Winter 2005 546
Denney Hall
T,Th 9:30-11:18 pm Graff.40@osu.edu
Office hours: T,Th 292-5838
1:30-2:30 &
appointments
The
story and the discourse of literacy was once a simple, positive narrative, at
least until recent times. Although reading and writing could be seen as
complicated activities, their advancement and their contributions to people and
nations were not. In recent years our understanding of literacy and its
relationships to ongoing societies, cultures, and social change has been
challenged and revised. The challenge came from many directions. The “new literacy
studies,” as they are often called, attest to major shifts in approaches and
knowledge, and a search today for new understandings. Many traditional notions
about literacy and its presumed importance no longer influence scholarly and
critical conceptions. The gap that too often exists between scholarly and more
popular and applied conceptions is a major problem. It is one of the topics we
will consider. It often includes the topics of schools and policy.
Among
other important currents, historical scholarship and critical theories stand
out, by themselves and together. Historical research on literacy has been
unusually important in encouraging a reconstruction of the fields that
contribute to literacy studies, the design and conduct of research, the role of
theory and generalization in efforts to comprehend literacy and, as we say
increasingly, literacies (plural). Drawing on a number of disciplines, it has
insisted on new understandings of “literacy in context,” including historical
context, as a requirement for making general statements about literacy, and for
testing them. It carries great implications for new critical theories—literary,
rhetorical, and discursive—that reflect on literacy.
This
course considers these and related changes. Taking a historical approach, we
will seek a general understanding of the history of literacy mainly but not
only in the West since classical antiquity, with an emphasis on the early
modern and modern eras. At the same time, we examine critically literacy’s
contributions to the shaping of the modern world and the impacts on literacy
from fundamental historical social changes. Among many topics, we will explore
communications, language, expression, family and demographic behavior, economic
development, urbanization, institutions, literacy campaigns, political and
personal changes, and the uses of reading and writing. A new understanding of
the place of literacy and literacies in social development is our overarching
goal.
Objectives
The course has a number of goals:
·
learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas,
arguments, and interpretations, and practicing analysis and critical evaluation
·
developing and practicing skills in written and oral
expression
·
engaging in an interdisciplinary conversation about
literacy studies, including but not limited to the historical study of literacy
and critical approaches to literacy/ies followed in different disciplines and
professions
·
developing new understandings of literacy’s many and
complicated roles and connections in the development of modern societies,
cultures, polities, and economies
·
comparing and evaluating different approaches,
conceptualizations, theories, methods, and sources that relate to the study and
understanding of literacy in its many contexts
Assignments & Evaluation
a. Regular reading,
attendance, and preparation for each class meeting. Attendance and
participation are expected and taken into account in evaluation.
b. Writing weekly questions
for discussion by working groups and sometimes the entire class. Questions
should be based on that week’s reading, and can include connections to earlier
weeks. Each student will turn in questions for at least four of the first eight
weeks.
c. Depending on the size of
the class, groups may be responsible for leading one or more seminar sessions.
a, b, & c together=25% of final grade
d. 2 4-5 page (double-spaced) critical essays
Each paper=25%; 2papers=50% Due on weeks 4 & 8
Improvement on second paper is taken into account
Paper 1. Drawing on a topic of your own choice from class
reading and discussions, critically explore the roles and power of
assumptions, expectations, and myths in the study, acquisition, practice, uses,
and understanding of literacy/ies. Be specific; use course materials;
define key terms. Consider the “issues to explore” for each week in the course.
Due in class: Week 4
Paper 2. Drawing on a topic of your own choosing from class
reading and discussions, critically explore the uses of history in the
study, practice, uses, acquisition, and understanding of literacy/ies. In
what ways do approaches and interpretations change? Why? What difference does
it make? Be specific; use course materials. Due in class: Week 8
Among
the many general topics to consider—in more specific terms--for either
paper are: literacy--myth, expectation, theory; literacy myths; literacy:
relationships, associations, consequences, meaning; theory and practice; uses
of literacy; uses of history; literacy in context(s); policy and practice in
history of literacy; many literacies; old literacy/ies v. new literacy/ies;
discourses of literacy; representations of literacy; alternative narratives of
change/history/evolutions with respect to literacy; future of literacy
e. group project: planning and carrying out an “active” study of literacy=25%
Working with members of your group, select one of several
possible approaches to or modes of research on literacy. The choices are
designed to take you, in part, outside the library or study and to provide an
intellectual experience that is more “active” (for lack of another term).
