Sponsors of Literacy By Deborah Brandt

Deborah in her article makes it clear that there are many aspects of society that affect
how and what we read. She refers to this as sponsors. Sponsors can be people, ideas, or
institutions that help us become literate. Some institutions unintentionally become sponsors.
Sponsors are important because there is a statistical correlation between high literacy
achievements and high socioeconomic status. People then started to use tools they were learning
through their individual sponsors, such as employers, in everyday life. Many people use literacy
and these sponsors to their advantage, bettering themselves and those around them.
The passage about sponsorship in her article on page 47 this affects me as a reader,
because it helps me understand what sponsorship actually is and how we use it in writing. She
also gives different examples of sponsors like older relatives, teachers, priests, supervisors,
military officers, influential authors, etc. I really liked how the author illustrated how everyone
can be affected, by different sponsors. I also liked how the article makes it clear that even when
and where you were born, and your social class can determine the way you learn about literacy.
The only thing that I disagreed with was that she failed to keep the readers engaged she used to
much history, she should've focused more on the people's stories rather than their historys. If the
author talked about the stories of the people then the audience would be more engaged. The
concept of sponsors helps to explain, then, a range of human relationships that and ideological
pressures that turn up at the scene of literacy learning. ( Brandt, 335). My thoughts on this
quote are that the sponsors help the students write and read, the more the students engage with
the sponsors the better writers they will be and the students will be influenced by the sponsors.
 How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Anzaldua, Gloria

Gloria in her article exposes her feelings about social and cultural difficulties that
mexican immigrants faced when being raised in the United States. She makes a comparison
between English and Spanish immigrants , and their variations and how cultural imperialism
influence on peoples preference, to speak one language rather than the other. She then has a
debate about social problems such as sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low self-esteem,
reprimand, and identity construction. In addition, the author expresses her feelings of outrage,
exposing how Chicanos are belittled by latinos. To conclude the author points out that Chicanos
are basically orphans and how it seriously affects their self-esteem.
The passage about Linguistic Terrorism in her article on page 58 talks about Linguistic
Terrorism which is making fun of a culture's language. This affects me as a reader, because it
helps me understand more about what Linguistic Terrorism is. If you really want to hurt me,
talk bad about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic Identity. (Anzaldua, 59).
My thoughts on this quote are if you want to hurt someone talk bad about their language which is
an insult to their Ethnic identity. She uses examples of Chicanas who grew up speaking Spanish
who have internalized the belief that we speak poor Spanish. The author made an attempt to
persuade me to accept the fact that some people might speak differently, and that American
Citizens have to change their mindset towards diversity. Furthermore I liked how this article
helped me understand the identity of other people. It helped me become more aware of the issues
that not only surround Chicanos, but people as a whole who are multicultural.