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* ''Literature/TheBeatryceProphecy'': Invoked in all the girls in the land, where it is illegal to teach girls to read or write.
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Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup


** "Deadomutt" parodies this trope when the villain Mentok used his PsychicPowers to override the jury to send Harvey to jail. He soon forgets how to read during the three and a half years that he spent in prison and has to relearn. Over the span of six months he goes from trying to read a children's book and having a GoldenMoment to doing the exact same thing except for reading the ''Penthouse'' forums.

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** "Deadomutt" parodies this trope when the villain Mentok used his PsychicPowers to override the jury to send Harvey to jail. He soon forgets how to read during the three and a half years that he spent in prison and has to relearn. Over the span of six months he goes from trying to read a children's book and having a GoldenMoment LessonOfTheDaySpeech to doing the exact same thing except for reading the ''Penthouse'' forums.
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* In ''Fanfic/IveGotYourBack'', Marina can read in her native language, but she can't read Squidish.

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* In ''Fanfic/IveGotYourBack'', {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/IveGotYourBack''. Marina can read in her native language, knows Octarian, but for most of Arc I, she can't read Squidish.wasn't yet fluent in Squiddish.
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* In the world of ''Manga/GoblinSlayer'', literacy is far from a sure thing, as shown at the start of the series when Priestess first signs up to be an adventurer, and the first thing she's asked is whether she can read and write. This doesn't come up much in the main story, as all of the main characters are literate. In ''Year Zero'', however, it's shown that many characters that are significant in the present day, such as Heavy Warrior and Spearman, did not know how to read and write when they first started out, and had to find various sources to learn those skills from after recognizing just how indispensable they are.
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* ''Film/WaynesWorld'': Parodied in a scene subtitled "Oscar Clip", where Wayne finishes up a tearful lament with "And worst of all, I [[TropeNamer never learned to READ!]]" The fact that Kate Winslet won an Oscar for ''Literature/TheReader'' 16 years later only makes the OscarBait joke even funnier.

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* ''Film/WaynesWorld'': Parodied in a scene subtitled "Oscar Clip", where Wayne finishes up a tearful lament with "And worst of all, I [[TropeNamer never learned to READ!]]" READ!]]", only to admit that he made that up as soon as the subtitle disappears. The fact that Kate Winslet won an Oscar for ''Literature/TheReader'' 16 years later only makes the OscarBait joke even funnier.
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* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'': Coach Steve is ''outstandingly'' illiterate. So much so that he reads the letter B as "fat guy" and E as "sideways comb."
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* The UsefulNotes/AppleII game ''Freedom!'' has a slave trying to escape from the American South. If the player character is illiterate, signs will be displayed [[DevelopersForesight with unintelligible characters]].

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* The UsefulNotes/AppleII Platform/AppleII game ''Freedom!'' has a slave trying to escape from the American South. If the player character is illiterate, signs will be displayed [[DevelopersForesight with unintelligible characters]].
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* ''Literature/TheBookThief'': Liesel first learns to read with the help of Hans and "The Grave Diggers' Handbook", the first book she stole at her brother's burial.
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* In ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'', DarkActionGirl Verse is illiterate as a result of having grown up in TheHorde, and is rather embarrassed about it when the player notices. One can [[PetTheDog offer to teach her]], but she suggests that they wait until after the war is over.
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* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': Beavis and Butt-Head are generally illiterate, either misreading signs/labels as something else or finding them too difficult to understand. In "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS8E19SchoolTest School Test]]", they take several hours to ''write their names''; Beavis [[EpicFail couldn't even do it correctly]], writing his as "Beafis".

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* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': Beavis and Butt-Head are generally illiterate, either misreading signs/labels as something else or finding them too difficult to understand. In "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS8E19SchoolTest School Test]]", they take several hours to ''write their names''; Beavis [[EpicFail couldn't can't even do it correctly]], writing his as "Beafis".
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* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': Beavis and Butt-Head are generally illiterate, either misreading signs/labels as something else or finding them too difficult to understand. In "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS8E19SchoolTest School Test]]", they take several hours to ''write down their names''; Beavis [[EpicFail couldn't even do it correctly]], writing his as "Beafis".