Consider these possibilities: 1) an ethnographic study of peoples’ uses and
practices of literacy, aimed at testing, comparing, or clarifying some
general ideas or hypotheses in the field of study; 2) surveys of
individuals’ (including your own, if you wish) own uses and evaluations of
reading and writing; for example, by keeping literacy or reading/writing
journals or diaries, then comparing a number of them, as the basis for your
interpretation or conclusions; 3) a study of the portrayals and
representations of reading and writing, and readers and writers in
literature, films, visual arts, popular and other cultures; 4) a study of the
place(s)—physical, cultural, psychological, etc.--of reading and writing in
U.S. (or possibly, other) culture(s). There are other possible projects too.
Each group will define a topic and propose an approach to
it. Brief research proposals of 2-3 pages will be circulated (with a copy to
the instructor) around the middle of the quarter, with brief presentations to
the class for comments and questions. We may schedule sessions with the Library
or the Digital Union. During the final two weeks, fuller presentations will be
made, with written reports of about 10 pages due in Week 10. There will be an
opportunity to evaluate group members’ contributions.
Assigned reading. An upper-level discussion course
is pointless, and painful, unless the participants have read the assigned
material with care. I expect you to read the material assigned for each week's
discussion. Copies of some readings are available on electronic reserve via the
Library. Plan ahead as necessary. I encourage you to think about useful
questions for discussion, or issues that occur to you after each class meeting.
Roles of learning groups
Groups will discuss readings and assignments;
generate questions for class discussion; report back to the class; brainstorm,
plan and conduct a research project; share sources and other “finds” with
classmates; prepare final presentations and written reports. Some class time
will be available for project work.
All
work that is turned in for evaluation or grading should be typed, usually double-spaced,
with margins of 1-1 ½ inches on all sides; printed in 12 point font, in a
legible typeface. Be sure that your printer ribbon or toner allows you to
produce clear copies. Follow page or word limits and meet deadlines. Follow any
specific assignment requirements (formatting or endnotes or bibliography, for
example). Use footnotes and endnotes as necessary and use them appropriately
according to the style guide of your basic field. Your writing should be gender
neutral as well as clear and to the point. If you have a problem, see me, if at
all possible, in advance of due dates. Unacceptable work will be
returned, ungraded, to you. There will be penalties for work submitted late
without excuse.
Mutual
respect and cooperation, during the time we spend together each week and the
time you work on group assignments, are the basis for successful conduct of
this course. The class is a learning community that depends on respect,
cooperation, and communication among all of us. This includes coming to class
on time, prepared for each day’s work: reading and assignments complete,
focusing on primary classroom activity, and participating. It also includes
polite and respectful expression of agreement or disagreement—with support for
your point of view and arguments--with other students and with the professor.
It does not include arriving late or leaving early, or behavior or talking that
distracts other students. Please turn off all telephones, beepers,
electronic devices, etc.
Scholastic honesty is expected and required. It is a major part of university life, and contributes to the value of your university degree. All work submitted for this class must be your own. Copying or representing the work of anyone else (in print or from another student) is plagiarism and cheating. This includes the unacknowledged word for word use and/or paraphrasing of another person’s work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person’s ideas.This is unacceptable in this class and also prohibited by the University. All cases of suspected plagiarism, in accordance with university rules, may be reported to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. For information on plagiarism, see http://cstw.osu.edu/ especially http://cstw.osu.edu/writing_center/handouts/index.htm.
All members of the OSU community are invited to discuss
their writing with a trained consultant at the
The Office for Disability Services, located in 150 Pomerene Hall, offers services for students with documented disabilities. Contact the ODS at 2-3307
Books:
David Barton, Literacy: An Introduction to the Ecology
of Written Language. Blackwell, 1993
(0-631-19091-0)
Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the
Harvey J. Graff, The Literacy Myth: Cultural Integration
and Social Structure in the Nineteenth-Century City. Transaction, 1987 (1979) (0887388841)
Deborah Brandt, Literacy in American Lives.
Sapphire, PUSH Vintage, 1997 (1996)
Other readings: journal articles and book chapters are available from
ElectronicLibrary Reserve???
Films (tentative list):
“The
Return of Martin Guerre”
“The Wild Child”
“Children
and Schools in 19th Century
“My
Brilliant Career”
“High School”
David
Barton, Literacy: An Introduction to the Ecology of Written Language. (Blackwell, 1993), chaps 1-8
(sample)
*Harvey J.
Graff, The Labyrinths of Literacy. (exp & rev. ed.
