Ikeda 1

Jordan Ikeda
Nancy Roche
Writing 1010-013
29 September 2014
Literacy Myth and the Point of View
The Literacy Myth that Gee explains is that people who are not literate are in a sense "less" than
those who are literate. People that are more literate are smarter, more developed, and are higher in a social
class. But that is not the case, Gee believes that the myth is false. I believe that people that are literate are
not any better than those who are not. For it's not the amount of literacy you consume, but what learn and
are able to get out of it.
Plato was one of the first great writers in western culture (48). He talks about that when someone
reads the text of something they take their own thoughts and opinions what they read and think of it as
facts. People read and think that what they thought of the reading is true because the reading is not able to
defend itself for it is not a figure. Socrates says," If you every ask them about any of the things they say
out of a desire to learn, they point to just one thing, the same thing."(48). So if you ask the original author
of the writing that you have read you are able to get the actual meaning and the purpose of the writing,
rather than reading what you read and just believe yourself that what you thought of the reading is the
truth. Plato goes to say that asking questions such as "what do you mean?" will broaden your vision of the
text that you have read.
Sweden at the time was in a state of poverty. The country was undeveloped. But Sweden was the
first country in the west to achieve near universal literacy (53). Even the women had equality with men in
literacy. It was surprising to see that a high literate country was poor and underdeveloped. The reason
that Sweden was so literate was because of the influence of Christian religion (54). For the church helped
dictate what was interpreted in what the people read. For example the Catholic church had the bible and
would have oral instruction to help interpret what needs to be said and understood.

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Gee says," A text, whether written on a paper, or on the soul (Plato), or on the world (Freire), is a
loaded weapon. The person, the educator, who hands over the gun, hands over the bullets (the
perspective) , and must own up to the consequences." (61). If you ever try to answer or interpret
something that someone has read it's on your to make sure that you interpret the reading correctly. If not
the consequences of misleading the reader is your fault. People need to interpret the reading right to help
them become more literate. It's important for if they don't understand or get the wrong interpretations then
there was no point in reading.
I believe that what Gee was trying to say is that people who read, that follow the voices of other
people's opinions of the text are not literate at all. He thinks that people that understand, that can interpret,
and handle the gun properly are the ones who are literate.

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Work Cited
Gee, James P. "The Literacy Myth and the History of Literacy." N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag.