the example of a
woman named Dora Lopez, a Mexican American living in an area where her ethnicitys population was less that one percent. Dora and her family were extremely limited in what
they saw in the Spanish language. According to Lopez, the family would have to travel a great deal to find even a newspaper to read in their native tongue. Their town was their
sponsor and this gave them incredibly limited access to the language that would work for them. Even in a less extreme setting, the limitation of access can happen. An English
teacher can give students only a particular set of book to read for the semester which would limit what a student is reading.
This ties in with Brandts next point of the rise in literacy standards. Using Dora Lopez as an example, she was almost forced into expanding her literacy to more English texts. As
people grow older and more experienced, their literacy is expanded. There is more to have to know and understand. With each new experience in life, there is a part of literacy that
is more challenging. The standards that people are held to become higher. Through these two sections Brandt shows that literacy sponsors can expand and decrease the literacy of
the sponsored.
In the second to last section, Brandt discusses something outside of the original two topics. She addresses how literacy sponsors can influence the mindset of the sponsored. A
sponsor can expose somebody to works of only a particular mindset in regards to politics, religion, or anything of the sort. This is something that I can personally relate to as
somebody who has grown up surrounded by my familys involvement in the church. Each Sunday we were in church and learning about Christianity because that is what my parents
decided to expose me to. In that case, my parents and the rest of the church were my literacy sponsors.
The whole article explores the many ways that people are effected by literacy sponsors. Brandt goes in depth to explain the concept of a literacy sponsor.
Brandt, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication 49.2 (1998): 165-85. Print.
Edited by Mikayla Thomas (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3853050) on Jan 13 at 12:52pm
Andrea Aviles
Jan 13, 2015
I agree with what you said, that a sponsor could be anybody who has influenced another persons literacy. There are so many people that could influence you when it comes to
literary learning, teacher or otherwise. Sponsors could make you believe in something you usually might not believe in.
Reply
Shane Wright
Jan 13, 2015
In Brandt's Sponsors of Literacy, literacy is essentially deemed to be a powerful used to obtain an edge in today's society. The passage itself has many accounts of people who lived
in similar time periods and towns, but the differences between the acquisition of literacy of these people were very diverse. The passage itself considers literacy to be heavily
dependent on a person's sponsor, which essentially gives that person access to tools and other objects necessary for literacy. For example, if two people were both raised in the
1970's, someone who has a wealthy family already has more potential for a better type of literacy rather than a person who would considered to be a poor immigrant. However the
sponsor isn't the only variable in literacy, it depends on that very own persons personal wishes and desires.
In this passage, it views the sponsor as the most essential part in literacy. This is because a sponsor can enforce different things on a person, such as a strong left-wing background
on someone, which is seen with Dwayne Lowery in the passage. I feel like the best way to summarize how important a sponsor is with a piece from the passage, which is "Like Little
Leaguers who wear the logo of a local insurance agency on their uniforms, not out of a concern for enhancing the agency's image but as a means for getting to play ball, people
throughout history have acquired literacy pragmatically under the banner of others' causes." (Brandt 168) To simplify this even more, sponsors throughout the ages have taught
literacy to people in order to prepare the person for tasks the sponsor sees fit, rather than prepare people for tasks that are the result of their own problems.
Team Cheerleaders
Works Cited
Brandt, Deborah. The Sponsors of Literacy. Albany, NY: National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement, U at Albany, State U of New York, 1997. Print.
Fiorella Anda
Jan 13, 2015
I completely agree with your view on how sponsors aren't the only attributes to our success. I too talked about how it's ultimately all left to our personal goals and desires. We
are our own people and the decisions we make teach us to become better, but through our sponsors, whoever they may be, we grow and learn new ideas in the process.
Reply
Kelsey Paris
Jan 13, 2015
In Sponsors of Literacy, Brant establishes the idea that sponsors have aided in the spreading of literacy, both on and individual and economical standpoint. It is only possible for
literacy to be spread through assistance and communication. Those who help to teach, support, and model literacy are said to be sponsors. Sponsors are, in a sense, guides to
achieve and improve literacy amongst society. Brant uses the example of Branch and Lopezs literacy development. These two women were sponsored in very differently, as they
grew up in two completely different worlds.
The main purpose of the Branch and Lopez example was to show that all literacy is not created equal. Brant makes a point to say that, yes, Lopezs skills in translating and
communicating in both English and Spanish proved very beneficial for her in the long run. However, compared to the literacy skills of Branch, Lopezs abilities can be seen as
mediocre or irrelevant. I believe that the sponsors available to Branch were more beneficial that the sponsors available to Lopez.
I agree with Brant in her idea that sponsors get something out of what they put it. This is true in most aspects of life. I had never thought about it in terms of literacy, but we
are taught to read and write so that we can carry on in society. Overall, a very interesting take on teachers, guides, and coaches. As a student, intern, and athlete, I have had a lot of
hands on interaction with different types of sponsors.
Team something gurus
Work Cited
Brandt, Deborah Sponsors of Literacy Writing About Writing. EDS. Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs, Boston: Belford/St. Martins, 2011. 43-64
Edited by Kelsey Paris (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3853040) on Jan 13 at 2:22pm
Daniel O'Brien
Jan 13, 2015
I had never thought about sponsors really getting anything out of helping those they sponsor in terms of literacy either! The article was definitely presenting an interesting idea
that makes sense. I will agree with you, as an athlete as well, that my coaches are probably some of the hugest sponsors in my life, in fact I think they are some of the best
examples of sponsors out there, hand in hand with teachers. Both teachers and coaches help you accomplish something that you always knew you were able to do, you just
needed someone to push you harder, or help you understand something more clearly. Sponsors are not important only in literacy, but in almost every aspect of one's
educational, professional, and athletic life!
Team Dawn Gurus
Edited by Daniel O'Brien (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3862226) on Jan 13 at 2:31pm
Reply
Daniel O'Brien
Jan 13, 2015
This article focuses on how learning literacy is much easier to do when you have what is referred to as a "sponsor." Sponsors, according to Brandt, may open literacy learning
opportunities that one may not have had otherwise. Sponsors can range range from religious groups, teachers, bosses, family members, or even friends. Brandt expounds on this
idea when she goes into detail regarding the experiences of several different individuals in their quest to become literate. Brandt examines the literacy quests of many different
people from many different walks of life. What I found to be the most interesting example was the contrast between Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez. Branch was from a welleducated, wealthy family, while Lopez came came parents who were farm laborers. Both however, lived in the same town around the same time, but their experiences in their
quests for literacy were quite different. Both were teaching themselves, in essence, to become more literate, but Lopez had to work much harder for it, as educational resources
were not as easily available to her. The argument could be made that Branch's "sponsors" for his education were his professors for teaching him, the laboratories in the university
that granted him easy research capabilities, and his parents for providing him with the college education. Lopez's parents were also her sponsor, as they purchased a second-hand
word processing machine for her to help her further her education.
Brandt does a fantastic job here in this article by highlighting the advantages as well as the struggles of several cases of individuals of different gender, time period, socio-economic
status, group affiliations and even geographical location. Brandt provides the reader with plenty of evidence to be able to understand that sponsorship, in any form really, is basically
necessary in any pursuit of some higher-level education. She provides historical backgrounds, family backgrounds, and even first hand interviews and accounts, which were all
indeed necessary in order to make this piece thorough.
Brandt, D. (1998). Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication, 49(2), 165-185.
Team Dawn Gurus

Edited by Daniel O'Brien (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3862226) on Jan 13 at 2:25pm
Matthew Albano
Jan 13, 2015
I also though Brandt did a great job of explaining how socioeconomic backgrounds can effect an individual's literacy skill. Something I hope we can figure out is a cheaper
opportunity to help out the lower social classes so they can improve their literacy I think it would be effective to understand your own sponsors of literacy.
Joel Abad
Jan 13, 2015
Awesome response, I also believe Brandt did a great job in correlating socioeconomic status to your literacy level. Someone born into a high class family with many resources
will have an easier time achieving their literacy status compared to someone born into a low class family with not too many resources available to them
Reply
Matthew Albano
Jan 13, 2015
We commonly define literacy as the ability to read and write but little do we focus on the comprehension of literacy. In order to make use of the literacy skill we must understand why
we use it. We mainly learn the "Why" through what Brandt calls "Sponsors of Literacy". Sponsors of Literacy can be institutions, teachers, parents, books, anything or anyone that
relates to improving your literacy.
