The Richest of Texts

Our HB textbook has taught me a lot. I have never really considered what I thought it meant to be human until reading, nor did I realize how much literacy impacts our lives. The textbook has helped me think about UD’s humanity’s based themes in a more specific way. For example, “Everyday Use” made me think about the Individual and Community aspect of humanity in more detail; with Dee’s strong sense of identity with Maggie’s intense dependence on another person. In addition, Jonathon Kozol’s “Savage Inequalities” demonstrated to me the theme of autonomy and responsibility; between the Bluffs ignoring their waste and the rest of American ignoring East St. Louis, how does East St. Louis even sustain life? In addition, in all of the stories in the HB text, I have considered the importance of literacy in our lives. After reading all of the stories and seeing contrasts such as the one between Dee and the students of East St. Louis High, I have determined a spectrum for literacy. It shows Dee at the brink of maybe being too literate, while the kids of East St. Louis are clearly deprived of their chance to be completely literate. Also, in Translations, the character of Sarah astonished me because I could not imagine to have lived to be eighteen without knowing English or being able to communicate with those around me. I found it to be a really disturbing thought, and it even upset that me that no one would do anything about it. And I know people may say that Sarah is just a fictional character, but in the case of East St. Louis, children are really on the brink of not being literate.
In the case of Heath’s article though, I really did not relate a whole lot, just because it was so detailed and so hard to read through. However, after discussing it I understood it a little bit better. And an issue that I couldn’t get over was how much our community affects our literacy. I never really realized how much home, church, and even the workplace affects how we read, write, and communicate. When it came to the home place, I realized that unlike the children in the community of Trackton, my parents encouraged me to read, and that I really took that for granted all of my life. I mean, if I learned minimal reading just from labels and not from stories, I would never have expanded my vocabulary or found one my favorite past times. Also, it made me think about all of my job interviews that required I fill out my own application. And because of that I do not know if I would even let someone do it for me during an interview at my state of literacy now. I think I might take offense to it. Also, after discussing Heath’s article, I realized the vicious circle that some community’s go through when no one cares about residents’ conditions. And this is displayed also in Kozol’s piece when surrounding communities do not let East St. Louis students attend their school. Overall, I love the HB textbook for the profound thought and discussion that it produces. I think that everyone should read it, not just UD students.