Knoblauch Summary

It’s Knoblauch’s goal in his essay to show that there isn’t only one definition of literacy. His theory is that there are 4 senses of literacy and he not only defines them, but explains in detail what language is implied by each sense and how the group defining them use these different ways of literacy in everyday life. Knoblauch’s point is that there is no wrong or right way to view literacy but that is more than one way. The groups defining the 4 types are based on their belief system and what they value. The first sense is functional literacy. I would say this is the way most Americans view literacy. It’s basically being able to read and write at a level that makes a person capable to live fine in a society where writing is a big deal. If you have functional literacy, it’s easy to fill out job applications and to participate in activities where you are given writing instructions. It’s basically the low man on the totem pole. People with this literacy have little power in both social and economic groups; you probably wont see someone with only this literacy as a CEO or business owner. The second definition of a literacy being used today is Cultural literacy. This group is more advanced than the functional literacy group because they can not only read and write at a level high enough to survive, they read high culture literature and other types of writing that will help preserve their cultural beliefs and values. They have a more proper language. The next form of literacy would be the personal growth literacy. It’s to my understanding that their type of writing helps them find themselves. It exercises their imaginations and expresses their feelings. Poems may be a popular type of writing; songwriting maybe. And the last is critical literacy, critical meaning its of the most importance to sound smart and know what your talking about because it’s almost as if it’s a means of power, which makes sense. It isn’t often that you see a CEO or owner of a company using