Brandt further organizes types of sponsors of literacy based on social classes.Those who have come from a higher social class will have a better understanding of literacy then
people from a lower social class. Usually people in the higher social class are given higher powers of education with better literacy skills while people in the lower social class have
only their parents as their sponsors of literacy.
I believe that my main sponsors of literacy are my parents, friends and teachers. Growing up I remember my parents playing flashcard games, making me spell my name and giving
me opportunities to read books from the library. At school I was given the opportunity to enhance my literacy skills with multiple advanced resources in the classrooms.
Brandt, D. (1998). Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication, 49(2), 165-185.
Team Dawn Gurus
Edited by Matthew Albano (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3730736) on Jan 13 at 2:52pm
Marc Krispinsky
Jan 13, 2015
I agree with what you stated as your sources of how you improved your literacy, but at first I didnt understand how friends could have improved your literacy. After thinking
about it, I realized that a lot of the things I say are in some ways linked to words my friends have said in the past. Most of these words and phrases or slang-type words but that
still counts as literacy!
Brandon Wagenhauser
Jan 13, 2015
I also caught on to how sponsors are based on social classes, and I agree with your thinking about it as well. I didn't think that it was true until I looked back on some personal
accounts, but some people that I meet that grew up in a lower social classes have a fairly good literacy level. It's as if their social status is their own "literacy sponsor" that
drives them to have a better literacy level than others in their social class.
Tevis Tucker
Jan 14, 2015
Bouncing off what you said about social class, do you think it is possible for people to break these socials classes and persevere beyond the sponsors they are given, or are
these levels of class unbreakable like the Caste System that was implemented in India?
Reply
Fiorella Anda
Jan 13, 2015
In Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt aims to show why the concept of sponsorship is an important way of demonstrating how we all have different, varying opportunities in the
way we perceive the world. She states that, sponsors are a way of reminding us that the extent and level of our literacy has always required consent, approval, assistance,
persuading, or, at the very least, a good amount of connections surrounding us. She also emphasized how literacy itself, is such a valued commodity due to all the doors it can
open, such as gaining economic power and edge. I for one have been an eyewitness to some of the points she presented. Specifically on how economic and political forces affect
peoples day-to-day capacity to seek out and practice literacy. Wealthier upper class individuals, tend to have a wider range of opportunities surrounding them, regardless of their
literacy capacities. In my opinion, it could go either way. You could have a smart, intelligent, literate student who hasnt had the best sponsors and still find them in a fulfilling life, or
you could have a student lacking in their literate skills but has all the right sponsors (parents, teachers, friends, relatives ect.) and still decide not to reach for their wavering potential
that lies ahead. This is where I really related to the article and realized that ultimately, you control your own future and decide to take either the right or wrong path. And like Brandt
says, as we assist and study individuals in pursuit of literacy, we also recognize how literacy is in pursuit of them.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." JSTOR. National Council of Teachers of English, May 1998. Web. 12 Jan. 2015.
Sydney Scheiding
Jan 14, 2015
I like that it's based on how people perceive the world and that because of it, no one would look at sponsorship and their sponsor the same. I really like your view point on this
article. Honestly, I had a hard time reading parts of it, but I really liked thay while sponsors are important, it doesn't always mean that it is the sponsors fault for the lack of
literacy in a student. It is important to remember that it does in fact work both ways.
Samantha Barrett
Jan 14, 2015
I completely agree that each individual is in control of their own literacy. Although, having the right sponsors can make a huge impact on somebody's potential literacy, if the
individual does not take advantage of the resources that have been given to them then they are only hurting themselves. I believe that every opportunity should be taken full
advantage of in order to become the best that you can be to ensure the greatest possible future for yourself. The sponsors can give you everything they have but in order for
the knowledge to make an impact, you have to be the one putting in the work.
Reply
Antoinette Walton
Jan 13, 2015
Summary
In "Sponsors of Literacy", Deborah Brandt tries to explain the meaning of literacy and its history. She also describes how outside forces, such as sponsors can have an influence on
an individuals literacy. Some of examples of sponsors would be priests, teacher and older relatives. As technology grew in the 20th century, more and more ideal sponsors grew
through magazines and television. Any type of sponsor that was seen and valued through these means, are considered commercial sponsors. Brandt's main point was to explain
and show how opportunities and access to sponsors vary and that factors bridge a gap between people and sponsors. This variation leads to some people being more fortunate
than others when it comes to what forces or sponsors that help them with literacy.
Analysis
I was able to relate to this reading in different ways. I do believe the same as Brandt that sponsorships can help or hinder your literacy. My family as a whole has trouble in the
english or reading subject in school but I was surrounded by many friends who were in advanced placement English. Surrounding myself with friends who were obviously more
literate than me, helped my literacy become stronger. The people I surround myself can help me rise in my literacy. As I read through the reading, I kept that example in mind but
along the way I began to question something. My question is, if someone's sponsor of literacy is a friend or family, could that sponsors literacy be hindered while the person's
literacy grows since they interact with one another?
Brandt, Deborah. (May, 1998). Sponsors of Literacy. Retrieved from College Composition and
Communication, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 165-185.
Angela Clayborne
Jan 13, 2015
I agree that the people you surround yourself with can help improve your literacy. I have experienced that myself growing up. To answer your question, in my opinion, I don't
feel like the sponsor's literacy could be hindered while the sponsored's literacy grows. Even though the people you surround yourself with can influence you negatively, in this
situation I don't feel that the sponsor's literacy will be hindered because the sponsored's literacy is growing and becoming more advanced. It's not decreasing or staying at the
same level, so it wouldn't affect the sponsor's literacy negatively. I feel that the sponsor's literacy might even increase because the sponsor will learn new ways to communicate
effectively, which, in my opinion, is a part of literacy.
Daril Carranza
Jan 13, 2015
I also don't think a persons literacy would suffer from sponsoring someone. The only thing I could see happening which would have that effect on the sponsor is if he or she
doesn't practice a particular skill (writing formal letters) for a long time and becomes unaccustomed to doing it, making it harder later on.
Reply
Deleted by Angela Clayborne (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3865024) on Jan 13 at 4:55pm
Angela Clayborne
Jan 13, 2015
In "Sponsors of Literacy", Brandt demonstrates how there are many different factors that influence the way that individuals acquire, retain, and practice literacy. According to
Brandt, these factors are called sponsors of literacy. Some examples of these sponsors are people, like parents, teachers, employers,etc., cultures, different races, location, access
to technology, politics, and economic circumstances. Through her case studies and interviews of multiple people in the 20th century, she showed how literacy has changed over the
years and is constantly changing, even within generations. In her essay, Brandt focuses on 3 main points: that varying opportunities and access to sponsors causes stratification in
literacy, sponsors help to cause what Brandt calls "the literacy crisis" and how this creates a gap between "the rising standards for achievement and people's ability to meet them",
and how sponsors can bring about self-development and social change. Brandt uses these three points to exemplify that not everyone has equal access to literacy, an individual's
level of literacy depends on the sponsors they have access to, and what is expected of a person's level of literacy is constantly increasing due to the sponsors.
I personally have experienced the gap between the rising standards of achievement and, personally, my ability to meet these standards. In my senior AP English class, we went
over different AP exam essays for English from previous years, and with each increasing year, the requirements to get a score of a 9 increased so much that I felt like there was no
way I could meet these standards. Even a score of an 8 seemed very difficult to achieve. However, for some students in the class, receiving a score of an 8 or 9 wasn't as difficult
because they had more experience and practice with writing to this level of excellence. They had access to sponsors that better prepared them for this type of literacy, compared to
my sponsors, and I have never thought about it in that way. Brandt has really expanded my mind to a new definition and concept of literacy.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication. 2nd ed. Vol. 49. National Council of Teachers of English, 1998. 165-185. Print.
Edited by Angela Clayborne (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3865024) on Jan 13 at 5:32pm
Qiturah Bholai
Jan 13, 2015
I also experienced the gap between the rise in literacy achievement by looking at past IB English exams and my ability to reach these standards. It was clear who was able to
expand more on a topic and offer a more in-depth analysis of the text. I was not strong English student so it was more difficult for me to achieve a 7 than other students. Those
students probably had access to better sponsors.
