Kofi Annan once said, ""Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential." Now, I know what you're thinking. It is neither correct nor proper to begin a paper with a quote especially one of this length however, if I had to compare my philosophy of literacy to any source at all, it would definitely be this quote. Kofi Annan describes literacy in one powerful quote and, ultimately, he is correct. Literacy is what makes the world go round in every way possible because literacy allows for knowledge and knowledge is power and because of that literacy is the slice of life that everyone should enjoy!
             As I think about what literacy means to me, the most important thought that comes to mind is my understanding of it: the ability to read and write. Based on that, I feel that without the ability to read and write, mankind is unable to properly function because there is no foundation for adequate communication. Without literacy our world would function less efficiently and would be less knowledgeable. By mastering the ability to read and write, an individual is capable of using that ability to share in other peoples' research and findings, thereby expanding their learning base. More so, individuals can use their expanded learning base to strengthen the skills they have so that they might be able to share their know...