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Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: LisaPeace on January 19, 2008, 05:41:11 pm I noticed today that at the TCC library, there was a big poster from the Oklahoma Library Assn. Literacy Initiative. that had a picture of Toby Keith on it and the slogan "Read Y'all!". I thought it was so freakish that our state is using this slogan to promote LITERACY that I took a photo of it on my phone and showed it to my 6th grade son. His response? "Oh yeah, they have posters like that in our library at school".
Here's the website: Read Y'All! (http://"http://www.readyall.com/") Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: RecycleMichael on January 19, 2008, 05:43:13 pm Completely embarrassing.
Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: CoffeeBean on January 19, 2008, 05:49:12 pm I had the same reaction.
Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: kylieosu on January 19, 2008, 05:51:18 pm Wow...That's just sad.
Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: bucuo on January 19, 2008, 06:12:40 pm Y'all need to lighten up........[;)]
Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: sgrizzle on January 19, 2008, 06:24:21 pm Scott Carter, former PR director at Oklahoma County’s Metropolitan Library System came up with the Read Y’all slogan. “The theme works on a number of levels,” Carter said. “It’s an inclusive slogan and it’s in a Southern slang that is comfortable to Oklahomans. It dispels the myth that reading is only for the elite. Some people see it as tongue-in-cheek. However they see it, most people have a good feeling about the project.”
Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: dsjeffries on January 19, 2008, 06:29:49 pm quote: Oh wrighte, I forgott, only them-thar elites kin reed. [xx(][B)][xx(][B)][:(] God save us. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: waterboy on January 19, 2008, 06:32:12 pm quote: I agree with Carter. Its harmless. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: Ed W on January 19, 2008, 07:40:37 pm Where I grew up, it would be, "Hey! Yunz need readin'!"
The juxtaposition of an imperative message with a homey colloquial expression is meant to convey humor, creating as it does a kind of homespun cognitive dissonance that ordinarily results in laughter as the intended audience reacts to that implied inner conflict. Of course, when you have to esplain it, it's not funny anymore. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: tulsasignnazi on January 19, 2008, 08:20:34 pm Oh, the horror! Whatever. Forget it.[:P][:P]
Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: TheArtist on January 19, 2008, 10:03:21 pm I actually find it repugnant. One can only hope they have done their homework. I would like to see the marketing studies that came up with this idea and showed it would work.
Hmm... and the Chair of the committee setting this up is named Buffy? We are doomed. She probably thought that WAS proper english. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: Daniel Wright on January 19, 2008, 10:18:59 pm Most 6th graders would have gone with
I can haz Reazingz!!@!!1111 LOL!!!11111 Consider ourselves lucky Toby Keith was all we ended up with. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: TulsaSooner on January 19, 2008, 11:08:37 pm I was equally horrified by the 'Say No to Drugs' campaign of the 80's.
I mean, I'm nearly 40 years old now and drugs have never asked me anything! Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: patric on January 20, 2008, 10:48:24 am quote: I wonder how Carter would assess the "Read a Book" video's inclusiveness of popular black culture these days? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN2VqFPNS8w&feature=related (turn the volume down if you are at work or have youngsters nearby) Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: cannon_fodder on January 21, 2008, 08:44:31 am Horrible.
Slang has a place in the world. But generally one would wish a child or other illiterate would learn to use proper English and maybe even grammar before endeavoring to supplant slang into their vernacular. Why would you want to start out speaking poorly and later try to correct it? Why not: "Yo you be readin" or any other improper slang that part of our society would be comfortable with? Is redneck or souther drawl now the official language of Oklahoma? Clearly it is not the end of the world, but to promote literacy with poor English is just a bad decision. If that is the level of literacy we're shooting for it's no wonder our education continues to lag. Of course, if I thought for a second that the posters would get even a small percentage of people to read I'd be OK with it - but they wont. No one is going to enter a literacy program because Toby Keith says "Ya'll" on a poster. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: waterboy on January 21, 2008, 09:03:58 am quote: Step back and think. Who is the target for this campaign? Probably not TU educated attorneys or masters degree city planners. Ever heard of "when talking to a farmer...talk like a farmer"? Ignore the slang, colloquialism, drawl, whatever and see what they are trying to do by using a successful entertainer to encourage reading. Will Rogers spoke like an Okie but had a keen intellect and sharp wit. He didn't speak any better than Toby Keith most of the time. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: cannon_fodder on January 21, 2008, 09:10:53 am I understand Waterboy, it makes some sense in that regard. But for school children it makes little sense. On top of that, I really don't think any illiterate adult will see that sign and take to reading.
I hope they are successful, but I doubt improper English with help then with their goal. And, I should point out, Will Rogers was able to speak very eloquently when he so chose. He definitely spoke Oklahoman, but he understood when and how much he could turn it on and up. I don't begrudge anyone an accent, I just don't think we should teach them. But I understand your point Waterboy, perhaps it will draw some people into a library. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: sgrizzle on January 21, 2008, 09:11:53 am quote: If they did, it was already too late. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: cannon_fodder on January 21, 2008, 09:21:00 am "20 percent of our state's adult population [is illiterate]."
http://www.readyall.com/intro.html Wow. I couldn't find good State literacy rankings, by 80% can not be that high. It is the same range of El Salvador, Honduras, or Iran. Slightly below the Congo. The good news is we have a very nice library system: http://www.pdc.us/pdf/praise-pubs/literacy-report_2003.pdf Tulsa is #8 in the country among cities of 270K+. We also scored well for overall educational spending. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: Renaissance on January 21, 2008, 10:26:40 am quote: You've got to realize how they do these literacy studies. These aren't people who literally can't read--it means they're "functionally illiterate." Still a bad thing--you'll never find them reading Dickens or maybe even the newspapers--but it's not like 1/5 of the population can't read a stop sign. Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: breitee on January 21, 2008, 10:57:58 am The Beverly Hillbillies are alive an well!
Title: Does anyone besides me find this horrifying? Post by: Hometown on January 21, 2008, 12:42:38 pm My generation of Tulsans aspired to be urbane, wouldn’t have been caught dead in a cowboy hat. That was back when Tulsa Schools were famous for the quality of their education.
then Black is beautiful Okie is beautiful Stupid is beautiful happened And actually stupid is sort of sexy in a craven kind of giving in to the dark side sort of way. |