Reply
Qiturah Bholai
Jan 13, 2015
Summary: In Sponsors of Literacy, Brandt explains literacy, its history and that there are certain things influence the way we learn and practice literacy. Brandt says that what
influences our literacy, are sponsors of literacy. Sponsors of literacy can be people, culture, race, sex, language, location, technology and politics, that socioeconomic status can
also influence literacy. Brandt establishes that there is a link between literacy learning and systems of opportunity and access and a correlation between high literacy achievement
and high socioeconomic status.
Brandt also continues to say that literacy changes as each generation changes and how literacy is valued and institutions form and create some parts of our literacy, such as school.
Brandt concludes, by saying that, we assist and study individuals in pursuit of literacy, we also recognize how literacy is in pursuit of them.
Analysis: Brandts Sponsors of Literacy is an interesting read and in my own real- life experiences, I completely agree that your surroundings can influence your literacy or how and
what you read. Coming from a high school that was both IB and traditional, being in the IB program I noticed differences in literacy not only in the program itself among different
races, but also in relation to the traditional program. Brandts concluding sentence that says we assist and study individuals in pursuit of literacy, we also recognize how literacy is
in pursuit of them, I am somewhat confused on what that means.
Qiturah Bholai
Jan 13, 2015
Reply
Kelly Jimenez
Jan 13, 2015
Being the first time I have heard of "Sponsors Of Literacy", I believe Brandt's essay has given a detailed and competent summary about how sponsors of literacy can affect the lives
of everyday people and the evolution of society. What interested me the most was the case of Dwayne Lowery who shunned politics until he was out of high school and through
several jobs. He grew up in a political oriented home, and was suffocated by the subject. Later in life he realized the value of politics in society, and his interest in political literacy
was sponsored by his father's influence during childhood.
I have encountered a similar situation in my life today. My household, specifically my father, was surrounded by sports related events and discussions. Most conversations with my
father was sports related, involving the next soccer game or coaching opportunity or better techniques to use in the next practice or game. At first, I loved to be involved in sports of
all kinds, and felt that being a part of a team was an essential part of life. But after awhile I became suffocated by the subject, which led to my annoyance of physical activity of any
sorts. I began to ignore any mention of sports.
Today, I have rediscovered the importance of sports and exercise, and I am even majoring in the subject. Thanks to growing up in a household that involved being literate in sports
and exercise techniques and regulations. I have been able to grow and learn that this subject is my passion.
Brandt, D. (1998). Sponsors Of Literacy. College Composition And Communication, 49(2), 165-185.
Edited by Kelly Jimenez (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3806601) on Jan 13 at 5:27pm
Sabrina Andersen
Jan 13, 2015
I really enjoy the way that you related the case of Dwayne Lowery with politics to yourself with sports. I think the connection is very evident and it definitely helped me to better
understand the concepts involved. The question I have for you though is, what was the event or epiphany that allowed you to realize again the importance of sports and
exercise, especially enough to make that your major? I know a lot of people struggle with being pushed away from certain subjects because their parents or peers will force it
on them.
Holly Wooley
Jan 13, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your transition from being involved in sports to being "suffocated" by the topic to majoring in sports and exercise. It is impressive that you
were able to relate your personal experience to that of Dwayne Lowery. Even though you may not have enjoyed hearing about sports on a constant basis, do you believe that
it helped you to prepare for your career in sports and exercise? In my own life, I was drilled in vocabulary, grammar, and spelling as a child. As result, I dislike the subject of
English very much. However, as a college student, I realize the importance of mastering English because it is integrated into every class. Thank you for making me reflect on
this idea!
Mackenzie Campbell
Jan 13, 2015
This was really helpful for me to see your connection between the text concepts and your personal experiences. I also enjoyed learning how you went from loving sports, to not
wanting anything to with them and then choosing a sports and exercise major.
Reply
Marc Krispinsky
Jan 13, 2015
This work immediately tells the reader its goal of including literacy with economic development. Brandt says that by the word "sponsors" she means that any agent who enable,
teach, model or recruit literacy and gain advantage by it in some way. Brandt states that in America, literacy is a valued commodity like land and that it is a key resource for gaining
profit and edge. This statement is very true because literacy and education or viewed as essential in todays society. A person must have a high form of literacy and education in
order to be successful in todays world. In recent times, student need to achieve higher and higher forms of education in order to have a very good job through more than just a
college degree they need masters and doctorate degrees in todays world. When Brandt speaks of literacy diversion, she uses examples of how two women used their "sponsors" in
order to move up in the ladder in the working world. They had their literacy skills improved by high ranking males and they took that knowledge and became even more successful.
This example was the easiest for me to understand and relate too because of the perseverance these women had and they just didnt settle for less.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication. JSTOR, May 1998. Web. 13 Jan. 2015.
Danielle Obrien
Jan 14, 2015
Nice response! I liked how you included the idea of the increasing amount of education needed for a successful career. This is definitely true, as when picking a major I had to
consider what level of schooling I would need to complete in order to meet the field's current educational standards. It makes me wonder if in the future, undergraduate
education will become obsolete. What level of education will be enough? I likewise found the section regarding Carol White and Sarah Steele interesting, as they showed how
empowering obtaining literacy can be through their unique situations.
Reply
Sabrina Andersen
Jan 13, 2015
In Brandt's academic essay "Sponsors of Literacy", she explains the effects of sponsors on an individual's ability to become literate. She defines a "sponsor" in this case as "...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."
In an interpreted-by-me version of the essay, she describes sponsors as being out to gain something for withholding literacy from specific people. This led me to think specifically
about universities and the way in which they make you become a student, thus paying them tuition, in order to use the resources at the library and online, and for this reason, the
university system as a whole would be considered a large-scale literary sponsor. As Brandt argues, we live in a world in which literacy is not easy, nor is it free. It seems that we
have to be born into a family that already has the privilege or at least access to the privilege of literacy, and the worst part is that we actually have to consider it a privilege. It is
nearly impossible to obtain a job here in the United States without the ability to read and write, there is applying for the job, and reading all of the paperwork that comes with the job
to make sure that you are not being cheated when making an agreement, and all of these things make it very difficult and even dangerous to be illiterate when obtaining a job.
Brandt does a great job explaining this throughout the article, but especially with the discussion of her interviews with Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez, and their experiences with
being privileged and unprivileged in the same small town, at the exact same time, due to the families in which they were born, and the access they gained because of that. She
concludes that "what I have tried to suggest is that we assist and study individuals in pursuit of literacy, we also recognize how literacy is in pursuit of them." And I believe she's
right.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College of Composition and Communication. 2nd ed. Vol. 49. National Council of Teachers of English, 1998. 165-185. Print.
Edited by Sabrina Andersen (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3855970) on Jan 13 at 6:13pm
Reply
Kelly Jimenez
Jan 13, 2015
Response to Kali Walker- (my computer won't allow me to respond to her post specifically for some reason)
Brandt's essay was a very difficult read, indeed. Although it was fascinating to learn about sponsors of literacy, it took a few paragraphs of reading multiple times to really understand
what was being said. I agree with Kali's view of what a sponsor is in the literate world. Everything in literacy is interconnected and involved in the evolution of literacy. There are
many areas and fields in education, and it's mind-blowing to realize that it takes a different type of literate person to specialize in each field.
I, too, had a teacher that was a significant sponsor for me in high school. I hate politics, and still to this day I have issues with understanding anything to do with politics. But,
ironically, my political science teacher gave me an award for being the best writer in class. This helped me realize that, even though I didn't understand what I was writing, I had a
skill to write creatively and interestingly enough to entice my teacher into reading a confusing essay.
Reply
Joshua Kernica
Jan 13, 2015
I found this article pretty interesting but I must admit that I would not voluntarily read this if i had a choice. However as I read the section about sponsorship I thought about how
athletes are sponsored by major companies like Nike. The article stated that sponsors lend their resources or credibility to the sponsored but also stand to gain benefits from their
success, this may be true but when something gets sponsored it also gains popularity, its a beneficial relationship for both parties. This would later be stated by an example within
the text. I can definitely understand the correlation between sponsorship and literacy standards because nobody wants to sponsor a person who sounds like an idiot, that would just
be an embarrassment to the sponsor . The sponsored are like an extension of the sponsor and represent it in a way.
