RJ10(a): Article Analysis

Brandt’s Study:

Brandt’s research of literacy sponsorship took place in the dwelling areas of individuals, specifically including, but not limited to, a college town in the midwest, a mining town in the same area, and the clerical work field in general.

The members of the studied group are ordinary people in varying circumstances.  Brandt studies the differences in an immigrant woman of low socioeconomic means and an upper-class white male.  She looks at a second generation factory worker tossed about by a shifting industry.  Also included in the study are two women struggling to make a decent living in the same industry with different motives.

These subjects are all in some way applying and/or developing their literacy to give themselves a better career life.

The actions that make up the general act of literacy development include learning to read and write, reading and writing for a job, learning to deal with new ways of reading and writing on the job, questing for the materials to read and write, and reading and writing in a competitive sense.

The most common theme of actions carried out by the individuals in this study is that of adapting to literacy as it changes in the workplace.

The events of this study take place largely in the greater midsection of the twentieth century.  The studies covered events over periods of more than twenty years.

These individuals were all questing after a better understanding and usage of their respective literacy and the competitive edge that comes with it in the job market.