Comm Lab Week 1

"Orality and Literacy" Response

I think Ong makes some really interesting points. I appreciate that he seems to fully acknowledge the fact that our view of an oral society is generally speculation because we live in a literate society it is impossible for us to know or fully understand life in an oral society. I agree that sign language is a product of a literate language because it is based on literacy and rules of literacy, such as having an alphabet and grammar. I understand Ong’s belief that literacy is a form of human evolution with the rise of science, art, philosophy and so forth., but I can’t seem to fully agree with it. Plato, was against writing, believing that it weakens the mind. One of Ong’s arguments is that, today, we are forced to think away from cliché because it is frowned upon, because it is the obvious and it takes more thought to stride away from the cliché. That’s obviously completely untrue as you look at some of the films and books that come out today. In my opinion, I find things produced today probably even more cliché, but that may be because we've been overexposed. However, in Ong’s defense, he admits that oral culture can be ‘artistic and beautiful’ in ways that literary people will never experience, but he still says that orality is a lower form to literacy. I think it’s possible to say that our so-called step forward can also be a step backwards. Plato viewed writing the way we may view computers, “inhuman, thing-like.” It’s true that computers can make you lazy, and that it probably does weaken your brain with tools like grammar/spell check, the tempt of cheating with all the resources the internet and mobile phones provide, and tools such as calculators. We don’t really have to know as much, or spend as much time learning things anymore because we have technology that does it for us. However, maybe technology can some what be seen as going back to orality because we have more time to concentrate on other ways of interacting and communicating without the use of writing. Now with resources like YouTube, a new language, or a language forgotten is resurfacing in a different form, kind of bringing us back to orality, from still drawings to moving images that is accessible and available to anyone and everyone in the world.




55 Word Story


#B000EZYKTS

Assemble. Polish. Package. Deliver.
Receive. Tremble. Open. Excitement.
Plug in. Turn on. Wait. Anticipation.
Red light. Push. Green light. Active.
Input. Output. Motor. Life.
Humming. Shrieking. Silence. Repeat.
Input. Output. Head. Body.
Humming. Shrieking. Silence. Repeat.
Input. Output. Sleek. Sexy.
Agile. Flexible. Simple. Relief.
Input. Output. Smooth. Lean.
Life. Dead. Green. Red
Shaved. Guaranteed. Complete.