Edited by Joshua Kernica (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3854472) on Jan 13 at 7:20pm
Reply
Andrea Aviles
Jan 13, 2015
Deborah Brandts article explains her idea that she calls sponsors of literacy. Sponsors are agents local or distant, concrete or abstract that withhold or suppress literacy and in
some way gain advantage of it, and how it effects people of different races, genders or economic standing. Sponsors are figures in peoples memory who had a hand in their literacy
learning, like teachers, parents or influential authors and these sponsors affect the way people learn and practice literacy. Brandt interviewed several people and described events in
history to explain her idea of what a sponsor really is. The literacy crisis is one of the main points made in this essay, and this is the perceived gap between rising standards and
people trying to meet them.
Brandts main focus is to connect literacy with the economy. In her essay she compared Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez, two people who were born the same year and lived in
the same town, yet Dora did not have the same access to literacy as Raymond. I never realized some other person had more or less access to literacy than me just because they
might come from a different economical background than mine. It made sense that since we all went to school we would all have more or less the same literacy standing. But this
essay pointed out that technology, income and even social standing all have influence over someones literacy learnings.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication 49.2 (1998): Web. 13 Jan. 2015
Shane Wright
Jan 13, 2015
I do agree with your idea that sponsors of literacy help with the economy, but I personally think that these sponsors also do help people obtain an edge in everyday life, be it
social, political, economic or whatever else can fall in this category. I do like how you quoted that sponsors are concrete and abstract, as this quote made me further realize
another crucial point of sponsors of literacy.
Gabriel Del Rio

Jan 14, 2015
Although Brandt stresses how literacy is strongly connected to the social (economic) status of a person, I believe Brandt means to point out how certain sponsors are what truly
affect one's literacy. A person can live with a low economic standard but also may be exposed to very powerful sponsors as well, which will result in an advantage in literacy.
Reply
Brandon Wagenhauser
Jan 13, 2015
In Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" the topic that had the most relivace was the "legalistic" form of literacy that starts to arise in order to restore political dominance over public
workers. This, to me, showed how certain literacy sponsors can change everything. Lowery, along with others, ended up losing their positions at work because their literacy skills
were not as valued as those who understood the legalistic form of literacy. All it took was one new sponsor to shape lives of many people.
Edited by Brandon Wagenhauser (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3861146) on Jan 13 at 7:35pm
Jonathon Sauers
Jan 14, 2015
You bring up a good point about how literacy is constantly changing. The change is especially evident in the fact that Lowery ended up getting replaced due to his lack in the
modern-day literacy that lawyers use.
Reply
Deleted by Brandon Wagenhauser (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3861146) on Jan 13 at 7:43pm
Holly Wooley
Jan 13, 2015
I found myself fascinated by Brandts essay on the topic of literacy. Prior to reading the essay, I had never considered the many facets of literacy. In this day and age, literacy is not
merely knowing and being capable of reading and writing in your native language or tongue. Literacy plays a major role in the lives of every person on planet Earth. Throughout the
course of reading Brandts essay, I realized while I am well-practiced and knowledgeable in certain forms of literacy, I am also wearing a dunce cap when it comes to other areas.
My fianc, John, works as a software engineer. He writes software code that controls various functions in electronic broadcasting equipment. What does software code have to do
with literacy? Well, as John is writing code, he understands the meaning of the words, abbreviations, and symbols that he inputs to the computer. However, I am illiterate when it
comes to writing and reading code. I lack all understanding in this regard while John is fluent in this area. Now I am able to expand this example to different careers ranging from
accountants to lawyers to athletes to teachers. They are "sponsored" by universities, newspapers, books, computers, etc. Every person possesses a vast array of strengths and
weaknesses in the area of literacy specific to their career path. I think that this amount of diversity translates into beauty with every human-being knowing something unique to
himself.
Brandt, D. (1998). Sponsors Of Literacy. College Composition And Communication, 49(2), 165-185.
Edited by Holly Wooley (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3806461) on Jan 13 at 7:58pm
Alexis Bourgeois
Jan 13, 2015
Last semester, I was prompted to read this piece for the first time. I hadn't considered all of the things that go into literacy either. I completely agree with you, today literacy is
something that we almost take for granted. When reading Brandt's piece I did not perceive the information in the same way that you did. I was thinking about the varying
strengths of literacy as a simple being able to read and understand information or not. I never even thought about the different types of literacy we use today such as IM that
would make absolutely no sense to someone in the 1920's. I think it's really cool you were able to relate this reading to the different lexis your fiance uses in his line of work
with engineering.
I enjoyed reading your response, and comparing your thoughts to my own.
Amy Cibulas
Jan 13, 2015
I find your analysis incredibly thoughtful and agree; literacy isn't confined to one skill, but rather encompasses such a wide range of skills that no one person can master them
all. I used to believe literacy meant nothing beyond reading and writing, but after reading Brandt I understand my ability to read music is also considered a form of literacy. It's a
big shift in the way we normally think about literacy and a bit hard to grasp at first, but this new point of view can help us better understand each other and our own unique skills
and what sponsors lead us to acquire them.
Reply
Alexis Bourgeois
Jan 13, 2015
After reading Deborah Brandts Sponsors of Literacy I realize that each persons literacy is unique to the sponsorship that the person has been exposed to. Deborah Brandt makes
it clear that access to sponsors vary in each individual as well as the different opportunities to become more literate, and this explains the varying levels of literacy in each individual.
In this piece Brandt gives her viewpoints on literacy; mainly focusing on sponsors being what impact how we learn and use literacy. Brandt goes on to explain that sponsors can
be a range of different influences such as family, political figures, and cultural background. To back up her arguments Brandt shared interviews as well as moments in history. For
example, Brandt discusses the time where Englands Protestant schools did not offer basic reading to the students. This influenced the students literacy greatly. However, as time
has gone on, reading is now expected of most children. This example indicates that different backgrounds, ages, and sponsors explain why literacy is so important, and show
changes in literacy over generations. Brandt stresses that sponsors can be a source of social change. I agree with Brandts argument on the literacy crisis. She stresses that
there is a gap that is being further increased by sponsors who are involved with economic and therefore political competition. I agree that these competitions cause people to feel as
though we are expected to fully understand what is going, and do more research and reading.
I feel like Brandt is writing this piece to shed light on how much literacy is steadily evolving, and get the attention of sponsors who impact the literacy of people around us. I tried to
ask myself about who has impacted my literacy, and I definitely feel as though living in twenty first century America has allowed me to become much more literate and aware as
apposed to living in nineteenth century Africa. I found this piece to be much more interesting reading it for the second time than the first.
Edited by Alexis Bourgeois (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3868120) on Jan 13 at 8:00pm
Reply
Victoria Finzi-Smith
Jan 13, 2015
In Deborah Brandt's article "Sponsors of Literacy" she defines the literary term "sponsors" as anyone or anything that can influence someone's journey to literacy. This sponsor can
be practically any internal or external force that can influence, support, or assist one's literacy. This force could be any influential person such as a parent, teacher, or mentor. Or
someone's sponsor could be someone who is closer in age to them such as one of their siblings or peers. On the contrary, it could be a more personalized force like one's race,
gender, culture, or even their upbringing. A force that could have a rather large effect on someone's literacy is if they were brought up in a home that stressed their culture or the
method that literacy is taught in said culture. A force that would possibly make it more difficult to become literate would be language. Especially if someone was raised speaking one
language and then had to learn to speak, read, and write in another language completely. A more external force would be the opportunities and access to sponsors people are
offered through their social class. Brandt also discusses something she refers to as the literary crisis. It is the gap between people's ability to reach literacy standards and the
standards themselves as they're continuously rising. Throughout the article Brandt utilizes a formal tone accompanied by scholarly vocabulary to successfully and clearly convey the
idea of literacy standards being met through the assistance of a wide variety of forces we encounter every day.
