Assignment 3

What is a text? 

A text is a source of information that is from a firsthand source. In Walter Ong's Orality and Literacy, Ong states, "There is no way directly to refute a text" (78). A text itself can never be proven wrong because it cannot participate in discourse. Like Ong goes on to say, if you ask a text a question, you won't get an answer back. As long as that text is in print, whatever it says cannot be refuted. To refute a text, one must speak with the original author. Only then can proper discourse be made.


How is writing a technology? 

It could be argued that writing was the original technology. Ong said, "It initiated what print and computers only continue" (80). Technology can also be defined as something that benefits and enhances society; writing does this as well. It allows ideas to be shared and read by millions of people. Without writing, details of many important events might have been forgotten. For example, how would we know so much about Christopher Columbus' discovery of America if it weren't for his journals and ship logs? Writing as a technology has benefited our world in so many ways.


How do we experience oral vs. written texts differently?

In written texts, much is left up to the reader. The reader can decide how to interpret something. The reader can create visual images in his own mind of how situations, characters, and events look. The reader can choose what he sees. In contrast, in oral texts, the reader becomes a "viewer." Now, the viewer must accept the text as the speaker gives it to him. The speaker puts the constraints on the text rather than the viewer. For example, when reading Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," a reader can choose how he imagines MLK Jr. to look as he writes that letter. Maybe the reader envisions MLK Jr. stopping every couple of lines to think about what he wants to write next. Maybe the reader imagines him furiously composing the letter as sweat drips off his forehead. However, when watching MLK Jr. giving a speech such as "I Have A Dream," the viewer must accept facts. For example,  the viewer cannot think, "I think MLK Jr. gave his speech with a soft tone of voice and a gentle manner." Obviously, MLK Jr. was very adamant about his subject and had a strong tone of voice that included inflections when he got excited.