Sunday, February 19, 2012
Paper 1
Being that I was born African American, a woman, and into a lower income family I’ve always been aware that the process of upward mobility would incur many challenges. I would have to smarter, stronger, better and work twice as harder in order to obtain the level of success I desired. Those individuals who support my quest continue to make me aware of the challenges so as I do not loose my motivation, it’s sometimes unspoken and until reading Gee and Delpit, something I thought academic professionals were unaware of. It was quite interesting to see the connection of upward mobility and literary discourse from the prospective of academic professional, especially Gee as he explicitly correlates literary discourse and upward mobility, ‘…the mastery of which, at a particular place and time, brings with it the (potential) acquisition of social “goods” (money, prestige, status, etc.),” (Gee, 528). Gee also maintains that the acquisition of literary discourse can be difficult for minorities and women as it conflicts with the discourse the values, beliefs and ways of being they were born into, thus making it increasingly difficult to acquire social ‘goods’ and status. “I argue that a when such conflict or tension exists, I can deter acquisition of one or the other or both of the conflicting Discourse, or, at least, affect the fluency of a mastered Discourse on certain occasions of use,” (Gee, 528). What I seek to explore more is role culture and socioeconomic status play on literary discourse and subsequently upward mobility?
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Chandra: I think that structuring this paper around the idea of "upward mobility" is a great idea. Remember to keep it focused on that, though. You will want to see how Gee, Brandt, and Delpit (or others from class) understand the concept. They may not directly offer us a definition, but as you're already starting to do, you can apply and interpret what they do say to the concept.
ReplyDeleteSo, for instance, how would Gee understand the concept of upward mobility? Wouldn't he say that it's confined solely to your initial class status, and therefore you can't move upward? But then we have Delpit, who disagrees with Gee. Even more complicated, though, is Brandt's position, especially regarding sponsors. How does Brandt's understanding of sponsors match up with "upward mobility"? In some sense, isn't her idea a lot like Gee's? I don't really know the answer to this question, but it's something you will want to explore.
Remember that this paper should have a narrow focus, and so the concept of upward mobility will be yours here (if that's what you're really getting at). Your thesis statement, then, should do more than state what you're going to talk about; it should offer your own take on the issue, which you'll show through the readings.
If you have questions, let me know.