Edited by Victoria Finzi-Smith (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3851521) on Jan 13 at 8:15pm
Abdulah Khan
Jan 13, 2015
You interpretation of a sponsor and of what Brandt was trying to do with her work really helped me understand the article more. I didn't quiet understand what the literacy crisis
was at first but I think you did a good job at explaining it.
Maja Veselinovic
Jan 13, 2015
You did a great job explaining the article and I feel like I better understood the article after reading your response.
Edited by Maja Veselinovic (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3855899) on Jan 14 at 2:00am
Maya Givon
Jan 13, 2015
I agree with the two responses above me. You gave a very clear explanation of what Brandt was discussing throughout her article. I think as we all know this article wasn't the
easiest to read, but the detail and simplicity in your response makes the article more understandable. It also made me feel better about what I got from the article. I originally
had a hard time getting through it too, but I interpreted it to the best of my ability and it seems as if we both got the same idea from it.
Reply
Abdulah Khan
Jan 13, 2015
I think Brandt is trying to say that as time goes on certain discourse communities can be stopped or taken over by other discourse communities that have certain abilities. An
example of this is apprentices working in factories but soon that all changed whenever the steam press reorganized the economy for that discourse. I also think that Brandt believes
that discourses can change after new generations of people become part of them and add new ideas. Brandt has started to think of literacy as it's own discourse that is altered by
what he calls "sponsors". Sponsors will most likely have conflicting feelings about the topic with each other. Brandt conducted many interviews with sponsors who shared their
experiences of how they learned to read and write. She payed specific attention to the people, materials, and methods these sponsors used to learn. Brandt soon learned that all of
the interviews had a common factor of formative roles that were both latent and explicit. Brandt focuses a lot on his sponsors in literacy learning, but to me that is basically Brandt's
way of talking about the people in the discourse community of literature. I believe that by studying these sponsors Brandt is understanding how the literacy discourse turned out the
way that it is.
Overall, I found Brandt a bit confusing. The best way I made sense of his methods was that she wanted to understand the discourse community of literacy or literacy learning as he
called it. By studying the 100 sponsors that she did she could start to understand the similarities and differences the community has experienced over the 80 year and start noticing
how it changed.
Brandt, Deborah. The Sponsors of Literacy. Albany, NY: National Research Center on English Learning & Achievement, U at Albany, State U of New York, 1997. Print.
Reply
Maja Veselinovic
Jan 13, 2015
In Deborah Brandts work, Sponsors of Literacy, Brandt informs the readers about the process in which people become literate. She explains that people become literate through
sponsors. Sponsors are anyone or anything that supports in the process of becoming literate. Brandt describes multiple types of sponsors, such as influential people in your life,
race, gender,location, culture, language,access to technology, and politics. Her use of various interviews of people on their own process of becoming literate proves that these
sponsors do, in fact, affect the process in which one becomes literate. She states that access to these sponsors vary and the variation in access causes different levels of literacy in
everyone. This differentiation in amount of literacy helps form the literacy crisis, which is a gap between the ability to become literate. Brandt affirms, in her article, that sponsorship
of literacy is unique to each individual person. Although this article was quite difficult to read, Brandt provides a strong argument and I found it very interesting.
Victoria Finzi-Smith
Jan 13, 2015
I believe your interpretation of this piece was concise as well as clear.Your summary was well written & I believe you covered the main points well. I agree with you it was quite
difficult, but the content was good.
Reply
Samantha Merto
Jan 13, 2015
In Deborah Brandt's "Sponsor of Literacy," she uses multiple cases to support her ideas on how your background affects your literacy learning. In this excerpt, Brandt analyzes
how sponsorship affects literacy learning in three different aspects. The first is "Sponsorship and Access". In this section, Brandt explains how depending on your social class
access to learning material is more easily obtained. The second section is "Sponsorship and the Rise in Literacy Standards." Brandt depicts that literacy learnings standards have
been drastically rising ever since post World War II. The final of the three sections is "Sponsorship and Appropriation in Literacy Learning," which uses two women bringing what
they learned from one workplace into another area of their life.
In the first section Brandt depicts through her interviews with Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez that it is easier to obtain the tools to enhance one's education is more obtainable
when you come from a privileged background. I agree with her in this section because if you have access to better schooling you have more opportunities like Raymond Branch did.
While reading the second section, I automatically thought of my father. When Brandt interviewed Dwanye Lowery, who first worked in a factory then switched to a field
representative, she talked about how he had to learn how to formally present himself. For example, my father, who has been a union worker his whole life, is currently in Oklahoma
learning to become a manager. I thought of him because of Dwanye Lowery had to relearn his way of thinking. The third section resonated with me the most because, you can take
knowledge you learned from one aspect of life and use it in other areas, like Sarah Steele used what she learned from the law firm and brought it into her home.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication. Vol. 49. National Council of
Teachers of English, pp. 165-185. Print.
Samantha Merto, The Cheerleaders
Reply
Joel Abad
Jan 13, 2015
In the article Sponsors of Literacy by Deborah Brandt she writes about literacy in America. She writes about how there are many aspects of society that affects literacy, how there
are sponsors and how important they are to literacy in America. Sponsors are those who teach people how to read and write, sponsors can be anyone, from an elementary English
teacher to someone's older sister. Brandt explains how everyone's literacy skill is different because of the resources they have, she tells a story about Raymond Branch and Dora
Lopez. Raymond Branch was the son of two executive figures and Dora was the daughter of two Mexican farmers, Raymond had access to technology and other resources at an
early age wile Dora had a much more difficult time getting resources since she only spoke Spanish. Dora and Raymond went to the same university and it was much easier for
Raymond to develop his literacy skills because of his race and class. Simple factors like these can have a huge impact on someone's literacy.
I grew up in a household where only Spanish was spoken until I started Pre-K at the age of 4. My literacy sponsor was my gradeschool teachers because they were the only ones
that spoke to me in English since my own parents did not know English. Even though that factor had a huge impact on my literacy skills, I did have a lot of resources in my life like
the internet and television that helped me improve my literacy skills in English. I understand why Brandt wrote this article, to explain how everyone has different literacy skills
because of their sponsors and resources available to that person.
Edited by Joel Abad (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3859302) on Jan 13 at 8:58pm
Lindsey Belanger
Jan 13, 2015
I enjoyed reading how you related your own personal experience back to the essay. Having to have learned English away from home seems like a difficult and daunting task
since your parents could not help with that process. Your response helps give perspective and being able to read about your own literacy sponsors helps reinforce the
message Brandt was writing about.
Abigail Michael
Jan 13, 2015
I agree with the idea that your political, economic, and social statuses have a huge impact on literacy skills. If one's a part of the lower class, they'll have a much harder time
gaining these skills than those of a higher class. I really like how you included a personal story. It must have been very difficult to learn the language without your parents'
guidance. My mother teaches a little girl from Russia who came from a very poor socioeconomic background. Her only sponsors are the teachers at the school. Because she's
in a good school, she has access to many resources and is going to do just fine.
Overall, great job with your posting!
Reply
Lindsey Belanger
Jan 13, 2015
This essay reminded me of the novel "1984" by George Orwell. When Brandt was writing about the way governments sometimes withhold information from the people they govern
by only telling them certain aspects of situations was similar to the way Big Brother ran his government. He only allowed specific news to be shared and made sure newspaper
articles were written the way he approved. This is not a positive connection to the sponsors Brandt was writing about, but a connection nonetheless.
I had not previously thought about the process of learning what I believe and do not believe, her essay was enlightening and definitely thought provoking. I had not thought about the
way every person one interacts with has the ability to mold one's thoughts and feelings on any subject.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College of Composition and Communication. 2nd ed. Vol. 49. National Council of Teachers of English, 1998. 165-185. Print.
Edited by Lindsey Belanger (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3867932) on Jan 13 at 9:05pm
Reply
Mackenzie Campbell
Jan 13, 2015
In the article Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt makes a connection between literacy as an individual development to literacy as an economic development by explaining literacy sponsors. A
literacy sponsor is a person or thing that has influenced how a person became the reader/writer they are today. To support her claim, Brandt interviewed more than one hundred Americans about how
they recalled learning to read and write. In todays U.S. economy, literacy has become very important in order to be politically and economically well off, explaining the competition for people to find
the right kinds of sponsors. Throughout the twentieth century, the forms of literacy, along with their sponsors, have expanded very quickly. Something that comes with literacy sponsors is use of
misappropriation. This happens when the sponsored uses the information and ideas of the literacy sponsor for ulterior motives, or self-interested projects.
