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Kaylee Miller

Professor Jan Rieman

English 1102

February 2, 2011

In writing my paper I had to map out who my sponsors were and what were literacies I

had that stood out the most to me. It was very difficult to not get carried away with writing

about the particular interest but to relate it to Brandt’s definition of literacy. I also struggle

with writing conclusions to papers and I feel that my conclusion to this paper is not great, but I

am having trouble figuring out a smooth way to wrap it up. My peers were very helpful in

pointing out information I missed and giving tip in order to make it better. While I do not feel

that this was my best work, I am happy with the overall draft.

World of Literacy

Deborah Brandt defined a sponsor of literacy as “any agent local or distant, concrete or

abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold

literacy- and gain advantage by it in some way” (407). My interpretation of Brandt’s definition

is that a sponsor is someone or something that teaches you a language or introduces you in to a

culture that you can only learn by being taught with their help and by immersing yourself in to

the literacy. There is not only reading and writing literacy, but a person can have literacies in

many different fields. According to Brandt, literacy is a given fluency in an area. People can be

literate in sports, art, music, as well as the literacies in their community or household. A

sponsor introduces and teaches a literacy, by doing so they increase their community and may
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learn new things about the literacy that they had not already known. Throughout my life I have

been introduced to a variety of literacies and interests. Some of the primary areas that I am

literate in is softball and in the agriculture community. I have had a variety of sponsors who

introduced me in to these communities and helped me to become literate in each of them.

One of my most proficient literacies that I share with my family is in softball. In order to

fully understand what is going on in the softball world and what people are talking about you

have to be a part of it. My parents got me involved in playing tee ball when I was five and then

softball when I was seven. They coached me when I was younger and paid for me to take hitting

lessons and travel when I was older. My mom and dad were my primary sponsors for my

literacy in softball. They provided the means by which I needed to grow and learn. At

tournaments my dad talked to coaches and other parents who introduced him to new teams and

gave him tips on helping us improve. His outgoing personality and willing to approach people

helped us find out about better teams and various opportunities to improve and play at a higher

level. Along with my parents I played and worked with several different coaches of different

backgrounds throughout my softball career. Monty Sherrill is considered one of the best high

school softball coaches in the state and in 2006 his former team, Central Cabarrus Vikings, were

ranked number one in the nation. By going to Coach Sherrill’s camps and knowing him and the

team, personally, I learned even more aspects of the game. Most people would not know what it

means to “bat wrap” or what “bat lag” meant unless they were a part of the softball community

that grew up with the techniques Coach Sherrill taught. My younger sister and I played on

various teams which helped us get to know more people in the softball community. By having

these connection within the sport we were able to learn more about getting help to improve and

who we needed to know in order to go to college or find a new team. All of the news and events
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are spread by word of mouth or posted on message boards. The way to get in to college is to

email coaches, attend camps, play for the right tournament teams, and show you strengths on the

field in showcase tournaments. You have to know how to work the system and who to talk to in

order to get where you want to go. Personally, I realized after several injuries and putting most

of my life into softball that playing college ball was not for me. My overall literacy of the

softball world comes from what the various sponsors I had introduced me to in the world of

softball. This spring I will begin playing for UNCC’s club softball team. UNCC has became a

sponsor to me by offering clubs and funding the expenses for me to play. Softball is my passion

and without the amazing sponsors I had I would have never succeeded as well as I did in the

sport.

Another literacy I have is in agriculture because of the FFA. The FFA, formerly known

as Future Farmers of America, is the largest student organization in the country that educates

students about agriculture and provides leadership and career experience opportunities. As a

former FFA officer at my high school I got to learn a lot about the agriculture opportunities and

issues going on in the world. At FFA Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana I was introduced to

problems the agriculture community was facing and how the FFA was taking their part in

helping improve conditions for farmers, as well as educating citizens on where their food comes

from. By having a literacy sponsored by the FFA I not only know the background behind the

famous blue jackets, but I also have been given the opportunity to learn about the new

technologies being used to improve the food supply and how farms operate. A particular issue

that appeals to me is how the animal rights groups fight to set regulations for farmers when it

comes to using animal products and caring for animals. Most animal rights activists have a lot of

criticism for the farming community; however, they do not have a true insight on how farms
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operate. After becoming active in the FFA I have learned enough about farming to factually

back up my argument against many of the animal rights groups. For example, at the FFA

National Convention in 2009 Mike Rowe, host of “Dirty Jobs”, explained how animal rights

groups had set standards for the correct way to calfstrate sheep. According to P.E.T.A, the

farmer needed to rubber band the sheep’s testicles so that they would eventually fall off. The

farmer that Mike worked with demonstrated this technique and then went on to show his own

way, which was chopping off the sheep’s testicles. The sheep that with the rubber band hovered

in a corner and could not walk; however, the other sheep went back to eating and walking around

as it had before. Not only did this give me an example to back up my argument against animal

rights group, but I also learned that what is “by the book” is not always what is best. The FFA

along with the advisors and people I have met in the agriculture community has taught me and

showed me more information about what we eat and how complicated the agriculture system is. I

am a proud member of Hickory Ridge’s FFA Alumni Organization and hope to play my part in

the agriculture community some day.

Although, these are two of my main literacies there are many other communities and

things that I am literate in. I also hope to learn about new things and become literate in other

areas as I grow older. Whether a person is literate in art, playing an instrument, or in

communicating within their community, we all have literacies that make us unique as well as

bring us together. Our different literacies, and the sponsors who gave us the knowledge of them,

shaped the people we are today and by learning new literacies we are growing in to the people of

tomorrow.
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Kaylee,

Great job! I really enjoyed reading and learning some of your different literacies and sponsors.

You have a clear sense of organization here and provide enough detail to make this topic come

alive for your reader. Were there any literacies you felt denied? Since you have all of these big

pieces in place and are able to show your understanding of a sponsor and a literacy, what I

encourage you to work on in revision is making sure that your reader is reading your words you

intend them to be read. To do this, get in the habit of reading your work aloud. The WRC also

has a great on-line guide to resources for students (wrc.uncc.edu: the link in on our Moodle

page.) Please let me know if you have any questions.

Work Cited

Brandt, Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” Writing about Writing: A College Reader.

Eds. Wardle and Downs. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 406-26. Print.