Literacy in its formal form has been described as the ability to read for knowledge and write coherently and think critically about the written word. In “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass, literacy became his salvation. His literacy became his reason to learn more, to learn how to write, etc. and the reason for his quest for knowledge. However as time has gone on literacy has changed and evolved with the introduction of technology as Lee Siegel stated in his essay “The World is All That Is the Case”. Like Siegel said:
“I go to starbucks, sit down, open my laptop, and turn it on. In the old days-ten years ago-I would be sitting with a pen and notebook, partly concentrating on my writing and partly aware of the people in the room around me. Back in that prehistoric time my attention faced outward.” (Siegel 274)
Unlike Douglass who wanted to become literate in an attempt to become a man in the prejudiced, social caste society that he was in, nowadays we all take being literate for granted due to the fact in America we have all forms of learning about literacy at our fingertips (even homeless people can go into a library and use a computer there to practice for the short amount of time that the librarians allow) and now literacy isn’t paper and pen, it is now can be considered digital literacy and we learn how to read and write through the internet. We forget that years ago being literate was not privy to everyone and for many people the materials needed for learning to be literate was also not privy to everyone.
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