How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Papa, do you believe all the Shaker Law?"
"Most. I'm glad it's all writ down in the Book of Shaker."
"How do you know it's all writ down, Papa? You can't read."
Papa looked at me before he spoke.
"No, I cannot read. But our Law has been read to me. And because I could not read, I knew to listen with a full heart. It might be the last and only time I'd learn its meaning." (4.36-40)
Papa can't read, but even though he wishes he could, he wants Rob to know that reading isn't the only path to understanding.
P.S. The Book of Shaker isn't really a thing. Check out our section on "Setting" for more on that.
Quote #5
"…why can't you vote? Is it because you're a Shaker?"
"No. It's account of I can't read or write. When a man cannot do those things, people think his head is weak. Even when he's proved his back is strong."
"Who decides?"
"Men who look at me and do not take me for what I be. Men who only see me make my mark, my X, when I can't sign my name. They can't see how I true a beam to build our barn, or see that the rows of corn in my field are straight as fences. They just see me walk the street in Learning in clothes made me by my own woman. They do not care that my coat is sturdy and keeps me warm. They'll not care that I owe no debt, and that I am beholding to no man." (4.96-99)
Again, Papa sees two different—and equally valid—kinds of knowledge: the book learning that is valued by the larger community (and that Papa values as well), and the older, more practical wisdom that shows itself in the way a man handles his affairs and manages his land. Papa suffers the disrespect of the powers that be, though, because the only kind of learning they recognize is the kind that Papa doesn't have.
Quote #6
The trouble kicked up when I showed my report card to Aunt Matty. She could read. But as it turned out, she couldn't read the letter A, no matter how many she saw. All she could read was D, where I got a D in English.
"You got D in English!"
The way Aunt Matty took on, it must have been the first D anybody ever got, because it sure gave her the vapors. I thought she was going to die from the shock of it. Like she had seen a ghost. There it was. A big black D, as big and black as Miss Malcolm could make it, right there on my old report card. And it was more than poor Aunt Matty could bear. She let out a gasp, and her hand went to her throat like she was spasmed. (6.18-20)
Aunt Matty's overwrought response to the D on Rob's report card comes across as comical, and makes her seem silly despite her big-time education. Might want to keep your mouth shut next time, Auntie M.