1. Gee’s first theorem is that literacy is black and white; you’re either literate or you’re not. Being literate enough to make do, so to speak, isn’t literate enough. This is controversial because there are people, especially when learning a third or fourth language, that may never be perfectly literate, but they can still make do. The same goes for Discourses- it’s easy to pretend to be someone you’re not to fit in. Gee’s second theorem is that Primary Discourses can only be critiqued by acquired secondary Discourses. This is controversial because it’s basically saying that you can’t improve yourself while staying true to your original self.
2. Mushfake is “‘making due when the real thing is not available,” (Gee 13). It relates to Discourse because sometimes it’s necessary to pretend like you belong or understand the Discourse somewhere, even if you don’t. Metaknowledge is knowing what you know. For example, I know I’m good at math. Resistance occurs when someone won’t do something that’s expected of them. 
3.  Students in June Jordan’s class used a combination of mushfake, metaknowledge, and resistance when learning about Black .English. The students in Jordan’s Black English class were pioneers trying to embrace a part of their lives that they’ve never been able to before in a school setting when one of their peers, Willie Jordan, lost his brother to police violence. The class decided they wanted to write an open letter about what happened and get it published, but they had a hard time deciding if the introduction should be written in Black or Standard English. According to Jordan, “the students voted, unanimously, to preface their individual messages with a paragraph composed in the language of Reggie Jordan,” (Jordan 372). This proves that the students are using the literary devices described by Jordan because the class resisted the urge to write in a way that has been normalized in schools. They also relied on metaknowledge- the student knew they were able to communicate well in Black English, so they wanted to convey their ideas in a manner that was familiar to them. Their decision did require mushfaking though- Jordan says that the students knew their writing wasn’t going to be as widespread if they wrote in Black English, so they had to have fake confidence in themselves and their way of speaking.

Annotations:

I made this questioning annotation because I was confused about why Willie Jordan was brought up. 

 

I made this annotation as sort of an “Ah-ha” moment for me because Jordan starts to circle back on Willie, which answered my question.

 

I made this annotation as a challenge. Obviously, Reggie’s murder was unjust and wrong, but I don’t know why deciding on how to write the introduction was so upsetting.

 

This is an extension annotation. This passage is still really relevant today, which is devastating.