Literacy Definition

I looked up the definition of literacy on dictionary.com and received three definitions. I’m going to list them and write a brief piece on each of the definitions.

The first definition is “the quality or state of being literate, esp. the ability to read and write.” This is most basic form of literacy. When the majority of people think about the word literacy they think about reading and writing. I know I always did until starting English 289 when I realized literacy can be more than just reading and writing.

The second definition given is states as a “possession of education.” This definition actually brings up more questions to me than answers. How much education would one have to possess in order to be considered literate? Who is it that would determine the cut-off saying that someone of an IQ of say 90 is literate, but 89 is considered illiterate? Also possessing education is a very broad term. Some people are educating in a variety of different fields. The frat guy is probably a lot more educated in “getting women” than say the astrophysicist who is way more educated in astrophysics. The example I used probably isn’t the best, but my point is there are a gigantic number of ways to define being educated.

The third definition is “a person's knowledge of a particular subject or field.” This definition is probably my favorite because I feel that literacy pertaining to reading and writing is too narrow-minded of a view on literacy. This definition leaves the door wide open for people to be literate in multiple facets of life, not just when things pertain to books. Literacy I feel is different for every person and the only person that should determine what literacy is for that person is that person. There shouldn’t be a set of standards laid out by some English board somewhere that says you must score at least x or higher on this standardized test in order to be considered literate. There are ways of being literate beyond the reading and writing norm that most people consider.