Quote:
Donny’s failure to learn was not considered worthy of attention, and Jenny’s inability to get herself heard was intimately related to this fact. Jenny wasn’t taken seriously as a rightfully concerned mother because it is a deeply held belief, or stereotype, of the middle class that poor urban Appalachians are unfit as parents.” (p.11)
Quote Response:
I chose this quote because it saddens me to think that so many children in schools today (and especially in our region of Appalachia) get stereotyped just because of the area in which they were born. I feel that if ANY student is failing to learn (especially poor children), it is an issue which is worthy of the teacher’s attention. Furthermore, if a parent ever expresses concern, the teacher should consider the parents’ concerns and do something about them! Regardless of Jenny’s background, Donny was still her child, so her concern should have been taken seriously. Lastly, the notion that middle class poor Appalachians are unfit parents is just ludicrous! It sounds to me like Donny’s teachers were the ones unfit of doing their jobs!

Question Responses:
1.What is literacy knowledge? Give examples of both print and non print literacy knowledge.
According to Purcell-Gates, in As Soon as She Opened Her Mouth, literacy knowledge is defined as “the concepts children acquire during their preschool years, during the years preceding the beginning of formal literacy instruction, in kindergarten and first grade, in reading, writing, and printed language.”
One example of print literacy knowledge that was referred to in the text was when the little boy scribbled on paper and wanted to know what he had written. Although he had just scribbled something down, he had the print literacy knowledge to recognize that words are created by putting a pen to paper.
An example of non print literacy is the little girl in the text who asked her mother to read and reached up to move her mother’s lips in order to make her read. She realized that when someone was reading some form of literature, his/her lips should move.
2.How do stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction?
I’ve seen first-hand what tends to happen to poor students who struggle to read. This hits close to home for me because I had a family member who was passed along throughout his entire school years without ever learning to read or write sufficiently. I feel like his teachers stereotyped him as a poor boy with neglectful and unintelligent parents who would never amount to anything. Due to this stereotyping and no teacher ever making an extra effort to help him, he was almost completely illiterate. Maybe if he wouldn’t have been stereotyped, he would have learned to read and been successful in school and life. (He ended up being killed in a car accident at 33 years old.)
3.How do schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in school?
When teachers stereotype students and assume that a student cannot/will not/is incapable of learning, then the teacher is contributing to poor literacy instruction in the school. Furthermore, when a teacher ignores the requests of parents who are trying to get help for their students (like Donny’s mother), then they are only continuing to increase the literacy problem.
4.What is the relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunity?
The text explains how people of power feel that those who are low class “cannot learn as well as those in power – the middle/upper classes. It is believed that they “just don’t have it” as far as intelligence and/or the will to learn, to achieve, to move out of their impoverished conditions (p. 12).” Therefore, the relationship between language, social class, and the denial of educational opportunity is that if someone is low class, he will have poor language and will not have the educational opportunities of people from upper classes because generally teachers don’t put forth as much effort with these students.
5.What are some misconceptions about the relationship between language and literacy?
The biggest misconception about language and literacy is that if someone has a certain dialect (or speaks differently) than those in power that that person is not as intelligent and/or has literacy trouble.
6.What can schools and teachers do to improve literacy instruction?
First, to improve literacy instruction, teachers must NOT stereotype students. Rather, teachers must believe that all students can learn. Secondly, teachers should accept the languages that their students speak (and gradually try to teach them to use correct grammar, etc., but not tell them that their accents are wrong).
7.How do you feel about use of the term "Proper English"?
America is an incredibly diverse country and the English language is an incredibly complex language. Thus, I feel that it is wrong and unrealistic to get everyone to speak “proper English.” It’s important to hold true to your roots and where you came from and if that means that you speak with a particular dialect or accent, then speak it proudly regardless of what some people think is “proper”!




Tall Tales of Appalachia
Quote:
''They are remarkably good shots and effective assassins,'' adding that they ''are so accustomed to murder that they do not look upon it with the horror with which it is regarded in civilized communities.''

What?!? I chose this quote because the latter part of it is so far from the truth that it’s almost funny! I know many West Virginians who are proud of the fact that they are remarkably good shots and effective at assassinating anything which will be cooked for dinner, but if you ask any of those remarkable marksmen if they’ve ever had a human being on the receiving end of their rifle, they’d reply with a resounding “NO!” The idea that we’re murderers and think that murder isn’t horrendous is absurd! My experience with people from West Virginia (and I’ve lived here my whole life, so I would know) is that they are friendly, loving people who would not only give you the shirts off their backs, but also clean out their closets to give you as many shirts as you need!

I chose this image because I feel that it appropriately shows how West Virginians are caring and loving rather than animal-like! It shows how we can come together when tragedy strikes.


Sources
Alex Johnston. (n.d.). The epoch times. [0]. Retrieved from http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/mine-official-charged-in-2010-disaster-194660.html

O'Brien John. (2003, May 10). Tall tales of appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm

Purcell-Gates. (n.d.). Google docs. [0]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6DFAmexYq7vMGQxMjI1OTEtMjAyZS00NzJmLTg1OTUtODlmMGQ0ZDIxOTVk/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1