The Day After Elections 2016: World Freedom Day

As U.S. Elections 2016 are closed, our calendar marks World Freedom Day. Ironically, this is a day of the celebration of deconstructed dividing walls.

November 9 celebrates the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, aka the Iron Curtain, which was erected in order to divide Soviet-occupied East Berlin from the Allied West and its accused "fascism". After World War II, the West did not impress the machine of Communism; the Soviet movement of which believed that riches of aristocracy and democratic hierarchy were a threat to their freedom, with capitalism being precursor to imperialism and specifically U.S. Capitalism being a uniquely powerful threat.

Before long, many Berliners of the socialist East would flee Communism, via Berlin's last gate, in defection from new leadership of the Soviets. The capitalist, democratic West simply offered greater promise of livelihood to these people who would only experience greater restrictions over a decade of increasing blockades to their freedom. Ultimately, the Berlin Wall was fully enforced and all movement Westward was stopped in an effort to maintain the working and productive populations of communist East Berlin.

After approximately 30 years of post-World War II strife that often resulted in death to those who would attempt to flee East Berlin, the Iron Curtain was taken down in the Revolutions of 1989 and the Fall of Communism. Spurred in part by the Chernobyl disaster, Caucasus, Baltic and other Eastern Bloc states desired autonomy from Russia and its single-party Soviet focus. Such social changes in politics eroded the power of the Soviet influence and, whether via the people or the system itself, the wall was  brought down.

Writing Prompt Questions:

• Was there victory in communism with the erection of the Berlin Wall? 
• Had the threat of communism faded at the time that the Berlin Wall was deconstructed in 1989? 
• Is there a threat of communism today? 
• How would you exemplify World Freedom Day?

Origin of National Author's Day & Our YA Book Suggestion

By now a good portion of us are aware that today, November 1, is National Author's Day. Did you realize that this annual recognition has been in play since 1928? For almost a century, Americans have enjoyed the occasion as a time to consider their favorite, most admired authors, and to somehow show their love.

The reasoning behind the day was born of the generosity of one author in particular, who went an extra mile for one of his readers. Thereafter, beginning with one woman, executed and continued by others, the popularity of National Author's Day grew to a degree that grabbed enough attention to claim official recognition and is today a widely supported event.

Our National Author Day YA Book Recommendation

Acting along the vein of the nature of the day, we're recommending a favorite author with whom we're familiar, and one of her books: The Basement (Robbie's Rite of Passage), by Vashti Quiroz-Vega, is a young-adult (YA) horror fiction selection with intriguing illustrations. The theme touches on bullying and relationships, and is an inspiring tale of overcoming the all-too-common angst that can exist among this age group.

Inspirational YA Horror Fiction The Basement

In the spirit of the day, we believe and recognize that this author has worked to tap into the fact that there can be inspiration for young people in the popular genre of horror fiction. Further, she does a great job of delivering a uniquely Kingesque experience that is enjoyable to fans of the popular horror master.

Let us know if you decide to pick it up!

National Literacy Day: Prose Literacy's Neo-Significance in a Tech Society

When we think of literacy in a diverse society, we often relate it to a basic ability of employee job performance. This is especially true of those accustomed to diverse workplace environments that strive to include every demographic of a community with capacity for job performance, per job at hand. One is either literate or illiterate, according to their ability to do a job in a company. Also, one may be regarded as literate or illiterate according to their ability to interact with another person on the street.

Traditional Literacy

Such a narrow measure shouldn't be confused with one's total literacy, or potential for literacy. One important point is that literacy of any kind is typically a measure of the capacity to communicate in a particular language that is common between people. A person may be completely literate in their native language, but also illiterate in another.

If we want to continue to progress as a species, then we must realize true literacy for what it is. Literacy is not multilingualism; and one who is multilingual may not be literate in any other way, necessarily. In fact, literacy is a multi-faceted model that metamorphizes with time and culture. For example, among today's known global societal cultures, there are a number of digitally illiterate persons. Ironically, such persons may be significantly more prose literate than their digitally adept counterparts. So, which one is more important?

Other common literacy distinctions are: financial literacy, mathematical literacy (quantitative, or numerate literacy) and information literacy . . . to name a few. Prose literacy, however, is the root of most articulateness.

Prose Literacy

When we learn that it's National Literacy Day, we can generally be sure that what's in focus is one's general ability to make sense of various prose information. This is because-- traditionally-- reading and writing have been the standards of one's ability to collect, use and disseminate information. Prose literacy has been a basic building block of progress to humankind. Despite the advent of new forms of media against which to measure our level of literacy, we still generally must revert to good ole' reading comprehension and an ability to write.

While reading and writing are at the core of prose literacy, it must be understood that the entirety of prose literacy involves abilities to decipher and communicate styles of writing, such as fiction, news, poetry, etc. Such capacity ensures that a person is more readily able to identify things like propaganda. This consideration alone should illustrate the importance of literate comprehension.

Prose Illiteracy is in a Risky State of Development

In the face of so much technological progress made in such a short time lately, some mistakenly believe it no longer important to pass along the idea that reading and writing are critically important aspects of a complete literacy package. One might get by without them; yet, one's chances may be significantly improved through high levels of prose literacy. Certainly, when we consider more than one person, ability to read and write become increasingly important among a collective. Please refer to this 1994 assessment of adult literacy skills to get an idea of how percentages of people from various nationalities scored on incremental levels of literacy. Then, for a broader sense of national literacy rates, refer to a 2016 world ranking of general literacy rates.

Although it's been noted that a native U.S. ranking since undertaken has moved the U.S. from rank 11 to rank 7, (because 11 simply didn't sound right enough) isn't it still an alarming acknowledgement of our trajectory from the top?

A result of increased awareness, National Literacy Day was born. Officially, November 1 is to be known in the U.S. as National Family Literacy Day. Still, it's focus differs slightly among groups, while the essence of the event is that we strive to acknowledge measures and capacities of prose literacy, while we also strive to raise measures as we raise interest among the people to continue the legacy of prose literacy even as it's relevance seems to fade.

The significance of the national focus on "family literacy" is in the need for families to recognize the importance of instilling an interest in their children and commit to activities that support it. Also, the need is of a community at large, and communities are likewise encouraged to acknowledge the day with relevant activities and information in support of our need for the highest levels of prose literacy.

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Let us know what you think about questions presented, about what kinds of things can be done to promote literacy, or about literacy in general.