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Chelsea Sather
Nancy Roche
Writing 1010-018
23 September 2014
Classy Literacy
In modern society many parents are willing to do just about anything that it takes to get
their children into the higher division classes, this raises the question of; Why? The answer is
quite simple; it lies within the criteria in which every college applicant is judged upon. The
higher-level classes you take the better your application looks with a higher standing in the
school system that all of your competition is coming from. As argued within the article The
literacy myth and the history of literacy by James Gee it is shown that literacy on its own is a
very complex term, many have very differing views on what role literacy places in our lives. The
questioning factor of honors classes is if they really make an impact on the students progress
within literacy. The literacy myth is a method of classism, the idea that literacy on its own
brings certain social gains and powers.
The history of literacy shows that for the most part education is not the foundation to a
person growing but rather the foundation to acquiring the skills to become a good citizen. Gee
states that There is ample evidence that, in cotemporary U.S. schools, tracking systems, which
are pervasive, have the effect of distributing different skills and different values to different
kinds of people. (Gee 56). This affirms that the world we live in today is shaping our school
system and how our citizens are being taught based on the family and class that they are born in
to. Oakes study goes on to prove that a students race, class, or family-based access to
knowledge about college and career routes have more to do with where the student ends up

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rather than the student intellectual value. Therefore, Gee ultimately proves through his sources
that there is a bias within modern society and social inequality in schools.
Gee uses Platos belief that you cannot simply just read something, that you have to be
able to interpret it correctly also, believing that only a select group should be able to access the
text as shown when Plato states people should be given differential access to higher places in
society based on their inborn characteristics and various tests (Plato quoted in Gee 51). This
illustrates the belief that only those of a higher class should be trusted to correctly interpret
works of literature, giving those born into a lower class no opportunity to grow as an individual
with literacy competence. Gee then goes on to say that if the responses to articles are dictated
than none of them count, however if it has no restrictions of who interprets it then all
interpretations count therefore stating that with a bias view of the material it is not a credible
view. This reminded me of back in history when the editors and the government would restrict
what would be published within the newspaper so that the citizen would agree with their side of
the issue at hand, if only a select view is shown then the source is not credible.
Sweden was the first country in the West to have universal literacy, including equality in
literacy for both men and women; which was unheard of in most of the world. Although at the
time Sweden was a victim of widespread poverty not having the luxury of schooling therefore
the Swedish were taught through the promotion of Christian faith and life. Gee uses this source
to commentate on the bias view in which the Swedish are being taught literacy, Gee affirms his
stance by saying Platos dilemma haunts us. The people are given the text for themselves, but
then something must ensure they see it right- not in reality through their own eyes, but rather
from the perspective of an authoritative institution that delimits correct interpretations. (Gee
54). This passage demonstrates how the powerful religion in Sweden shapes the way that the

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Swedish are being taught literacy in order to shape their citizens into the proper class system for
their country.

Gee states, Nothing follows from literacy and schooling. Much follows, however, from
what comes with literacy and schooling, what literacy and schooling come wrapped up in,
namely the attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs (at once social, cultural, and political) (Gee 61).
Illustrating that it is not literacy it self or schooling that creates classism but the discourse that
comes with it. Gee firmly uses the sources stated above to demonstrate his view of literacy. I feel
as though Gees view of literacy is completely relevant within society today because a huge
problem that many students face within the education system is how unfair they feel standardized
testing is which is an exact representation of Gees view.

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Works Cited
Gee, James. The literacy myth and the history of literacy. Social Lingustics and Literacy. 2008
ed. New York: Falmer Press, 1991. 47-62. Print.