As one of our first assignments we were asked to write up a personal belief statement answering the question - What is literacy? Does it necessarily have only to do with reading and writing? What about 'computer literacy'? There are no wrong answers, it is basically just a survey of the understanding of literacy.So, what do YOU think... How would you define literacy?
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In my view literacy is strictly understood as the ability to read. But it also has a connotation that a person has some knowledge of literature. Therefore a liberal definition of literacy could be stated as a comprehension of a language and the significant stories from that language's heritage. If we take that view, a person living in a society without written language could be considered literate if he or she was cognizant of the oral traditions of his or her society. Perhaps this is stretching the definition a bit too far, but the connotation of literary knowledge must be considered.
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