Why is literacy important to you?

Question

You can read well enough to make use of this web site, and the wonderful opportunity for communication it represents. So what can you say to encourage people to care about literacy, and to help anyone who wants to, young or old, learn to read? And while we are at it, what are your ideas on how to improve literacy? Might mention where you live, since this is a world wide web, after all.

Ruby, I need some interpretation here. It sounds like you have copied in a school assignment. Are you saying the reason literacy is important is because your school wants you to tell them why it is important? Well, that's certainly one reason! LOL

Answer 1

Hi Aunty,

Good question! I represent the small-town, ambitious India with my answer here. An India where dreams are at their infantile stage-- not in terms of maturity-- but in terms of their current stage of progress.

Why is literacy important? Why would I recommend it? There are many reasons. From what I have observed, illiteracy doesn't (directly) affect you as much as it affects the people around you.... and thus ends up affecting you indirectly. An illiterate person, as an individual, needn't be ignorant but, an illiterate in a crowd of literates falls prey to ignorance one way or the other.

Sure, literacy helps you sign your name, read and reply to letters, study good literature, read and understand political and socio-economic news and current affairs. It helps you keep pace with the world and probably be a part of its progress. But, illiteracy doesn't make you more or less expressive, creative or wise. These inherent traits can be groomed with the help of language but, with slight getting used to, they can also survive without a medium.

There are sculptors, painters, dancers, singers, orators and folk-artists who have contributed to the human society with their philosophy and art but have never used written language as a medium. It is not the contribution but the realization of how important is your contribution that makes literacy important!

Along with making you able to read and write, literacy makes you able to comprehend. This awareness, this certain sense of realization that there is world beyond what you can see and things aren't as stiff as they seem-- comes only with literacy.

An illiterate would easily believe in whatever he or she is told to believe because of the notion that-- "Others know better than me." which is dangerous. Either that, or (s)he will refuse to believe because of the fear of being misguided.

With literacy, there comes a sense of knowledge and a feel of confidence. It makes you self-dependent and lets you explore within.

Also, you can be a part of the progress, the solution-- and know how and what you can contribute. An illiterate is the proverbial (according to a Hindi proverb) "frog of the well". He doesn't know the world outside the well. He is happy, he thinks this is all there is but, he doesn't know what he is missing out on. Ignorance might be a bliss but not when you bring in the "what if"s.

What if the frog could jump out of the well? He'd have a whole new world in front of his eyes. Can you think of his excitement?

What are my ideas to improve literacy?

1) Try to tell 'em what awaits them on the other side-
Make it popular through movies, advertisements and mass-media. It is already being done in India.... I'd love to see more creativity and expressiveness in such campaigns. In my opinion, there is always room for more creativity. Devise newer ways to spread the notion that literacy can help making things easier in every walk of life and how it makes you a better person.

2) Each one teach one.
"Each one teach one"-- the popular slogan can help a lot. It is not always that people don't want to learn. Their financial conditions, the circumstances don't let them learn. How about you lend a helping hand? It is quite fun seeing someone learn actually. Do it and see for yourself! I bet you'd be brimming with pride and joy once someone you taught sends you a "Thank You" letter.

I have a twinkle in my eye right now.

3) Make it universal.
Let the language be so omnipresent that it becomes as basic as speech. Popularize literature, raise interest in the young and the old-- by talking about it, mentioning it, quoting it on Radio, TV, government sponsored ads and movies.

Also, there are some basic things the government and society can do like- raising funds, making education cheaper, promoting scholarships, making education accessible to all, setting up schools, libraries and spreading the message around.

This is a gradual process-- we are on it and I wish the world Godspeed in its pursuit of wisdom. As I do that, I embark upon my own journey to pursue wisdom with the realization that my progress and my knowledge are to help the world in its pursuit.

Answer 2

From North Texas U S A
literacy IS the key to unlocking the world for one's self
without it , there are countless doors that can not be accessed that lead to innumerable prospects and potentials for one's life !!
Here in North Texas we have a program (not sure if it is National connected or not (??)) called the Adult Literacy Council--- they provide tutors and mentors for people who truly want to learn !!
They have an annual charity fund raising thing that they do that I have helped out with in the past and really enjoyed being a part of--- But of late MY charity-- the one that I am almost consumed by -- is the Shriners' Hospitals for Children (free medical help for critically burned and crippled children) it is greatly, personally rewarding work and I love it !!!

Answer 3

A Literacy Narrative is the story of how (and what) you learned about writing and reading, and how you came to feel the way you do about literacy. For your first major response, I want you to tell me your story. Specifically, I’d like you to recall two or three important incidents, experiences, or influences from your past that stand out to you as having affected your literacy development in some way. These could be moments or influences from childhood, grade school, high school; they could be incidents that occurred at home, in school, with friends or strangers. Tell a true, interesting, focused story that emphasizes the connection between these experiences or influences and your current attitudes. The focus of your response, or the main idea, will center around what these two or three memories or influences are and how they affect you as a writer and reader. You will be the narrator, or story-teller, who sets out to create vivid pictures, describe feelings, present "characters" from your past who affected how you feel about writing and reading, and analyze the stories you tell—why they are important to you, how they affect you even today. You will incorporate primary research into your story--most likely, interviews you conduct with people who can help you better recall the events or influences you are describing. Use MLA format (which we'll discuss in class).

Answer 4

Religious literacy is important for adherents of a faith. Though I often note that a lot of them either have not read the scriptures, or have not understood them (like Muslims learning the Q'ran by heart, even though their native language is not Arabic). I also note that religious leaders quote just very short extracts from the Bible, they actually quote out of context quite a lot, leaving out the unsavoury bits or the bits that are impossible to explain or that are in contradiction to other versions. I am literate in religion, because by giving us their scriptures, the religious league have handed us the very weapons we will discredit them with.