Contact Zone

Some of this essay confused me, but certain parts of it I was able to comprehend and relate to. The story about her son and his friend with the baseball cards was a good illustration of literacy though. But anyway…
Mary Louise Pratt’s essay, “Arts of the Contact Zone” explained that her goal of the “contact zone” was to fix moments like the letter written to King Phillip III. She describes the contact zone as a place where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other. Many people see different things and view things differently in a contact zone. Just as the letter written to King Phillip III would mean something different to different people.
To me, when I thought about her description of a contact zone, the first thing I thought of was the dorms. It is a place where different cultured people meet, clash, and surely grapple. I think almost everyone runs into a new type of contact zone everyday. You are surrounded by different people anywhere you ago. Kutztown University, being a diverse college, is a contact zone in itself.