I think this article was very interesting and after reading this article and can now see how literacy in individual development and literacy in economic development are connected. After reading this
article, I am able to recognize that I have had some positive literacy sponsors and some negative ones. My parents have been major literacy sponsors for me by teaching and supporting me to become
a better a better reader and writer.
Deleted by Mackenzie Campbell (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3862963) on Jan 13 at 9:37pm
Mackenzie Campbell
Jan 13, 2015
Brandt, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. Writing About Writing. 2nd ed. Eds. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 43-64. Print.
Miguel Paulino
Jan 13, 2015
I agree with you that not all sponsors are positive. There can be negative sponsors that can hinder our literacy. I like how concise and to the point your response was and how
you said we need literacy to be "economically and politically well off".
Reply
Deleted by Maya Givon (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3854730) on Jan 13 at 9:28pm
Maya Givon
Jan 13, 2015
Summary:
Deborah Brandt's article discusses how people have reached their level of literacy. She talks about how we achieve that level by our sponsors. I have discovered that sponsors are
not only the people that have helped us to learn how to read and write, but also the resources that we have been provided to help us to do so. This is why Brandt's article mentions
that our economic standing and even cultural background affect our level of literacy. She believes that a higher level of literacy equals more profit and success in society. This leads
her to several examples of cultural and economic disadvantages of some people causing them to have a lower level of literacy leading them to less success in life.
Brandt uses two great examples that disprove the idea of a person just being in the right place at the right time. These examples show that our economic standing and
cultural background play a huge role in what was able to sponsor their literacy and therefore lead them to their success. There was an example of a male and a female who came
from two entirely different backgrounds, but lived in the same place during the same time. Raymond basically came from a background with wealthy and well-educated parents.
Dora came from less fortunate family and to top it off, she was a Spanish speaker. It was easy for Raymond to find success in school and with his career as a freelance writer
because he had all of the high quality resources offered by his dad (who was a professor) throughout his life. Dora on the other hand struggled to find material in her area that she
could understand and use. She made the most of what she could come across, but eventually found herself transferring from the same university Raymond was at to a technical
college and working for a cleaning company. This example alone from the article shows how Brandt was trying to prove that our background and our access to resources can play a
role in our development of literacy which can impact our success in life.
Analysis:
In my opinion, Brandt was trying to tell us that culture and money have an impact on who we are. Who we are and where we live leads us to what we learn because of
what surrounds us, and what we learn determines our success in this life. At this time you need a higher level of literacy in order to become more successful, but people are limited
to that because of where they come from. I think this is a horrible way of putting it, but it is the sad truth.
Lets take the seven-year old who was placed in the school for the blind and deaf as an example. He had no choice but to placed in school that wasnt suited for him,
because he didnt have access to a regular ESL program that could properly teach him English. This lack of opportunity to be placed in the right program probably hindered the level
of English that he will have to live with. Since he doesnt have the right tools to help him reach a higher level of understanding of the language, he probably wont be a successful
lawyer making six digits every year. Same goes for Dora, the girl of Mexican descent, who struggled to find the right resources to help her move forward and develop her level of
literacy.
Our success in social and economic standing is caused by our level of literacy which is caused by our sponsors. So why dont we try and find a way to help support those
who are lacking some educational opportunities? If you need a high level of education in order to survive in this society then we should try to find a way to give the same opportunity
to reach that level to those who may not be able to access it on their own.
Brandt, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication 49.2 (1998): 165-185. PDF file.
Maya Givon, The Cheerleaders

Cesar Hernandez
Jan 13, 2015
Your summary and analysis really did justice to Brandt's paper. I totally agree with what you said you analysis that you "need a higher level of literacy in order to become more
successful, but people are limited to that because of where they come from." Overall, I think that you clearly explained Brandt's idea of how we gain literacy by means of not
only people but also by the resources available to us and that our social and economical status puts definite constrains on that.
Reply
Daril Carranza
Jan 13, 2015
Sponsors of Literacy by Deborah Brandt is very effective at demonstrating the importance of spreading literacy to all sectors of society to promote economic as well as individual
development. The examples show how peoples lives can go through substantial changes with the absence or presence of a literacy sponsor. That is most visible in the case of
Dwayne Lowery. After getting more involved with politics he was given a chance to further his knowledge, allowing more development in his professional life. Even if the rate at
which the literacy standard was growing made him obsolete in a relatively short time.
Leanna Davidson
Jan 13, 2015
I agree with you that the most visible case of a literacy sponsorship is Dwayne Lowery he contributed to the development of something (in this case knowledge of politics) in his
personal life.
Reply
Leanna Davidson
Jan 13, 2015
In Deborah Brandts Sponsors of Literacy, the idea of apprentices is widely discussed. In the beginning Brandt just gives us some background on the major changes and differences
of how writing had developed after the steam press was invented. The steam press was a major upgrade for society. It caused writing to develop because now, writings could write
more efficiently. Sponsorship was used to track literacy material. The way Deborah Brandt described why she used the word sponsor in her analysis was really interesting to me.
She explained her reasoning by saying a sponsor is usually someone older that contributes to something in a strong way. That is exactly what these new innovations in the writing
world do, they contribute new ways of writing more productively and efficiently.
Edited by Leanna Davidson (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3856030) on Jan 13 at 9:51pm
Reply
Miguel Paulino
Jan 13, 2015
Miguel Paulino
Professor Wolcutt
ENC 1102
Reading Response 1
13 January 2015
Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write. Brandts Sponsors of Literacy attempts to explain literacy, its history, and how there are influences that form the way we learn
and practice literacy. Brandt also tries to connect literacy as an individual development to literacy as an economical development (Brandt 166). Brandt argues that a persons
writing style and habits can be traced back to their Literacy Sponsor . Some sponsors she describes are parents, teachers, and influential authors. These are powerful figures who
bank-roll events or smooth the way for initiates (Brandt 167). Brandt interviewed people of varying ages and backgrounds to show the changes with each generation and economic
status.
Brandts main focus was that some people have access to better sponsors and that creates similar to a division of social class in the literacy of all people and that sponsors can
promote social change and development. I can relate to Brandts article on sponsorship because growing up my parents thought that certain books weren't okay that were different
than books that my school thought were okay and vice versa. This shaped the type of ideas that were fed to me while I was growing up and becoming literate. Brandt concludes her
work by saying that we should assist and study individuals in pursuit of literacy, we must also recognize how literacy is in pursuit of them (Brandt 183). Basically we need to
acknowledge that sponsorship of literacy is unique in every persons situation.
Works cited
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." CCC 49.2 (1998): 165-185
Caleb Silvers
Jan 14, 2015
After reading the final quote, I thought that what Brandt is talking about is also referring to sponsors. Becoming literate is a dynamic process, and often we don't think about
how much we may be influenced or exploited by sponsors. While we pursue literacy, we should remember that we are being pursued as well. Good quote.
Reply
Amy Cibulas
Jan 13, 2015
Brandt's analysis of privilege and how it determines a person's access to sponsors of literacy reminds me of my own privilege and how fortunate I was to grow up surrounded by
technology. She stresses the fact that literacy is constantly evolving; we see that in action today as the ability to be computer literate is a necessity, while only a few decades ago
that type of literacy was nonexistent. Technology has also made literacy more attainable than ever before - Dora's family wouldn't have had to travel 70 miles to find a relevant
newspaper if the Internet was as prevalent as it is today. Despite this great increase in accessibility, socioeconomic status still plays a major role in an individual's literacy learning.
(Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication. 2nd ed. Vol. 49. N.p.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1998. 165-85. Print.)
Skye Barba
Jan 13, 2015
I can completely agree with your point on socioeconomic status still playing a major role in literacy learning. We still have children not getting the proper education or the
chance for advancement because of not having enough money, or because they live in a certain area. You say technology has made literacy more attainable, which it has, but
it has also dwindle literacy in the form of speaking and writing due to texting. Cell phones and computers have made this world impersonable, to the point some people even
talk aloud in text form.
