Argument Summary
Kaylee Bond
WRTG 1010-006
Glenn Newman
Argument Summary 2
Taking a Blue Book Exam is a Social Practice According to Literacy Practices by David Barton and Mary Hamilton, literacy is a social practice. To explain this, Barton and Hamilton point out literacy is how people discuss and interpret written text. Literacy practices are described to us by Barton and Hamilton as “in the simplest sense literacy practices are what people do with literacy” (8). Literacy practices eventually lead to literacy events which are defined as “observable episodes which arise from practices and are shaped by them. The notion of events stresses the situated nature of literacy and that it always exists in a social context” (8). Text is crucial in molding our institutions into what they are and literacy is deeply rooted in our everyday lives in unexpected ways. In their essay, Barton and Hamilton present to us six propositions to further prove the nature of literacy as a social practice. Next, I will share a literacy event that adheres to two of those propositions. My first semester of college had started and I was feeling confident and determined to do well. Although I was fresh out of high school, I didn’t doubt my abilities. In all honesty, I underestimated the difficulty of college due to the college courses and advanced placement courses I’d taken throughout my high school career. It was a simple and short-lived time. Then, I was introduced with a bluebook test. You see, multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, and true or false worked just fine for me. But when my history professor told us to buy a bluebook, I had no idea what to expect. When I went hunting for this said bluebook, most people didn’t even know what it was! I went to Walmart, office supply stores, book stores, and no one knew what I was talking about. Finally, I found one in the campus store and when I opened it, blank pages stared back at me. Even though we went over what was to be expected on the
WRTG 1010-006
Glenn Newman
Argument Summary 2
Taking a Blue Book Exam is a Social Practice According to Literacy Practices by David Barton and Mary Hamilton, literacy is a social practice. To explain this, Barton and Hamilton point out literacy is how people discuss and interpret written text. Literacy practices are described to us by Barton and Hamilton as “in the simplest sense literacy practices are what people do with literacy” (8). Literacy practices eventually lead to literacy events which are defined as “observable episodes which arise from practices and are shaped by them. The notion of events stresses the situated nature of literacy and that it always exists in a social context” (8). Text is crucial in molding our institutions into what they are and literacy is deeply rooted in our everyday lives in unexpected ways. In their essay, Barton and Hamilton present to us six propositions to further prove the nature of literacy as a social practice. Next, I will share a literacy event that adheres to two of those propositions. My first semester of college had started and I was feeling confident and determined to do well. Although I was fresh out of high school, I didn’t doubt my abilities. In all honesty, I underestimated the difficulty of college due to the college courses and advanced placement courses I’d taken throughout my high school career. It was a simple and short-lived time. Then, I was introduced with a bluebook test. You see, multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching, and true or false worked just fine for me. But when my history professor told us to buy a bluebook, I had no idea what to expect. When I went hunting for this said bluebook, most people didn’t even know what it was! I went to Walmart, office supply stores, book stores, and no one knew what I was talking about. Finally, I found one in the campus store and when I opened it, blank pages stared back at me. Even though we went over what was to be expected on the