Post 9

In Shirley Bryce Heath’s article, “Protean Shapes in Literacy Events” she defines a literacy event as “a conceptual tool useful in examining within particular communities of modern society the actual forms and functions of oral and literate traditions and co-existing relationships between spoken and written language” (371). Literacy events want to find a hierarchy between written and spoken language. When you’re filling out an application but someone is giving you directions. Do you listen to the directions or fill out the form as directed on the application? Some literacy events Heath identifies in Trackton are the children reading Sunday school caption, underneath a biblical scene. They knew how to decipher between brand names and prices as well as cars models, motorcycles and bikes. 

Sherman Alexie taught himself to read at a very young age and learned to read by a Superman comic book. He is an indian and back then there was not much promise for an indian child. He was looked at as stupid. However, Alexie was not stupid, he became more advanced than his peers and was going to prove he was smart. Sherman learned how to read by using literacy events. He took the comic book and read it over and over until he was able to read. He took it upon himself to make it a priority. He uses the phrase “I throw my weight against their locked doors. The doors holds. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives” (Alexie 14). This is significant because that is what Superman was doing in the comic book he was reading. He was breaking down doors. He’s showing that he will do his best to make sure indian children have the same chance as every other student.