Issues to explore: what is literacy?
how do we think about literacy? why? what differences
it makes
Jan. 11,13 Week
2 In another beginning: Literacy and the
question of origins: ancient foundings,
ideas, traditions & practices; Transitions to literacy
David
Barton, Literacy , chaps 8-14
*Eric A. Havelock, “The
Coming of Literate Communications to Western Culture,” Journal
of Communication, 30 (1980), 90-98
Issues to explore: literacy’s
origins and powers, including the powers of origins; literacy’s history
in theory and in fact [sic]: finding and probing narratives of literacy;
ancient
or classical literacy as
foundation? peak? standard?
Jan. 18,20 Week 3 Literacy and culture(s): From ancient foundings, traditions, and practices to medieval and early modern transitions to literacy: From script to print, oral to written, classical to vernacular, among other familiar, formulaic transformations of literacy in the passages from traditional to modern
*Michael T. Clanchy,
“Literate and illiterate: hearing and seeing:
Carlo
Ginzburg, The Cheese and the
Issues to explore: lexicon
and lesson in the narratives and theorizations of literacy--formulas for great changes—from oral to written, written to
printed; classical to vernacular, sacred
to secular; credo to ideology; elite to popular cultures; restricted to mass .
. . among asserted transformations in the
passages from traditional to modern; technologies;
associations and correlates of literacy
Jan. 25,27 Week 4 Between traditional and modern; Ideological origins of modern western literacy—16th-19th centuries
1st
assignment due
Carlo Ginzburg,
The Cheese and the Worms, second half
Harvey J. Graff, The
Literacy Myth: Cultural Integration and Social Structure in the Nineteenth-Century City
(Transaction, 1987[1979]), introduction, ch.1
Graff, The Literacy
Myth, chs. 1-6
*Janet
Cornelius, “We Slipped and Learned to Read: Slave Accounts of the Literacy Process, 1830-1860,” Phylon
44 (1983) 171-186,
“Children and Schools in
19th Century Canada” (
Issues to explore: literacy &
social, cultural, economic, and political change—theory v. experience; institutions & ideologies; relations and
consequences: slavery, equality, democracy, citizenship, religion or
belief, & literacy; class, race, gender, ethnicity, generation, geography,
& literacy: literacy in the making of modern social relations, social structures,
political systems
Graff, The Literacy
Myth, chs. 6-7
Select at least one:
*Helen
Horowitz, “Nous Autres:
Thomas,”
Journal of American History 79 (1992), 68-95
*Barbara
Sicherman, “Sense and Sensibility: A Case Study of Women’s Reading in
Late-Nineteenth-Century America,” in Reading in America, ed. Cathy N.
Davidson (JHUP, 1989), 201-225
*Jan
Radway, “Interpretive Communities and Variable Literacies,” Daedalus 113
Summer
1984), 49-73
“My
Brilliant Career” (101)
Deborah Brandt, Literacy
in American Lives. (
Sapphire, PUSH (Vintage, 1997 [1996])
Optional: Feb. 18-20 NCTE MidWinter Conference on “Literacies Across Time, Space, and Place,” at OSU. Fri. keynote address by Graff and Deborah Brandt
Feb. 22,24 Week 8 The twentieth century in historical context: Myths of decline & the future of literacy/ies
2nd
assignment due
Deborah Brandt, Literacy
in American Lives,Chs. 4-Conclusion
Sapphire,
PUSH (Vintage, 1997 [1996])
Issues to explore: rising or
declining literacy levels or standards; threat or fear of illiteracy; technological imperatives; changing means of expression
and modes of communication; keeping up, getting
ahead, or falling behind; shifting needs and standards--how
to tell & what differences it makes
Group projects/presentations
Optional reading for Weeks 9 & 10
Andrea A. Lunsford, Helene Moglen,
and James Slevin, eds., The Right to Literacy (MLA, 1990),
Introduction, sample other chapters
New London Group, “A Pedagogy of
Multiliteracies designing Social Futures,” in Multiliteracies: Literacy
Learning and the Design of Social Futures, ed. Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis
(Routledge, 2000), 9-37 (also Harvard Educational Review, 1996)
Geoffrey Nunberg, “The Places of
Books in the Age of Electronic Reproduction,” in Future Libraries, ed. R. Howard Bloch and Carla Hesse (
Carla Hesse, “Books in Time,” in The
Future of the Book, ed. Geoffrey Nunberg (
Colin Lankshear and Peter L.
McLaren, eds., Critical Literacy: Politics, Praxis, and the Postmodern (SUNY Press,
1993), 1-56
Ira Shor, Empowering Education:
Critical Teaching for Social Change (Chicago 1992), 129-134, 187-199, 237-263
Ramona
Fernandez, Imagining Literacy. Texas 2001
Sonja
Lanehart, Sista Speak! Black Women Kinfolk Talk about Language and Literacy Texas 2002
Group
projects/presentations