Draft Midterm2 Question

This is the focus for your Midterm.   Going back to our summary of the main ideas for each theorist will help you identify the different groups.  We will talk over the question in class and I will answer questions.  We will also talk about expectations about how to write the essay.

Theories we have read so far could be classified (more or less) as presenting literacies from 3 slightly different perspectives.  These perspectives include

1. a focus on literacy as primarily connected to writing itself; 
2. a focus on how literacies are used (and the consequences of that use); 
3. and a focus on the unequal power relationships resulting from the fact that literacies are associated identities and ideologies - and that not all identities and ideologies are equal. 

Write an essay where you discuss how one theorist from each perspective represents:  

• learning to write,
• interpreting texts, 
• and communicating with others.  

Your discussion of communicating with others should take into account how literacies both do and do not allow us to communicate across different discourses.  Use specific references to specific theorists to back up your claims about what each perspective suggests about how literacy works. 

Due by Friday, Nov 11 by midnight.