Reply
Skye Barba
Jan 13, 2015
Brandt essay was tough to get through honestly. At first I was lost on what she was even talking about, but after slowing down and re-reading I think I understand the message.
Brandt was discussing how literacy is so different now, then it was back then. In the 90's, literacy was not taught at such a fast pace or difficult level, compared to now, where little
children can read intermediate books on their own. Back then, people didn't grasp reading and writing until maybe early adulthood. The opportunity to learn is much greater now
according to Brandt, but we still face a bit of a gap when it comes to the rich and the poor, just not as much as back then. Brandt pointed out how the Raymond and Dora were alike,
and how the lifestyle that they grew up in gave them different sponsors of literacy.
Brandt continues to talk about the sponsors of literacy, such as how they could be family, the workplace, or religion. The sponsors that one is surrounded by strongly influences the
individuals literacy and the individuals life. In the case of Sarah, she used what she learned at work to help her family move up in the middle class. By being more literate, she had
an advantage in life. In my opinion, now and back then, if you didn't keep up with new literacy, you will be surpassed and replaced with the ones that are.
-Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication. 2nd ed. Vol. 49. National Council of Teachers of English, 1998. 165-185. Print.
Shakiera Jackson
Jan 13, 2015
I completely understand the way you felt when you first started reading the essay, it was hard for me to understand as well. But as I reread, like you, I started to see where
Brandt was going with her article and the way she described the different people and their situations with learning literacy. Just like you used Sarah as an example, my prime
example was Raymond who as a young boy took interest into computer programming and then became successful by developing and writing more techniques.
Hannah Simon
Jan 13, 2015
I agree with you, at first I was lost with what Brandt was trying to say and i had to slow down and re-read sections many times. I also focused o the different social classes and
how being literate was an advantage. Today lower social classes are not at such of a disadvantage as they were back then. Being more literate does help one be more
successful in the workforce.
Reply
Abigail Michael
Jan 13, 2015
The article is about literacy learning. Literacy is not just reading and writing, its much more than that. Literacy in the case is broader. It includes critical thinking,
communication, and understanding complex representations of reality. This paper introduces the concept of a literacy sponsor through an example of a print shop. Sponsors are
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,
(Brandt 167). The print shop example was about the shop as a sponsor. The print shop was originally a great place for learning the older employees would teach the younger
apprentices to be literate. Everything changed when the steam press was invented. The steam press took over the shop, causing the apprentices to become low paid mechanics.
The print shop soon lost its literacy gaining environment. This example represents the concept of sponsorship and the idea that the relationship between the sponsor and those
being sponsored can change over time.
When looking at sponsorship, one will find that theres a relationship between literacy learning and opportunity and access to helpful tools for the process. Everyone has a
different political, social, and economical status. The three of these combined have an enormous impact on ones access to sponsorship. The author gave two examples of the
people she studied. There was a man who grew up in a rich family who was a part of the majority ethnic group. He had access to just about everything he needed to become a
computer programmer. On the other hand, a girl, who was the same age and grew up in the same town, wasnt so lucky. She lived with a poor family who was a part of a minority
ethnic group. She had very litter access to sponsors, which made learning literacy very difficult. She did meet her goal of learning to read and write in Spanish, but it wasnt nearly as
easy as the boys process. This demonstrates that even in the same location, different people have different opportunities tied to the literary sponsors in their lives. I have been
fortunate myself to have access to many sponsors.
Literacy standards play a major role in the process of literacy learning. Literacy standards are the levels of literacy people are expected to master. Literacy levels are
increasing rather quickly. One sponsor used to be able to last an entire generation. Now, it changes several times within a lifespan. In order to illustrate this concept, the author
provided an example. She wrote about one of the people she interviewed. The man worked for a labor union. He wasnt much of a reader. The union taught him how to negotiate
well, and that gave him an advantage. But then, the management started bringing in lawyers to negotiate, and his literacy had to be raised again with the help of the union. The story
illustrates how literary sponsors increase the level of literacy as part of their competition with their adversaries. This is a reminder to me of the importance of live long learning.
Literary sponsors affect learning in two ways. The sponsors grant access to literacy and opportunity, although its not evenly dispersed. Sponsors also raise the amount of
literacy needed as they compete with each other.
Our modern world is filled with potential literary sponsors. As a result, it is common for people to use the sponsors resources to meet their own needs. This is called
literacy diversion. Examples included a secretary who learned persuasion at work and used it to recruit for her church. Another example is a woman who acquired budgeting skills at
work so that she could improve her financial management at home. In both cases, the resources of the sponsor were used for the benefit of the sponsored. As a model for fair and
effective interaction between the sponsors and the sponsored, it is suggested that awareness of the goals of the two sides will allow an arrangement which benefits both.
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication 49.2 (1998): 165-85. Print.
Reply
Shakiera Jackson
Jan 13, 2015
Deborah Brant took a exceptional account into the way that people break down learning literacy techniques. The idea of sponsors of literacy was first difficult for me to clarify it's
actual meaning when reading the definition, but after she gave the example of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez stories it became easier to understand. Reading the differences in
upbringing for both individuals showcased the way that each person learned their way of literacy. Raymond Branch had the benefits of having a computer at a young age where he
enjoyed computer programming that led to him developing programming techniques. On the other hand, Dora Lopez was in an area where her native language was not spoken. Her
family had to travel miles to get to groceries stores and suitable newspapers.
The sponsors of literacy by Deborah Brandt was an exceptional piece of work toward the subject of the way individuals take heed to literacy. The suggested sponsors are more
powerful, intelligent individuals who take on the duty of sharing their own experiences with the sponsored individual. Overall, the article was somewhat meaningful to the way that I
see where my literacy techniques come from. It gave me insight on who I could credit for my literacy gain and the person who helped me along the way.
Brant, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. 1998. (p. 167-171)
John Cook
Jan 14, 2015
I too had the same problem when it came to understand the role of the sponsor in literacy, though I saw it mainly clarified in the observation that Deborah Brandt made with
both Carol White and Sarah Steele, knowing that sponsors had the role of being the teacher made it easier to understand there part in literacy and how it is spread. I do like
how you used the example of Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez when it comes to showing the kind of factor that can pertain to literacy, I believe that this example is best
understanding how a person's status in society can affect the way the receive literacy from a sponsor. I share the same feeling that this article is somewhat of an eye-opener
and that it can make you think about the ways in how individuals have there literacy through sponsors and how multiple factors play a key role in this.
Reply
Hannah Simon
Jan 13, 2015
Literacy, the ability to read and write has been an important part within the economy and has developed over the years. Literacy comes from a form of sponsorship, someone
who teaches you how to read and write. In the olden days people would attend church and in return their children would get lesson son reading and writing which eventually led to
lessons in other subjects. A sponsor can also be an encyclopedia or a magazine. People would also trade land and labor for the sake of their children so they could learn how to
read and write. The economy someone is living in has a great affect on sponsorship. Raymond Branch had educated parents, who had good jobs, and was living in a college town,
allowing him access to computers and new technology. He grew up around technology and enjoyed exploring what technology could do expanding his literacy. Dora Lopezs parents
were farm workers and the first time she saw a computer was when she got a job and she had to put herself into a community rich in technological resources. Brandts study
showed how social groups effect literacy rates. The demand for literacy has been expanding. People who did not go to college but still had jobs would get replaced with college
graduates because they were more literate. There would be special classes to teach people about the new technology and how to communicate with people. Women who have
worked in subordinate positions like secretaries have learned to be more literate on their own. They would copy notes from their higher educated bosses teaching them how to write
and different kinds of writing such as rhetoric. Women would take working styles that they learned in the office and bring them into their house in order to run a more proficient
household.
With all the new and fast growing technological advances today, my sponsorships would be professors, textbooks, computers, cell phones, books, etc. There are so many
ways to become more literate and learn how to read and write in different languages as well. Unlike in the 1950s people who come from a lower social class have an equal chance
to attend the same schools as people from a higher social class to achieve the same education. In todays competitive economy it is a requirement that people are literate and
people who receive further education are more likely to get a better, high paying job. Brandt said that he does not promote preparing students for the job markets that we have to
enter which I do not understand. I feel that attending college and pushing them to their limits is helpful to the kids entering the work-field because then they have an idea of how
tough and competitive it is.
