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Ashleigh Cameron

Professor Sam

ENC1101

9 September 2023

Multimode Literacy Project

For the past few years, I’ve been known to have great grammar and amazing writing

skills. Those skills didn’t come to me naturally, however. I’ve been taught by the people around

me how to be an amazing writer. It was through my teachings of grammar etiquette and helping

people with their essays that has turned me into a better writer. Sponsors play a huge role in

people’s lives to shape them into the best versions of themselves they can be. Sponsors can be a

lot of things like teachers, friends, coaches, etc. I believe I am also a sponsor to the people that I

help with different writing things they need assistance on. Two literacy events from my past that

relate to the article “Sponsors of Literacy” by Deborah Brandt are when my 8th grade English

teacher taught me everything I know about English and when helping my family and friends with

their essays turned me into a better writer.

When I started my 8th grade year at my school, little did I know that my English teacher,

Mrs. Foster, was going to be one of the most influential teachers I’ll ever have in my life. She

taught me everything I needed to know about grammar to prepare me for high school. She taught

me where to place commas, how to write a paper, making sure subjects and verbs agree, and how

to even diagram a sentence, which many college kids today don’t even know what that is. The

list goes on and on about the many valuable things she taught me that I will never forget. This

experience relates to the article “Sponsors of Literacy” very well. In the article, Deborah Brandt

talks about how literacy development can be obtained from the people around you, including
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teachers. She explains that teachers can provide access to new literacy events that can shape

individuals into their maximum literacy potential. A lot of things in Brandt article stood out to

me that I can relate to. A few of the things she said are “Sponsors, as I have come to think of

them, are any agents, 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”

(Brandt 166), “In whatever form, sponsors deliver the ideological fright they must be borne for

access to what they have” (Brandt 168) and “The concept of sponsors helps to explain, then, a

range of human relationships and ideological pressures that turn up at the scenes of literacy

learning-from benign sharing between adults and youths, to euphemized coercions in schools and

workplaces, to the most notorious impositions and deprivations by church or state” (Brandt 168).

The article for me related back to my 8th grade year when my English teacher truly did teach me

everything I know today about English. Mrs. Foster has been a huge sponsor in my life. She

taught me grammar knowledge that I will use from now until forever. I know my life would be

different if I didn’t have her as my teacher, and I am forever grateful that I had the opportunity to

be taught by her.

When my family or friends need help with a piece of writing, I’m always their go to

person they come to. Whether it’s essays for school, important emails to teachers and bosses,

college writing supplements, or even my mom’s Facebook captions, I’m always the first person

they reach out to when they need assistance. Not only do they enjoy when I help them with

whatever writing piece they need, I enjoy helping them because it makes me feel like I’m doing

something good in the world with my knowledge of writing and grammar. I’ve always been good

with those types of things, because I’ve had great teachers in the past who taught me everything I

know. After checking so many of my family and friends’ essays and emails over the years, it
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made me realized that it has turned me into a better writer myself. These experiences relate to the

article “Sponsors of Literacy” in a unique way. In the article, Brandt talks about how different

people in your life influence your literacy skills. Many things that Brandt said in her article

related to me a lot. A few of the things that she said that I liked are, “People's literate skills have

grown vulnerable to unprecedented turbulence in their economic value, as conditions, forms, and

standards of literacy achievement seem to shift with almost every new generation of learners”

(Brandt 166), “A focus on sponsorship can force a more explicit and substantive link between

literacy learning and systems of opportunity and access” (Brandt 169), and “Literacy as a

resource becomes available to ordinary people largely through the mediations of more powerful

sponsors” (Brandt 173). I have adapted to today’s writing techniques very well. However, I don’t

know if I would’ve adapted to the writing techniques from hundreds of years ago. I believe I was

meant to be currently where I am in today’s generation. I love the writing from this decade, and I

hope it doesn’t change for a while. The article related back to when I help my family and friends

with their pieces of writing, which has helped me become a better writer for my own tasks.

Helping the people I love with my knowledge of grammar is one of my favorite things to do, and

I will never want to stop doing it because of how much it means to me helping people I care

about. Not only was I sponsor to the people who I help, but they were a sponsor to me. My

family and friends have influenced my writing, because it makes me look at writing in their

perspective, instead of my own.

The article “Sponsors of Literacy” by Deborah Brandt has related back to multiple

literacy events in my life. I’ve never felt a deeper connection with any other article than I do with

this one. It talks about how the people around you make an impact on your literacy. My teachers

and friends have influenced my literacy knowledge in a very special way. I’m glad to have
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surrounded myself with great people over the years because of how much my literacy has grown

into the best version it can, and I believe it has grown a tremendous amount. I believe I have very

specific details about my current values and beliefs of writing. Writing is a form of expression to

show the person who you truly are. It’s about writing your thoughts and feelings on to a piece a

paper and letting the words write itself. Writing can be in many different forms, one example

being this essay. Writing can be song lyrics, heartfelt texts, speeches, and so much more. My past

experiences with literacy and language have impacted my life, and it’s hard to even describe how

much it means to me. I love forming the perfect sentences and quotes on a piece of paper, and

none of that would be possible without the help of my 8th grade English teacher and helping the

people I love with their forms of writing.

(1205 words)

Works Cited
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Brandt, Deborah. “Sponsors of Literacy.” College composition and communication 49.2 (1998):

165–185. Web.