- Brandt explains sponsor as an individual who has had strong influence on an individual’s literary experiences. Sponsors can vary and could be anyone who has promoted the literary learning of someone and is ingrained in one’s memory regarding literacy. This can be observed when Brandt states “sponsors seemed a fitting term for the figures who turned up most typically in people’s memories of literacy learning: older relatives, teachers, priests, supervisors, military officers, editors, influential authors” (32). In all of the literacy narratives which Alexander studied all of them shared the same common theme. All of them contained what Brandt would call a sponsor. This is evident even in my own literacy narrative. In my literacy narrative I discuss my struggles with reading when I was younger. Additionally, I explore how one of my teachers helped me develop my literary skills. In this act my teacher acted as a sponsor. I reflect on how her sponsorship impacted my life. For example when I say “she agreed to meet with me after classes in order to work on some habits which I had not obtained during my previous years of school.” (2). This is evidence of ways she acted as a sponsor in the sense of how she lent me resources to help me build my skills.
- Literature is valued highly in our society. Although it is highly valued and thought of as one of the most important qualities someone can have, many people still have a complicated relationship with the two aspects. Reading and writing are possibly the most essential tools in literature. However, many people expressed within their literacy narrative that they had struggled with those two aspects the most. In Alexander’s passage she studied numerous different students literacy narratives. The conclusion she came to was that they all shared common characteristics. Many of them wrote about negative experiences with reading and writing. This could have been because of individuals such as teachers or parents who are supposed to act as a literary sponsor provide the student with inadequate sponsorship. Williams explains how one uses a specific identity such as a victim in their literacy narrative. Williams stats that “many students, when writing such assignments, tend to adopt one of several recurring narrative structures.” (343). Both Alexander and Williams refer to many different identities or episodes which the students either identify as or express within their literacy narrative. For example when Alexander describes the role of a victim as “a victim of negative literacy experiences, in or out of school; casts blame for negative literacy experiences; discusses how someone took the fun out of reading and writing.” (615) These two are examples of how one might have had a bad experience with reading or writing.
- Brandt discusses how a sponsor is an individual who has had a significant impact on one’s life. He additionally, describes it as someone who has someone who has influenced someone and ingrained memories within them involving literature. A specific sponsor has a correlation to what identity a student adopts while structuring their literacy narrative. Alexander’s passage about different students literacy narratives, and the identities they use within their literacy narratives sheds some insight on Brandt’s idea of literacy sponsors. One cultural narrative type which shows how literacy sponsors can affect a student is the victim narrative type. Having a bad experience with a literacy sponsor can result in an individual having a bad relationship with literature. If a student uses the cultural narrative success than they most likely had a good experience with a literacy sponsor. Sponsors can give aid to one trying to succeed in literature and influence their feelings towards literature. These two examples show just how influential a literacy sponsor can be on an individual.
ENG101I