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* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': Beavis and Butt-Head are generally illiterate, either misreading signs/labels as something else or finding them too difficult to understand. In "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS8E19SchoolTest School Test]]", they take several hours to ''write down their names''; Beavis [[EpicFail couldn't even do it correctly]], writing his as "Beafis".
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* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': Beavis and Butt-Head are generally illiterate, either misreading signs/labels as something else or finding them too difficult to understand. In "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS8E19SchoolTest School Test]]", they take several hours to ''write down their own names''; Beavis [[EpicFail couldn't even do it correctly]], writing his as "Beafis".

to:

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': Beavis and Butt-Head are generally illiterate, either misreading signs/labels as something else or finding them too difficult to understand. In "[[Recap/BeavisAndButtheadS8E19SchoolTest School Test]]", they take several hours to ''write down their own names''; Beavis [[EpicFail couldn't even do it correctly]], writing his as "Beafis".
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*''Anime/RemyNobodysGirl'': Remy was raised in a [[IdyllicEnglishVillage rural French village]] for most of her life and never knew how to read and write until she was taught by Vitalis, an Italian street performer.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': The episode "Billy Idiot" revealed at one point that Billy's dad can't read. Strangely, he was shown reading a newspaper both before and after his IQ dropped down to be the same as his son's. Also in the episode "The Taking Tree", it was shown that he was accepted to Harvard possibly [[ChildProdigy around the]] [[TeenGenius same age as Billy]] unless he is OlderThanHeLooks in the {{Flashback}}.

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': The episode "Billy Idiot" revealed at one point has [[MrFanservice Billy’s Dad, Harold,]] reveal that Billy's dad he can't read. Strangely, he read, and as such didn’t read that the brochure of the dance school that [[MrFanservice Billy]] was going to attend explicity stated on the first page in bright red ink that they steal the souls of their students. Despite this, however, he is shown reading a newspaper both before and after his IQ dropped down to be the same as his son's. Also Additionally in the episode "The Taking Tree", it was shown that he was accepted to Harvard Harvard, possibly [[ChildProdigy around the]] [[TeenGenius same age as as]] [[MrFanservice Billy]] unless he is OlderThanHeLooks in the {{Flashback}}.
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* ''Literature/TheAfterward'': Olsa, being a StreetUrchin, was illiterate until Kalanthe had taught her.
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*''Anime/KatriGirlOfTheMeadows'': Katri, being a nine-year-old who's lived on a rural Finnish farm all her life, is this. She quickly learns to read and write in Räikkölä thanks to Martti and Akki.
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* An episode of ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' features an imprisoned man who was illiterate at the time of his conviction, something attributed to poverty and dysfunctional home environment. He's depicted as having not only learned during his incarceration, but become able to read at an advanced level, frequently quoting classic literature. Somebody invested in teaching him to that extent proves to be Sherlock and Joan's lead on his accomplice.
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* Unsurprisingly, none of the animals in ''Literature/TheOneAndOnlyIvan'' can read. However, Ivan the gorilla understands English, knows something ''about'' reading. He can see the mall's billboard from his cage, and knows that what's written on it is the same verbal spiel he's heard countless times - Welcome To The Exit 8 Big Top Mall And Video Arcade, Home To The One And Only Ivan. After great effort, he manages to deduce which set of letters corresponds to "home" and laboriously copies them in a painted collage depicting the zoo he saw in a commercial. Unfortunately to humans his artwork is [[PlayingPictionary abstract in the extreme]], but it ''does'' draw attention to the plight of him and the other animals in the mall, and [[SavingTheWorldWithArt that helps]].
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* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Ragetti insists he should "get credit for tryin'" to read the Bible.

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* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'': Ragetti insists he should "get credit for tryin'" to read the Bible.
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* This sets off the main plot of ''Gutenberg! The Musical'', as the town's illiteracy helps spur Gutenberg to invent the printing press. Most notably, a woman's inability to read accidentally kills her child (she mistakes jelly beans for medicine. It's that kind of musical).

