Blog Post IV - Other People's Words

What a fascinating case study this was. I cannot quite get over this family's story and the fact that both Jenny and Donny were prevented from becoming literate and possibly moving up in the society. Purcell-Gates posits that the divide between the classes in modern society contributes to the low levels of literacy among the less privileged. This divide also creates the feeling of alienation which separates the classes even further. As a result, it is extremely difficult for children “born into cultures that are low literate and/or restricted in their scope of literacy” (183) to achieve the level of literacy that is deemed appropriate for their age. As a consequence, they are either kept back (Donny) or end up dropping out of school (Jenny), and it becomes ever more difficult to break the cycle of low literacy as it transfers from a parent to a child.