Amazing Grace Scene

One of the scene that stood out the most to me while I was reading Amazing Grace takes place on page 129.  Jonathan Kozol, the author, is spending time speaking to some of the students at P.S. 65 after school has been let out.  He walks home with a little girl named Anabelle and asks her about her idea of heaven.  Anabelle responds that the good people go "upstairs" to heaven where everyone wears white nightgowns because they are angels.  She also mentions that the children who die while they are still young go to heaven too.  Even the dogs, cats, and other pets have their own place up in heaven and their owners can go and visit with them on the weekends.  Finally, she says that no one uses money to pay for things in heaven because everything can be paid for with smiles.

This scene stood out the most to me because it seemed to be one of the fewer "happy" scenes in the book.  While reading about Kozol's interaction with this little girl, I was reminded of the purity and innocence found in children.  Even in the midst of all the terror, cruelty, and sickness around her, Anabelle is still able to have hope for a better world, whether in this life or the next.  It saddens me, however, to know that Anabelle speaks from her own personal experiences in her neighborhood when she mentions all the young children who die young that go to heaven.  I, like Anabelle, take comfort in the fact that these children and other good people will get to live a better life in heaven with God. 

Research Paper Brainstorming

After thinking for a while, I believe that I want to write my research paper on the many parts that make up the music industry.  I am earning a degree in Music Business here and I will be graduating in a little under 2 years, but I do not yet know exactly where I want to work.  In this paper I want to address the parts of the business that most interest me and learn through research the actual roles that these different parts play in the whole business.
Literacy would be connected to this paper through the knowledge I will gain after researching the specifics of the music industry.  Another way in which literacy will be connected to this paper is through my readers' gain understanding of how the music business functions.
I believe that I could successfully conduct research on this topic through both primary and secondary research.  For primary research, I could find resources on the internet as well as books in the library.  I could also consult many of the Music Business books I have used in previous classes.  For secondary research, I could meet with some of my Music Business professors and ask them questions about the many jobs in the industry and what really goes on in each today.

Literacy Narrative Topic

I decided to write my personal literacy narrative on a specific event I experienced while volunteering at Habitat for Humanity.  While volunteering one day, I met the mother of the family's house we were building and saw how grateful she was that we all concentrated our time and efforts to help.  I am focusing my paper on Barber's idea of civic literacy and the importance of being able to understand how to work together with other people.  On that day, I witnessed several examples of the positive effects that can stem from working together to help another.  In turn, I felt a great sense of joy because I knew that I made a difference, no matter how small, in another person's life. 

The Importance of Civic Literacy

I believe that Barker's idea of "civic literacy" is incredibly important to understand in the world today. In his article, Barker defines "civic literacy" as "the competence to participate in democratic communities, the ability to think critically and act with deliberation in a pluralistic world, and the empathy to identify sufficiently with others to live with them despite conflicts of interests and differences in character." Every person could benefit from taking the time to understand what Barker is trying to tell us about living in harmony with others. We must learn that it is acceptable for us to have different beliefs and personalities, even if that does mean that we have to work a little harder to understand and tolerate each other. Being able to work together is a skill that is utilized every single day, unless you are a hermit and never leave home. We encounter other people regularly, in fact it is quite difficult to go an entire day without having to interact with another person. We live together, work together, go to school together. What kind of world would we live in if no one ever got along? Differences make the world a more interesting place and gives us the opportunity to never stop learning. Part of our role as citizens of this world is to not only teach the younger generations about true acceptance, but to implement that same idea in our everyday lives. We must make this a conscious effort each and every day to practice what we preach.