Lunsford and Scribner

     Literacy throughout the world is a difficult, if not impossible, word to define. While in one society being literate might constitue reading at a third grade level, in another literacy constitutes being able to decipher thousand word texts layered with dense language This difficulty of finding a definition for literacy that spans the globe is outlined in Scribner's "Literacy in Three Metaphors."While each one of her metaphors finds a definition for literacy, each one is also lacking important features. Literacy as adaption, for example, attempts to define literacy as simply as being able to perform the mundane actions of society and function successfully. This includes grocery shopping and reading street signs while driving. What this metaphor does not take into account is the fact that functions that are necessary in one society may be unnecessary in another. Societal and cultural differences influence literacy, which makes the definition of literacy impossible to find.
     Contrary to Hedges and Carr, who seem to have found a firm definition for the term, state that they believe overall literacy is declining, mainly due to the increase in technology such as the Internet and Google. What Lunsford brings to the table is that these forms of new media which are changing the way we interact with one another are only diversifying literacy, not harming it. Lunsford's studies have proven that students today are still able to write academically, despite the slang that is often used casually. And while many would say children today write with more errors, Lunsford proves this wrong, stating that the ration between words to errors has remained the same over the past 100 years.
     Personally, I am on the fence about whether or not new social media and the Internet are a positive or negative influence on literacy. Hedges and Carr make strong points that we are becoming an entertainment-based, instant gratification society which is in turn hurting are attention spans. Lunsford and Scribner would say this is just another form of literacy, and I agree as well. I believe our society's most pressing concerns still are the overall lack of education that inner-city children are receiving.