What is Literacy

Literacy is reading, reading is literacy. Reading to me is being able to read words, sentences, paragraphs, articles, signs, menus, directions (and the list is endless) and deriving meaning from the text. Text is made up of letters and words, not pictures. Just because a person can think, doesn't mean he is literate. There are many new definitions for literacy, however no matter how technology changes, one still needs to know the basics of reading. Think about the definition of the word illiterate. Doesn't that mean "not being able to read or write". After looking up some defintions online Mirriam-Webster's dictionary does have an added definition of having a lack of knowledge in a certain field. Well that sure opens the door to a numerous amount of considerations concerning the definition of literacy. I guess that would make us all illiterate in some area. I still don't buy it. All of these new defintions are too much, media literacy, visual literacy. I see where these writers are coming from, however I still view literacy as having the ability to read and write.