Szwed Reading Response

After reading Szwed's article, a lot of good points stood out to me that I hadn't realized before. Szwed had mentioned the five elements of literacy: text, context, function, participants, and motivation. However, the big picture is that society has twisted and formed their own definitions for literacy. I agree with Szwed that it's not just the concept of reading and writing that accounts for literature, but why it is considered so and what its minimal functions consist of. It's taught as "abstract skills" but its purpose, as far as the future of its students is concerned, is unknown, such as the role it plays in day to day life. Unfortunately I fall into the statistic of not reading many novels, poetry, or plays, but agree that there is a variation in readers' "motivation" towards reading. My motivation for reading novels is simply the fact of being able to say I actually did. It takes a lot to get me to really read and finish a novel, let alone even crack the thing open. I would say my motivation towards course readings has decreased immensely and I have to say it's due to the content. For example, I've always preferred "outside" reading assignments versus a required text. I could choose something that's more suited to my reading interests and be more apt to finish the reading with a good level of comprehension, rather than read a novel chosen for me that may not relate whatsoever to my liking. And because of that, I don't do so well in apprehension tests that follow. This brings up the topic of literate ability. Due to the fact I can’t ascend my interest in in-class readings and therefore don’t score well on the later test, I may be seen as illiterate, when in reality, I just lack the passion for the subject matter. This then leads me to the question of what literate ability even is. Szwed points out that some educators may see spelling ability as a primary factor while others see reading choices as a contributor. In my head, it’s the standardized testing that really questions our ability. I agree that there is not a single level of literacy, but “configurations” or a “plurality of literacies”. In compliance with Szwed, I believe that there is so much reading matter that is not included under the category of literature: signs, mail, song lyrics, all of which are dealt with daily. This reading really opened my eyes to what literacy really is compared to what our society plays it out to be.