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Nyla Ngofa

Professor Agosta

UWRT 1104-103

July 1, 2020

1a. As society goes through different eras, the workplace changes along with it by becoming

more advanced and changing their standards for a worker’s literacy.

1b. This story shows us that literacy can be defined by more than just one thing. Execptions

and views of a person’s literacy can be circumstancial depending on the environment that

they’re in. A person’s literacy can be defined by more than just what they know; it can br

measured on how they are able to adapt and perform in an ever changing environment.

1c. Brandt told this story to show an example of the relationship between the economy and

literacy. She illustrates how the dominerring force of the economy can impact the value and

development of an individual’s litercacy.

2a. When I think of the term economies, what comes to mind is the world of business and

how they operate individually to form this beneficial network that work together to exist as a

whoel.

2b. When Brandt means when talking about the connection between economies and literacy

is that literacy is very beneficial to the economy which relies heavily on it; however, due to

the unpredicitability of the economy, an indiviual’s literacy can become “vulnerable” which

allows it to be easily effected.

2c. Based on the current American economy, we require literacy to serve our needs of

coming up with innovative ideas that can generate an increase in profits from business which
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can further stimulat our economy. To survive our economy, the kinds of literacies people

should gain are the ability to undestand the world around them financial, being able to

navigate the technology around to support and educate themselves with informational

resources, and to be able to understand and interpret the status of the economy itself to make

beneficial decsions.

3a. I have mostly heard the term “sponser” used when it is relating to sports or pop culture.

The term is used a lot when I am watching sports events such as the Super Bowl & Fifa

World Cup. As for pop culture, when a celebrity is able to do something, they usually have a

sponsor that is supporting them such as Kanye West’s collaboration with Adidas. What

makes a sponsor a sponsor is supporting a person, place, or thing that usually ends up

benefiting them in return some way.

3b. Adidas, for example, sponsors Kanye West. Because they sponsor Kanye West, they

provide him with the resources and a platform to showcase his clothing and shoe line.

Additionally, Adidas heavily supports and promotes Kanye’s work which allows for him

reach a bigger audience than he would by himself. In return, Adidas received a profit from

Kanye’s business as well as having the privilege of adopting his audience which brings in

more revenue for them and increases their profit. Through their collaboration with Kanye

West, their business is able to grow and gain another resource for the advertisment of their

brand.

3c. I am confused about Brandt’s description of a sponsor. What does she mean when she say

sponsors “recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy?”

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4. Based on Brandt’s further discussion of sponsorship, it is clear that she believes sponsors

hold the most power in the relationship. I say this, because when she introduces the term

sponsor in the last paragraph of page 3, Brandts associates it with highly respected people

such as “older relatives, teachers, priests, supervisors, military officers, editors, [and]

influential authors.” Because she associates sponsors with the following people, it is evident

she sees them as powerful entites that are superior to the sponsored. Brandt also refers to

sponsors as being “usually richer, more knowledgable, an more entrenched than the

sponsored.” This power dynamic shapes literacy development because sponsers “help to

explain...a range of human relationships and ideological pressures that turn up at the scence

of literacy learning” and provide “a concept useful for tracking literacy’s material” that

allows the sponsered ability to read and write into “exploitable resources.”

5. Raymond is a male European American, while Dora is a female Mexican American.

Raymond is the son of a professor and real estate agent, while Dora’s parents are a shipping

& receiving clerk at a university and part time worker at a bookstore. Raymond was born in

progressive southern California, while Dora was born in a rural Texas border town. Raymond

had access to the best education avaible since first grade, while Dora has to rely on federally

funded programs to remain properly educated. Raymond was introduced to technology at a

very young age, while Dora was first introduced to them at age thirteen. Raymond’s interest

in technology was supported his parent’s wealth and their access to the best resources, while

Dora’s parents were unable to financially support her passion until her college years.

Raymond’s life was interrupted when he moved to the Midwest, while Dora and her family

had struggled to find support in a community where they were a minority in. Raymond was

able to attend and graduate from the local university, while Dora had to transfer from the
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university to a technical college. While Raymond was able to create a successful career for

himself as a freelance writer due his connections at the university, Dora had to balance

school and her job at a cleaning company where she had to perform extra duties to make up

for the supervisor’s inability to communicate with the cleaning staff that what mainly made

up of Latinas.