RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

Everyone has the innate ability to be a “storyteller”. To the people of Sudan, storytelling has a great importance in their culture; an importance that we, as Americans, don’t quite hold as high. However, I do remember listening to stories my mom shared about her childhood, knowing certain songs, and listening to Bible stories. This is something that could be related to these Sudanese Refugees – “These types of stories included traditional stories and histories in the community, literature stories in school, and religious stories in church”.

As these students were studied, discussion took place over the importance of learning English. English was thought to be a language of power. Most of the refugees felt that having this understanding was important, but not to lose their own cultural identities. I think this is extremely important! If I were to move to another country, whether it is forced or on my own accord, I feel that it would be important to learn how to communicate with the people in the country where I have moved. Being able to communicate and maintaining cultural identity is definitely something that a person could achieve. Ezra shared, “the importance of maintaining cultural identity, but of understanding other groups’ cultural identities”. Not everyone will celebrate the same holidays; eat the same foods, etc. It is our job to try to understand these differences, and to respect them.

Francis says, “People TELL a lot of stories, / but here, now, / we don’t LEARN.” I thought this was a really interesting statement when I read it and even more so when I read Perry’s interpretation. “Learn” does take a whole new meaning. I don’t feel that Francis is actually referring to “learning”, but as to learning how to tell stories or learning from stories. People in America tell stories more just to share than to actually “learn” from. It is through listening and telling stories that we are able to relate to the world around us. I may never travel to Sudan, but through the eyes of these refugees, I am able to have a better understanding of the journey they have been on to get to the United States.

I love how each participant used storytelling in their own unique way, whether it was to share their story or to influence people in power. This is where the shift in storytelling takes on a new purpose. . Writing can be therapeutic. I had never considered myself a writer; until I had to complete a Multi-Genre project in Graduate School. In March of 2009, my house was broken into. I was able to talk about this event in my life, but never got to feel the relief of this until my Multi-Genre project. I was able to write poetry, journal entries, and even a letter to express my feelings about this tragedy. Even though the tragedies that I and the refugees have experienced are totally different, through writing a new outlook can occur as it is shared.

We have to encourage our students to write about what they know about…themselves. Whether students fictionalize themselves, or write true autobiographical information they can be successful story tellers. Purcell-Gates is quoted in the article as saying, “Authentic literacy instruction involves providing opportunities for students to write for real audiences and real purposes, beyond learning to read and write or earn a grade.” The teacher should serve as the guide in this process, but the student should be the true artist of the story.

Angela Steele