Original

It is debated if certain characters in literacy narratives are literacy sponsors or extras. To understand this one must understand what a sponsor is. In Deborah Brandt’s paper, Sponsors of Literacy, she defines a sponsor as, “any agents local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, suppress, or withhold literacy and gain advantage by it in some way” (556). In Brandt’s paper she is saying that a sponsor is anyone who influences how a learner learns within literacy and gains something from this act. Someone who helps the learner become more capable in literacy, and gains from helping. I think this definition is cloudy and hard to use as an investigator because the definition is very opinion based. The definition sets itself up so that one can interpret a character as a sponsor, while another may see the same character as not a sponsor. This is challenging but I feel it should and can be addressed. Why this matter so much is that in Bronwyn Williams’ article, Heros, Rebels, and Victims; Student Identities in Literacy Narratives, she states that when annotating and analyzing a literacy narrative, it is a good to identify these sponsors. Identifying them will help one better understand the narrative. Williams says one should, “characterize the people in their narratives… , who is the hero, the villain, most powerful person, and the least powerful person” (344). Understanding and being able to characterize the literacy sponsors in a literacy narrative helps someone better understand the narrative. Both authors show that literacy sponsors are important. Identifying them can further help one understand what the narrative is about. But this can’t be done if one doesn’t know what a sponsor is.

When investigating what is a sponsor, it is important to be able to distinguish in certain narratives if a character is a sponsor or not. In the case of a character that provides learner tools, are they automatically a sponsor? In Brandt’s article, she addresses literacy resources and what they mean to sponsors. “[Sponsors] lend there resources or credibility to the sponsored but also stand to gain benefits” (Brandt 557). Brandt is saying that sponsors qualify if they lend the learner resources. Resources that help the learner obtain literacy. In the literacy narrative, The North Wayne Library by. Dustin Tripp, the author mentions his grandmother. She owned a library that he, in his youth, visited a lot to read books in, that made him love reading. He said that, “I’d read the books I found in my grandmother’s library… , [and to be] able to pick out any book at my own leisure was not only comforting but made me continue to pick out more and more books” (1). Even though the authors grandmother did own a the library where he read a the books that influenced him, she is not a literacy sponsor. She did provide resources, but she did so indirectly to the narrative and had no personal benefits gained.

 

Edited 

It is debated if certain characters in literacy narratives are literacy sponsors or extras. In Literacy Narratives, you come across many characters and determining how important these characters are is an important task. Especially when identifying a sponsor. To understand this one must understand what a sponsor is. In Deborah Brandt’s paper, Sponsors of Literacy, she defines a sponsor as, “any agents local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, suppress, or withhold literacy and gain advantage by it in some way” (556). In Brandt’s paper she is saying that a sponsor is anyone who influences a learners outlook on literacy and gains something from this act. Someone who helps the learner become more capable in literacy, and gains from helping. I think this definition is cloudy and hard to use as an investigator because the definition is very opinion based. The definition sets itself up so that one can interpret a character as a sponsor, while another may see the same character as not a sponsor. This is challenging but I feel it should and can be addressed. What makes this a challenging task is that in Bronwyn Williams’ article, Heros, Rebels, and Victims; Student Identities in Literacy Narratives, she states that when annotating and analyzing a literacy narrative, it is a good to identify these sponsors. Identifying them will help one better understand the narrative. Williams says one should, “characterize the people in their narratives… , who is the hero, the villain, most powerful person, and the least powerful person” (344). Understanding and being able to characterize the literacy sponsors in a literacy narrative helps someone better understand the narrative. Both authors show that literacy sponsors are important. Identifying them can further help one understand what the narrative is about. But this can’t be done if one doesn’t know what a sponsor is.

 

It’s one thing to know the definition of a sponsor, it’s another to properly apply that definition. This is especially true when it comes to edge-sponsors, characters who are in ways both sponsors and extras making them hard to distinguish. In the case of a character that provides learner tools, the question arises if they automatically a sponsor. In Brandt’s article, she addresses literacy resources and what they mean to sponsors. “[Sponsors] lend there resources or credibility to the sponsored but also stand to gain benefits” (Brandt 557). Brandt is saying that sponsors qualify if they lend the learner resources that empower them to learn literacy. This definition does become murky however because how valuable those learner resources are is a spectrum. Depending how valuable they are determines how important the sponsor is. Brandt’s definition doesn’t take this into account, causing confusion. In the literacy narrative, “The North Wayne Library” by. Dustin Tripp, the author mentions his grandmother. She owned a library that he, in his youth, visited a lot to read books in that made him love reading. He said that, “I’d read the books I found in my grandmother’s library… , [and to be] able to pick out any book at my own leisure was not only comforting but made me continue to pick out more and more books” (1). Even though the authors grandmother did own a the library where he read a the books that influenced him, I believe she is not a literacy sponsor. She did provide resources, but she did so indirectly to the narrative and had no personal benefits gained. This is why the definition of a sponsor has flaws. A discussion like this only makes what is a sponsor cloudy and unclear to the reader. A stronger, clearer definition is needed.

 

Paragraph 1

Claim: One cannot determine if a character is a sponsor if one doesn’t know the definition of a sponsor.

• I am affirming the idea of what is a sponsor and defining a sponsor.

 

I feel that this paragraph is a lot stronger after revising. I would say that the only point I’m lacking is more analysis of the in text annotations. I’m going to look into adding more in my final draft.

 

Paragraph 2

Claim: Defining edge-sponsors is difficult especially when it comes to learner tools. There is a need for a stronger definition of what is a sponsor.

• I am challenging that the definition of what is a sponsor is unclear.

 

I feel that this paragraph is a lot stronger after revising. Of all of my paragraphs I like this one the best. I think I have a lot of strong evidence. I may look to elaborate more in my final.

 

Paragraph 3

Claim: There is a need for a stronger definition of a sponsor based on the example I have where if a character is a sponsor is unclear.

 

• I am challenging that the definition of what is a sponsor is unclear.

I haven’t worked on this paragraph yet but I feel that I should introduce my definition of a sponsor here with the reasons why I chose the word choice. I think I will add a paragraph with the definition and explanation then add this paragraph where I use that definition.

 

Conclusion:

When it comes to sponsors and what is a sponsor, I think through my investigation of different sponsors has helped me generate a new definition. I believe that my proposal that sponsors are any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach,  model as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy-who not only gain advantage by their actions, but without their influence would either change the narratives outcome or the authors identities in the narrative is a stronger definition. This new definition, I think, better explains what a sponsor truly is and why they are so important to literacy narratives. I think with this new definition, the analysis and finding of literacy sponsors will be easier in the future.

 

• I am adding to my main idea of making a new definition of a sponsor.

 

I think my paper is lacking an explanation of why I defined sponsor the way I did. I think I will add a paragraph that explains my process and format my last paragraph so that I’m using my new definition and showcasing why it is a stronger definition.