Deborah Brandt, Sponsors of Literacy, College Composition and Communication, National Council of Teachers of English, (165-185)
Reply
Cesar Hernandez
Jan 13, 2015
In Deborah Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy" she talks about how we come to be literate and how being so can affect us as well as how we affect others. In her research she explains
that most of us are welcome to literacy by means of a sponsor. Brandt defines a sponsor as "any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as
well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy." She explains that it is usually through the means of those who are more knowledgeable that those who are not are able to
attain literacy. However, the sponsor has also something to gain by doing this, ether to be repaid by an apprentice or simply by being associated with the apprentice.
Brandt's research led her to discover how it is that we truly gain literacy, at least in the 20th century. I think that it was very insightful of her to reach the conclusion that literacy is just
like any other commodity, and that owning will make you more profitable and allow you to gain higher social and economical statuses; hence the phrase "knowledge is power."
Edited by Cesar Hernandez (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/2650278) on Jan 13 at 11:44pm
Reply
John Cook
Jan 14, 2015
Debroah Brandt paper is basically about how literacy as a learning has been impacted by the changing with things such as technology, politics, and even
economics constantly causing literacy to evolve and making it more of a necessity as time goes on do to standards being with each year. Because of this, many
factors play a key role in how literacy is obtained through so called sponsors who are basically the teachers. Some of these factors are gender, race, social class,
and even time of birth. This is shown in a multitude of ways throughout the paper, in one section two people who moved to the same place were observed to see
how much literacy was available to them. One was Raymond Branch who was a European American, had been born in southern California, the son of a
professor father and a real estate executive mother (Brandt pg.170). The other was Dora Lopez who was a Mexican American, was born the same year as
Raymond Branch, 1969, in a Texas border town, where her grandparents, who worked as farm laborers, worked most of the year (Brandt pg.170). Both would
grow up in the same university town yet Raymond was at a much better advantage than Dora. There are many other times in the paper where situations like this
one occur such as Dwanye Lowery who though strived to have more literacy was ultimately pushed away due to increased standards and observations on how
literacy was obtained and also Carol White and Sarah Steele who both saw the importance and need for the literacy for themselves and as such learned from their
own sponsors so that they may apply to their field of work thus showing a rise in a want for literacy in terms of gender.From reading this article I now understand
that literacy is obtained by the people individually because of the situation that they may be in.
One question that I do have about this topic is that is it better for literacy to be striving to constantly change on how it is obtained by sponsors still knowing that
others acquired literacy through older ways?
Citation
1. Deborah Brandt. Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication Vol. 49, No. 2 pp.165-158. National Council of Teachers of English. May, 1998.
Brandt_literacy.pdf.
Edited by John Cook (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3855961) on Jan 14 at 12:10am
Edgar Ramirez
Jan 14, 2015
I enjoyed how this article showed two real life examples of two students would grew up in the same town but yet were different when it came to having the amount of literacy
provided for them. By showing these two examples, it perfectly shows how your sponsors of literacy can have such a huge impact in your life.
Reply
Edgar Ramirez
Jan 14, 2015
Well Brandt starts off by explaining that the sponsors of literacy are the forces that influence a person's literacy. Some of the forces that Brandt is talking about are the influential
people in that particular person's life such as their teachers, parents, mentors, etc. When reading this article, I couldn't help but realize that this concept relates to John Swales
discourse community, where he talks about the primary discourse community which is basically the first community that you were basically in. She then goes on to attempt to show
people that people don't become literate on their own. Brandt summarizes her work by saying, " What I have tried to suggest is that as we assist and study individuals in pursuit of
literacy, we must also recognize how literacy is in pursuit of them.
Brandt, Deborah. Sponsors of Literacy. College Composition and Communication 49.2 (1998): 165-185.
Edited by Edgar Ramirez (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3854784) on Jan 14 at 12:09am
Veronica Smith
Jan 14, 2015
I completely agree that sponsors are related to discourse communities. Younger generations have their certain words that are sometimes outside the sphere of the older
generation's lexis. Although the discourse communities overlap greatly, it is still a struggle to keep up with new technology and expand children's literacy.
Reply
Veronica Smith
Jan 14, 2015
Since the dawn of the steam press, the uses and importance of literacy has changed dramatically. By giving more people access to printed articles and books, a larger percent of
the population became literate, the ability to read and write. Now, literacy plays an important roll in consumerism and economics as well as in the spread of information, creating an
important connection with social viability. Sponsors of literacy are agents who influence literacy to gain an advantage of their own also known as tangible aspects that prove
connections.
In a study to find out more about sponsors, Brandt noticed that sponsor references consumed the memories of learning to read and write. These sponsors helped better themselves,
learning new information and exposing themselves to ideas that they would not have been otherwise. Although many people grew up within the same time period, social and
economic factors could lead to different agents of literacy. Therefore, new technology and ways of life leads to literacy evolving to new standards of society. While reading to kids I
babysit, I noticed the stories are completely different from when I grew up. Although morals are still strong for kids learning to read, I can definitely see how sponsors differ
throughout generations and that influences kids to read differently.
Source Cited
Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." College Composition and Communication. Vol 49, No. 2. May 1998. pg 165-185. pdf.
Edited by Veronica Smith (https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1078384/users/3854654) on Jan 14 at 12:07am
Reply
Jonathon Sauers
Jan 14, 2015
After reading Deborah Brandts Sponsors of Literacy, it became evident that in order for one to begin, or advance in literacy, there must be a sponsor of some form. For instance,
around the middle of the paper, Brandt uses Dwayne Lowery as an example to display how ones literacy can advance and change at any point in ones life. In the paper, Lowery
began his literacy career poorly with little skill or knowledge; however, when he began to start his new career he took classes in which reading was very heavily enforced. Then as
part of his job in a union, he needed to adapt to the changing world of rules and regulations. This meant he had to work with lawyers and their contracts, which are very heavy in
reading and writing. Thusly, Dwayne Lowerys literacy career was continuously advancing due to the influence of multiple different sponsors.
Deborah Brandts paper exemplifies how everyones literacy will advance due to different sponsors in each of our lives. Whether that be school as a young child, or a new job
requirement. Literacy in the modern world is ever-changing and constantly advancing. Which is why a strong literacy background is crucial to success in the professional workplace
today.
Reply
Gabriel Del Rio
Jan 14, 2015
The article "Sponsors of Literacy", written by Deborah Brandt, informs readers about how peoples' literacy are shaped by sponsors. Sponsors effect one's literacy either giving
an advantage or restraining their literacy. Brandt conducted multiple interviews from people with different ages and backgrounds to understand if their literacy was shaped by their
social status or if it was from sponsors. Brandt also states that higher social classes have more access to powerful literacy sponsors compared to lower income people. Brandt was
able to prove that literacy is learned through sponsors.
While understanding Brandt's concept of sponsors effecting the literacy of a person, it was a little hard to believe at first. Once Brandt was able to back up her claim with the
interviews she conducted then I was able to believe her statement about having a more powerful sponsor will result to a person's literacy to be higher than one that is not exposed to
such a sponsor.
Reply
Michelle Foote
Jan 14, 2015
After reading Deborah Brandt's "Sponsors of Literacy," it may be gathered that the root cause of poor literacy is a lack of access to sponsors. Sponsors are individuals who
provide the opportunity for their kids, students, immigrants, whomever, to practice proper reading and writing skills.
Reflecting on this article, I couldn't help but form an amusing parallel between Brandt's research and the popular novel and film "Hunger Games." I say this because the plot
is driven by one of the keys to survival in the deadly games: sponsors. Sponsors whom gift you aid to advance in the games.
Literacy is the foundation of all success, and we all had sponsors who have helped us reach where we are today-proud UCF Knights. Brandt wishes for us to be the change in "the
literary crisis" and be the sponsors for not only our own but the generation to come.
Brandt, Derborah. Sponsors of Literacy. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Hannah Foster
Jan 14, 2015
Your comparison to the Hunger Games was so clever. The sponsors in the Hunger Games cause the players to strive to do they best they can and I also agree that we all have
sponsors who have helped us reach our success as UCF Knights. That coincides with Brandt's idea that various factors and people can influence you in different ways.
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Communication, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 165-185.

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