Wisley Leandre

Ms. Jimisha Relerford

English 104
20 September 2015
Journal Week 3
Edward P. Jones (TW)
In this Interview, Edward P. Jones discussed his beginnings as a reader and
writer, as well as how writing and reading has helped him throughout his life. In
this interview, Edward P. Jones implies that literacy is the ability to read and write.
He doesnt particularly describe what a literate person looks like, but we could tell
how literate of illiterate someone is from their writing or how they read. Being that
Jones implies that literacy is reading and writing and that his mother was unable to
read, we could infer that illiterate person is someone who cant read. As a youth,
Jones enjoyed literal works that had illustration because the pictures helped him
visualize the story, but as he began reading more complex books, the authors of
those books could illustrate those visualizations though just their words and Jones
valued that. Jones believes that literacy, reading and writing, are the foundations to
becoming a better person and living a better life.
David Levering Lewis (TW)
In this interview, Lewis discusses the intellectual environment his parents
created for him and his upbringings with literacy. Just like in Edward P. Jones
interview, the meaning of literacy is implied as the ability to read and write and
being illiterate was the inability to read and write. As a youth Lewis wasnt able to
read, but with his mothers help he learned how to. Lewis enjoyed reading and
writing history. Lewis states that writing and reading history has helped him gain a
wider perspective of things. He also states that reading books on history as well as
writing promotes independent thinking, betterment of the mind, and traveling any
where at any age.

Journal Week 4

Jacqueline Roysters When the First Voice You Hear is Not Your Own
In this essay, Royster describes literacy as a form of discourse. She discusses
how this form of literacy needs to be transformed. She discusses that discourse
needs to be enhanced and improved in order for your voice to be heard and also
using this to cross boundaries with others. She calls on the need for people to raise a
political voice with social responsibility to make a right place for education in the
country.
John Hope Franklin (TW)
In this interview, Franklin states that literacy is the ability to read and write well.
Reading gave him a sense of life beyond the world that he lived in. He also states that
without reading there cant be independent thinking. Reading brings forth scholars and
scholars and these scholars provide society with the intellectual tools to function properly
and successfully.