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* This sets off the main plot of ''Gutenberg! ''[[Theatre/GutenbergTheMusical Gutenberg! The Musical'', Musical!!]]'', as the town's illiteracy helps spur Gutenberg to invent the printing press. Most notably, a woman's inability to read accidentally kills her child (she mistakes jelly beans for medicine. It's that kind of musical).
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* ''Literature/HarryPotter '': In the fourth book, Albus Dumbledore once mentioned that he was not sure if his brother could read in an OutOfCharacterMoment when discussing Aberforth appearing the newspapers when he was prosecuted for doing inappropriate charms on goats in a conversation with Hagrid and Harry and his friends. However, the context of this statement is ambiguous with several possible different interpretations. This can be a read as a joke meant only for Hagrid, who knows Aberforth while the kids and the readers don’t, about the general and unfair perception of the brothers as being a genius and a simpleton. This could also been seen as the type of mean joke that people make about their siblings all the time without really meaning it. Aberforth is not introduced until the end of the seventh with Harry and his friends having quickly coming to understand that the general perception of Aberforth as a simpleton is not true. Aberforth is sharp as a tack and is even vaguely alluded to by Mundungus Fletcher as being so even before the kids meet him which doesn’t jive with being illiterate. He mentions Rita Skeeter’s book in a way that implies he’s read it and is seen both reading and writing in front of his brother in the ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' movies which points the comment in the “mean joke” direction.

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* ''Literature/HarryPotter '': In the fourth book, Albus Dumbledore once mentioned that he was not sure if his brother could read in an OutOfCharacterMoment when discussing Aberforth appearing the newspapers when he was prosecuted for doing inappropriate charms on goats in a conversation with Hagrid and Harry and his friends. However, the context of this statement is ambiguous with several possible different interpretations. This can be a read as a joke meant only for Hagrid, who knows Aberforth while the kids and the readers don’t, about the general and unfair perception of the brothers as being a genius and a simpleton. This could also been seen as the type of mean joke that people make about their siblings all the time without really meaning it. Aberforth is not introduced until the end of the seventh book with Harry and his friends having quickly coming to understand that the general perception of Aberforth as a simpleton an idiot jealous of his brother for his genius is not true. Aberforth is sharp as a tack and is even vaguely alluded to by Mundungus Fletcher as being so even before the kids meet him which doesn’t jive with being illiterate. He mentions Rita Skeeter’s book in a way that implies he’s read it and is seen both reading and writing in front of his brother in the ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' movies which points the original comment in the “mean joke” direction.
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* ''Literature/HarryPotter '': In the fourth book, Albus Dumbledore once mentioned that he was not sure if his brother could read in an OutOfCharacterMoment when discussing Aberforth appearing the newspapers when he was prosecuted for doing inappropriate charms on goats with Harry and Hagrid. This trope would later be subverted in the third ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' when Aberforth shows not the ability to read but also write in front of Albus, this could either be due to forgetting this fact in the books or bad blood between the two.

to:

* ''Literature/HarryPotter '': In the fourth book, Albus Dumbledore once mentioned that he was not sure if his brother could read in an OutOfCharacterMoment when discussing Aberforth appearing the newspapers when he was prosecuted for doing inappropriate charms on goats in a conversation with Hagrid and Harry and his friends. However, the context of this statement is ambiguous with several possible different interpretations. This can be a read as a joke meant only for Hagrid, who knows Aberforth while the kids and the readers don’t, about the general and unfair perception of the brothers as being a genius and a simpleton. This could also been seen as the type of mean joke that people make about their siblings all the time without really meaning it. Aberforth is not introduced until the end of the seventh with Harry and Hagrid. This trope would later be subverted his friends having quickly coming to understand that the general perception of Aberforth as a simpleton is not true. Aberforth is sharp as a tack and is even vaguely alluded to by Mundungus Fletcher as being so even before the kids meet him which doesn’t jive with being illiterate. He mentions Rita Skeeter’s book in a way that implies he’s read it and is seen both reading and writing in front of his brother in the third ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' when Aberforth shows not movies which points the ability to read but also write in front of Albus, this could either be due to forgetting this fact comment in the books or bad blood between the two.“mean joke” direction.

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