Literacy article

James Paul Gee starts defining literacy by bringing up the term discourse. His definition includes the way we use language as well as how we think and act. We do this to identify ourselves as members of social groups or social networks. Discourse he explains is an “identity course” it instructs us on how to act and speak to achieve the role we want others to notice. He goes on to explain the points of discourse but how none of the things are popular to Americans but more towards the Europeans. After, he describes the differences between acquisition and learning. He describes acquisition as a process of trial and error without proper teachings. Learning is conscious knowledge through teaching. Teaching doesn’t have to be by a designated teacher but it could even be by yourself. Then he defines literacy. He says you gain that by mastering discourse as well as intiment and nonintement relationships, which means sharing knowledge with someone that is similar to you.

Through this I don’t think my understanding about literacy is changed. I think he had some good points about everything and it was different from what I thought but I he made it more complicated than what I think literacy is. This might affect my understanding of my own story by focusing less on the elementary things and more of things that are more complex and less concrete. Doing this might make my story different and hopefully better.