This chapter focuses on “Literacy and Mind.” Linquist and Seitz present various viewpoints on the “effects” of literacy. The chapter opens with a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus, and then goes on to show other stances individuals and society as a whole have taken on the issue of literacy. I will describe these positions below:


Socrates: Not Good for the Memory…

Socrates and his student, Phaedrus, discuss that poor memory skills would be repercussion of relying on written language. Socrates expresses his concern that written language will “create forgetfulness,” and people will no longer depend on their memories. Socrates preferred the oral means of communication, as opposed to written. Phaedrus suggest that the “living word” (oral) possess knowledge and has a soul, and the “written word” is merely an “image.” According to Socrates, the effects would be dangerous; written words would never be able to match with the liveliness of oral communication.


Movies: Literacy Changes the Person…

The characters in the movies Stanley and Iris and Born Yesterday receive “literacy makeovers.” Literacy transforms these characters from dirty to clean, social outcast to fully functional citizen, incompetent to competent, and irresponsibility to responsibility. Literacy alone is responsible for these dramatic makeovers. Literacy enables a person to participate in society - a civilized society. Illiterate individuals live in the boundaries of society, and are misfits. The inward intellectual change surfaces to the outer appearance, and people, therefore, become productive citizens.


Increased Intelligence: Cunningham, Stanovich, and The Great Divide…

Anne Cunningham and Keith Stanovich co-wrote, “Reading Can Make You Smarter,” in which the two explain cognitive consequences of literacy. By relying on research from historians, philosophers, and anthropologists, Cunningham and Stanovich assert that literate societies have progressed faster and more efficiently than illiterate societies. Literate individuals possess rationality and critical thinking skills; hence, a Great Divide emerges from primitive to civilized societies. Supporters of the Great Divide believe that literate societies are more humane and civilized than illiterate societies. Walter J. Ong believes that literacy has, “transformed human consciousness.” This particular outlook fuels ambition to spread literacy. It now becomes “a moral issue.” Ong also debunks Socrates outlook on written language. He asserts that written language actually aids in the memory process. The mind is limited, and therefore written language is imperative in the preservation of memories. Also, Ong expresses there is too much dependency on someone else’s story telling in societies that possess only orality. Ong believes this might interfere with ones judgment, and the opportunity to think on his or her own.



Vai People: Literacy Research in Africa…

There are scholars who feel The Great Divide is, “ethnocentric and elitist.” To say that illiterate societies are less human and uncivilized is a rash judgment. Illiterate societies have been associated with disease and immorality; these accusations are unfair. Sylvia Scribner and Michael Cole travel to Liberian Vai to observe how literacy is learned in this culture. The Vai use an indigenous Vai syllabary that is past down through the generations, Arabic literacy for religious education, and English for government purposes. A third of the Vai population is literate in one of these three ways. Scribner and Cole conclude through observation that The Great Divide “was incorrect, or at least too ambitious in its claims.” They conclude that written language did not promote “logic,” but rather “Western” schooling that aided in the process of logical thought.


What I think….

Nation by Terry Pratchett came to my mind while reading this chapter. A young girl is stranded on an island with a boy who would be considered a savage by her country’s standards. However, she notices how gentle and humane this boy is while burying his people. She also remembers how cruel her uncle was while killing animals for fun, and laughing in the process. Her uncle was literate, and the boy was illiterate.

Literacy is powerful, but is not an indicator of how moral and civilized someone is. Also, the focus on outer appearance is not something that magically happens after a person becomes literate. I find this outlook disturbing.

Another thing that disturbs me is the NCLB, which is actually leaving children behind. The Great Divide and the NCLB are very similar. The NCLB, which is discussed in Chapter 1, is keeping The Great Divide intact by punishing lower performing schools, and rewarding higher performing schools. The lower performing school ought to be receiving more government funding. This is very disturbing, and an apartheid education is emerging from this.