Preview

The Effects of Illiteracy

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
679 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Effects of Illiteracy
The Effects of Illiteracy
Literacy is defined as the ability when reading, writing and working with basic numbers. On the other hand, illiteracy is fundamentally not being able to read or to comprehend written communication; in fact, illiterates cannot understand some opinions from other persons. People who are illiterate feel pressure from society and they start to feel emotions such as anxious and depressant because they cannot read or understand simple things, for example: read a newspaper, the inability to follow written instructions, read signs on the road, and so on. There are two effects of illiteracy: illiteracy creates an obstacle to their development as well as a function on society and toward their self esteem.

Illiteracy has become an impediment for those people who want to improve in their lives, which include a social development or I could say “social function”. According to the Deputy Minister of Education of Lesotho, Mrs. Malijane Maqelepo says that illiteracy is an obstacle that prevents people from participating in their country’s growth. (Lena) But as we know, the growth of a country comes from the people who contribute with it and, of course, these people are not illiterates they had an adequate education when they were kids. Illiterates are concerned about this because it formed a basis for their general knowledge, and the consequence of not having a good education is that they cannot apply for a job that involves either read or write or both of them, normally both. Likewise, an illiterate wants to attribute to his country its development. Countries with a high illiteracy rate are more likely to be disadvantaged. If a populace is not literate, it cannot be involved in high tech jobs. New careers such the sciences, mathematics, and technology are primarily established in countries that have literate populations. Therefore, illiteracy does not encourage positive social change, personal growth, or the preservation and development of language

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society by Jonathan Kozol, is an article which illustrates the reality for millions of Americans, and the impact illiteracy has on the overall population and that individual and their family. Kozol draws emotional and personal stories which impact the reader as well as allude that the lack of literacy is in direct correlation with Democracy and how illiterate people will vote, if they even do at all.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pt1420 Unit 1 Study Guide

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages

    4. Emphasizes the importance of education and training as critical factors in empowering those living in poverty, and hence, calls for action at all levels to give high priority to improving and increasing literacy in poverty-stricken countries, through methods such as, but not limited…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As I type this essay I am using one form of communication available to those of us who are literate. Sadly not all of us have the ability to do what most if not all of us who are lucky to be literate, take for granted. One such article, "The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society?" elaborates on the issue of illiteracy, which is utterly apparent in America. This essay is written using exemplification to show that knowledge is indeed power and those who are illiterate are almost powerless in today's society.…

    • 719 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jonathan Kozol’s essay on The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society (1985) claims that based on the beliefs of Socrates and James Madison, illiteracy is a moral dilemma. Kozol supports this claim by speculating what a number of tragic outcomes could be as a result of illiteracy. His purpose is to show how a person’s daily life is affected negatively by being illiterate in order to prove that illiteracy in a broad sense is a moral dilemma. Kozol’s intended audience in writing this essay would be the public.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    They said about literacy that literacy is one of the engines to get money or profit, and to compete advantages. In addition, people’s literacy skills have less growing in their economy values because of changing in the literacy standers with every new generation of learners.…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literacy Literacy, as we all know is the ability that we have to read and write that includes the capacity that we have to use and learn a language as well as any other things like understanding how to communicate. It is also the most important structure that our parents teach us, without it we would not be able to communicate with each other, we would not be able to learn new skills, such as learning how to use a computer, how to use internet, how to speak properly, without it the world would not be what it is right now, without it we would not be able to achieve our goals. Literacy can be found in newspaper, in books, in articles, in the internet, in the way we socialize with each other, it can be found almost everywhere because is something…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A few weeks ago, I was walking downtown, when this random came up to me and said “You in school? That’s good, that’s good. Education is important.” From the state of her hair and clothes, and the smell of her breath, I assumed she was homeless. I didn’t really pay much attention to her, because homeless people are so common in downtown Atlanta. I was just hoping that she wasn’t going to ask me for any money! After a while, I started thinking about what the homeless woman had said; “Education is important.” Growing up, I had always been taught that people who lived in the streets had been afforded the same opportunities as I had, but they had simply chosen to ignore them. So, if this woman had basically thrown away her life, why was she here preaching to me that education was important? How far had she gotten with her education? Was she like my great-grandmother, and lacked the skills to read and write? Literacy isn’t something that I spend a lot of time thinking about, mainly because all of the people that I surround myself and the people they surround themselves with are all capable of reading at proficient levels. Of course, I was always aware that some people had disabilities that made it harder to read, like dyslexia, but it never occurred to me that some of them allowed for the hindrance to completely turn them off to reading. Is it possible that I have been taking my literacy skills for granted? In this paper, I plan to explore literacy in America, and how it compares to the value other nations put on literacy and even our own country before public schools were instituted.…

