Summary for literacy in three metaphors

Literacy, an ambiguous concept has gain concern on the national stage for its unrestricted boundaries. These concerns come to light in Sylvia Scribner essay Literacy in Three Metaphors as she inform her audience on the basic concept of literacy. ‘What is literacy?’ was her core focus as she discuss the different definitions of literacy from literacy being a social achievement to literacy being an outcome of cultural transmission. The differing points of views about the meaning of literacy warrant Scribner to write her essay Literacy in Three Metaphors. She organized her essay around three metaphors: literacy as adaption, literacy as power, and literacy as a state of grace. Her take on literacy isn’t to support any of the metaphors but to show the boundary problems of all. Her metaphors give us only a partial take on the many utilities of literacy and achievement of individual literacy. Literacy as Adaptation, is a metaphor that is design to capture concepts of literacy that emphasize its survival. The term rose during World War 1 as it specified the literacy skills required to meet the tasks of modern soldiering. Nowadays, it is defined as a level of expertise necessary for settings and customary activities. Literacy as adaption are the necessity of literary skills in daily life that must be taught such as reading or producing written symbols. While literacy as adaption stress the importance of literacy for certain induvial and performing mundane, daily activities, the literacy as power metaphor focuses on the relationship between literacy and group, society advancement. The relationship between social change and literacy education has changed the concept of literacy as discuss in Scribner essay Literacy in Three Metaphors. She discuss that changing social conditions leads to increase of literacy as seen in USSR, China. While this isn’t apparent within our present day social structure, Scribner ask for productive by having community leaders having deep involvement in present day literacy on society. While literacy as adaption focused on the individual and literacy as power focus on the group, literacy as a state of grace focus on salvation and religious literacy aspects. Remembering religious writing and making them a part of yourself is a process of becoming both literate and holy. Sylvia Scribner discusses three metaphors to show the different uses of the word literacy and to deal with the boundaries problems in her essay Literacy in Three Metaphors.