Jacob Babb’s “America is Facing a Literacy Crisis” (Coursework Sample)

Journal #1
Summary
Jacob Babb’s “America is facing a literacy crisis” talks about how people today get to the university and cannot clearly express themselves through writing CITATION Jac201 \l 2057 (Babb). This problem is thought to be the repercussions of technology and poor high school education. It is also said that all the effort to salvage this situation, like the course in university that majors on writing is said to be futile because writing is something that is learned gradually over long periods of time.
Response
Jacob Babb’s main idea is that America is facing a literacy crisis because there have been a shift from narrow periphery to agriculture and technology. They majored on invention and forgot about communication through various forms of writing. Now universities are salvaging the situation through composition instruction. I agree with Babb’s arguments. This is due to the fact that today people get to university when they cannot clearly express themselves through writing. And there is an urgent need for people to be taught writing from as far as high school. This argument is very relevant to me because I believe that you are not a real scholar, until you can write well as much as you speak. It is the only way through which we express our creations as scholars. It should be accorded the importance it deserves or this problem will continue to an extent that a scholar has an idea but they cannot express it to an extent that people understand.
Summary
Ellen Carillo’s “Reading and Writing are not Connected” talks about why it is important to teach reading and writing as connected conceptCITATION Ell20 \l 2057 (Carillo). She believes they are connected because they are the two skills that allow communication in school and professionally. People are capable of making compelling arguments when they are competent in reading and writing. She emphasizes that these two skills has to be taught and thought of as one.
Response
Carillo says that best way to teach literacy is through presenting reading and writing as one. It is not right to give more privilege to writing than reading. Students become critical thinkers when they are thought the two skills at a go. They can gather information and write about it comfortably. I