    • 1795 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Human cost of an illiterate society,” Jonathan Kozol attempts to convince his reader that illiteracy is extremely harmful to a society, and that it is the ultimate destruction of a human being’s life. He explains with great detail how being ignorant (unknown) at something so universal like being able to read the directions on a medicine label, can lead to a lifetime of hardship and long term agony. Kozol develops his reasoning by contributing meaningful but real world examples on how being illiterate is dangerous and fatal. For example He uses not being able to explain where you are if something fatal was to happen, and not being able to understand the dangers of a cigarettes label with a surgeons warning on it. After giving a plenty load of examples, he then brings the discussion back to his central argument on how being illiterate can be costly. When a person does not understand what they have wrongfully done it can be difficult to prosecute or judge that person. If he is not able to read then that person might not be aware that giving a child too much aspirin could result in overdose which can ultimately lead to death. The question that still remains is should that person be held accountable. According to today’s society the answer is still unknown but to protect the people of this society from that illiterate person, the answer is yes that person must be limited. What this ultimately means is that, he must be kept from society so that he won’t cause harm for his on ignorant habits. He will have to be watched, fed, and kept in an environment where he will always be stable. This top of living can cost a lot of money and this is the financial burden that cost a society so much money. In a way this is unfair…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This article, Literacy and the Politics of Education written by C.H Knoblauch was written to express his feelings on how America is becoming illiterate ever since a new era of technology was introduced in 1960. Knoblauch believes that the few who are literate will succeed in life, and that the rest of general society who are illiterate will have trouble finding success in their future endeavors. He has taken on this subject because of his frustration on his fellow peers, and their lack of motivation to excel in literacy. He uses repetition to stress the fact that we need to become more literate to succeed in today’s society. Knoblauch uses articles from various writings of other literate authors to help get his point across. He goes into detail explaining in order for society as a whole to succeed in life that it starts with the success of each individual’s literacy. Knoblauch explains how other totalitarian countries keep their strength by keeping the majority less knowledgeable about literacy. Dictators, of such countries are literate, and keep that privilege from the citizens of that country, because if the people of the country were as literate as the dictator himself/herself then the people would have the power to over through such dictator. Knoblauch uses all of these examples to point out and stress the importance of literacy and writing in the world today, and stresses that without the know-how of reading and writing we will not…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Literacy and education plays an important role in America. More than 4 percent of the adult population does not know how to read or write. (Literacy Partners.) Education is the basis of all jobs, governmental structure, and even society itself. Recent events and documents state the emphasis on the importance of a basic education. The rate of illiteracy is growing at an alarming rate, and nothing is being done about it. Illiteracy is a big problem today because it is directly associated with poverty, crime, and costs the government more money than budgeted.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What Literacy Means To Me

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages

    People that are illiterate can't function on a day to day basis like we can. Like people that live in the middle of nowhere with no education or common sense would not be able to adapt to stuff like we can. Also they wouldn't be able to comprehend the books that we read or even understand them the same way we do. That is why literacy plays a big role in everyone's lives.…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Literacy and Young People

    • 1795 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The opportunity to apply for a specialist responsibility in supporting literacy development has arisen in your educational environment. For your interview you have been asked to prepare information to show that you can:…

    • 1795 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Illiteracy: People don’t have enough education and that means they can’t do most jobs. People struggle to communicate effectively if they don’t have education needed. This means that people that have innovative or great ideas can’t share them or put them into action because they don’t have the education that they need to accomplish that. The Central Connecticut State University did a study which showed that South Africa is one of the most illiterate countries in the world. The rankings are based on 5 categories that are used as indicators of the literate health of nations: newspapers, libraries, education inputs and outputs, and the availability of computers. South Africa was ranked as 56th overall. (BusinessTech, n.d.).Research shows that 58% of Gr 4 learners in South Africa can’t read and 29% are completely illiterate. (Help2Read, n.d.). When looking at wealthy countries, the illiteracy rates of those who have completed Gr 4 are low. England has 5%, the…

    • 1791 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Illiteracy in America

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Over 90 million American adults, nearly one out of two, are functionally illiterate, meaning that they do not possess the minimum skills required to function in a modern society. Facts such as this regarding literacy illustrate a devastating portrait of the social conditions which exist in America, the country generally portrayed as the most advanced in the world. Out of 191 million adults in the US, as many as 44 million cannot read a newspaper or fill out a job application; another 50 million are unable to read or comprehend above the eighth grade level. According to education experts it requires ninth grade competence to understand the instructions for an antidote on a bottle of corrosive kitchen lye, tenth grade competence to understand the instructions on a federal income tax return, and twelfth grade competence to read a life insurance form. Unfortunately, more than three fifths of the population is unable to read with the competence of a fifth grader. Steps to resolve this problem must be taken immediately. Educational improvements need to be made at the most basic level, in the country’s grammar and elementary schools. For, it has been proven that supplying children between the ages of five and ten years of age with numerous books both in and outside of school lends itself to the overall quality of education children receive and increases the children’s chances of functional literacy by nearly 35%. Unfortunately, many grade schools in the urban regions of America are not well supplied with information on grants which may provide them with additional funding so that they may properly equip children with such materials. A neutral board directed by charitable people may help to alleviate this problem by providing schools and literacy programs with information on various grants and analyzing their…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Been Illiterate has a negative effect in life. Can you imagine not been able to eat what you want to eat at a restaurant or not been able to go out to any place because you do not know how to go back home. In USA, approximately 60 million people are illiterate. In the story “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” Jonathan Kozol discuss how illiteracy is powerlessness. To be able to have democracy we need to have principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community. Kozol believes that democracy is false and untruthful when illiterates do not have the knowledge to understand their rights, causing a negative effect in the political construction.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays