The Rise of Writing: Redefining Mass Literacy

by Deborah Brandt

Millions of Americans routinely spend half their working day or more with their hands on keyboards and their minds on audiences - writing so much, in fact, that they have less time and appetite for reading. In this highly anticipated sequel to her award-winning Literacy in American Lives, Deborah Brandt moves beyond laments about the decline of reading to focus on the rise of writing. What happens when writing overtakes reading as the basis of people's daily literate experience? How does a societal shift toward writing affect the ways that people develop their literacy and understand its value? Drawing on recent interviews with people who write every day, Brandt explores this major turn in the development of mass literacy and examines the serious challenges it poses for America's educational mission and civic health.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Education, Language

206 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2014

Reviews

[nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

incredibly thought-provoking and far more interesting than i expected going into this book. it got me to think about writing, its relationship to reading, and what comprises literacy in ways that I had not even considered before. i also liked the inclusion of quotes/interviews from the study's participants. it really added a human touch to what brandt was saying and made everything feel a bit more real. could get a little repetitive at times, but overall still a great and informative read.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an educator, I always knew reading was the form of literacy most privileged by the American education system and by American society in general. Brandt highlights not only why this is the case but also how and why writing has become dominant form of labor in the American workforce. In this treatise, Brandt makes a convincing argument for a shift away from reading-based literacy and toward a writing-based one. A must read for all 'literature teachers' out there.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really provocative and smart book that looked at the shift in how we define and value literacy. Whereas the predominant (and valued) form of literacy for most of the 20th century was reading, Brandt makes a compelling case that writing is our dominant mode of literacy now. In the process, she raises many provocative questions regarding the implications of this shift.

[Roger Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brandt makes the broad argument that mass literacy in the U.S. has moved from reading-based to writing-based. While acknowledging traditional views that "the more you read the better you write," Brandt stresses that new technologies place way more emphasis on the writer and argues for more scholarly attention to the civic implications of moving to a writing-based culture for literacy-knowledge.

[Alec · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Rise of Writing is interesting and raises several questions that often are ignored about reading and writing (e.g. why writing is not viewed as highly as reading, why writing is not as enjoyed as reading, etc). My primary issues with the book are how Brandt seemed to belabor the same point countless times throughout the text and how the book was so interview-heavy that I found myself skipping over several portions. I was really interested at first, but I got worn out with every page flip.

[Kim Donehower · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those interested in literacy studies, this excellent book documents a major shift in Americans' extra-curricular literacy activity--from reading to writing. This includes the current generation of young writers who spend extensive time authoring fiction of various kinds for online publication--a truly new phenomenon, and one in which young people end up spending more time writing than reading. It's great context for K-12 teachers, college teachers, or anyone interested in how reading and writing shift in a population over time.

[Laurel Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when writing overtakes reading as the basis of people's daily literate experience? How does a societal shift toward writing affect the ways that people develop their literacy and understand its value? Drawing on recent interviews with people who write every day, Brandt explores this turn in the development of mass literacy. An interesting look at what writing is and does in the world for composition scholars and writers alike, to think deeply about.

[Anicca Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my friend said, it's both really interesting and really boring, you know, as academic things tend to be. That said, I really enjoyed this book and how it updates Brandt's literacy sponsor theme and argues for writing centered literacies in tandem with new economies of work, authorship, publication and culture.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary book. Through paying scrupulous attention to the experiences of "workaday" writers-- people who spend much of their work time writing, even if they don't consider themselves authors--Brandt uncovers some of the tangible effects writing upon those who do it. She shows how being "literate" no longer means "well read" so much as "effective writer", and suggests that this marks an important shift in how we connect with the written word. Perhaps her most intriguing idea is that of an "authorial residue"--the way in which the activity of writing, even when done as uncredited work fot hire, always leaves its mark upon the person writing.