;e Relevance of American Literacy
By Anna Masrud
The desire for literacy and moral truth has lingered within us all since God created the earth. Adam passed on the Word of
the Lord from generation to generation,
in order that they might know what the
Lord had done for them and worship
Him in love and awe. Since creation,
humanity has longed to both read and
write, to pass on knowledge from father
to son, mother to daughter, grandparent
to grandchild. Because of this, we are
taught how to read and write as young
children so that we might absorb, comprehend, and apply the wisdom of our
ancestors to our ever-changing lives. By
learning what others have done before
us, we are able to use critical thinking to
guide our families in truth.
Many God-fearing men that strove to
make America a place of great freedom
understood the importance of literacy
and moral truth. ;ey understood the
need well. Several of the Founding Fathers spent their lives poring over literature, and the wisdom gained from
their reading helped inspire a yearning
for change. Abraham Lincoln was one
of those men; during his youth, he read
all the books he could get his hands on.
When he ;nished reading the books he
possessed, he worked for his neighbors
in order that he might borrow theirs.
;is provided a solid foundation for his
education, and later on the books he’d
read during his lifetime became some
of the few advisors he trusted during his
political career.
James Madison was another one of the
Founding Fathers who busied himself with
good literature and o;en consulted the
written wisdom of his elders. When the
Declaration of Independence was dra;ed,
;omas Je;erson pored over the works of
John Locke and George Mason, using their
insights to create a document that ensured
the freedom of all future Americans. ;ese
men all understood this fact: literature is
A yearning for
literacy, knowledge,
and wisdom comes
from the early years of
reading, just as we can
see by the examples of
men who helped form
our country.
a very important tool, preserved through
time as a way of conveying fact, truth, and
wisdom. It was the ;rst place anyone during that time went to get an education, and
schools taught lessons which were based
heavily upon structured texts that helped
prepare students for life.
Fewer children nowadays are introduced to reading in a positive and encouraging way. Rather, at a young age, children
are taught to use computer games and
56;March;2012;•;The;Literary;Homeschooler
videos to aid their learning. References to
books are becoming more rare, and some
schools want to put even less focus on
textbooks and more focus on video me-
dia. ;is prospect is disturbing.
