What is the definition of literacy?

Unlike in history, the boundary of literacy becomes broader and more blurred; today, this issue isn't merely about if you can read or not, but the degree of literacy. I have read many articles about literacy recently but I still do not have any clear clue about what literacy really means. However, Lunsford’s argument of teenagers’ literacy ability seems more real to me compared to other articles. The topic of Carr and Hedges did not seem like they are focused on literacy itself, rather they tend to talk more about the effects of technology today and then literacy. I agree with some of the arguments that the development of technology makes people blanker and more artificial but like Lunsford argued, not only teenagers, but most people are all able to distinguish their audience and use of language. Slang, fragments, etc. are just one kind of language, trend, or even culture. If Hedges is right that Americans are illiterate, then most people today should not be able to write or read, which also means they do not know what they are doing, therefore, our society would not be able to function, which isn’t happening.

In “Literacy in Three Metaphors”, Scribner tries to explain more easily what literacy is. He divides it into three metaphors: “literacy as adaptation, literacy as power, and literacy as a state of grace.” He does not regard the issue of literacy negatively whether people are illiterate or not, but he explains that it is certainly the way people can communicate, the tool that people have rights and social existence, and the trend that people need to follow as our society changes. Regardless of countries whether they are developed or developing, literacy is important anywhere as a way of communication, and as long as it is used endlessly, different style of literacy should not be defined as illiterate.