My Adventures Across The Wonderful World Of Literature

Back in ancient times, the development of the first urban cultures was due to gradual changes and advancements that contributed to a communal society. As agriculture and specialized jobs started to become the norm in early cities, citizens began to realize that they were missing something that was crucial to their productivity and organization: a system of writing and recordkeeping. While most ancient civilizations created a form of writing, Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies utilized them for more than just recordkeeping. These advancements serve as ancient origins of how we use written language in the present day. While there are currently countless forms of writing in the modern age, the concept of writing and literacy is treasured

“There is more pleasure to building castles in the air than on the ground.” This quote by Edward Gibbon illustrates the intensity of writing and what gratification it can hold. When one writes, they are not confined to one certain formula. A person is able to express their thoughts and feelings in any way they choose. Language is a border for many people in that some cannot comprehend a certain language, understand how to use it, or recognize what is being said to them. On the other side of the border, they are not viewed as equals or as important compared to those who are not competing with this barrier. In his essay “Coming into Language,” Jimmy Santiago Baca uses his personal experiences to demonstrate how much

3. His eyes widened and, accentuated by his __________________________________, you could tell he was sickened by the sight of his wife in the room. 4. The __________________________________ philosophy is to use a practical approach to problems, rather than theories. 5. She __________________________________ conversed with her friend on phone. 6. The room was hidden behind the __________________________________ green curtain. 7. He and his __________________________________ hung out at the bar smoking. 8. He could feel __________________________________ anger building inside himself. Matching: Match the antonym to the vocabulary word. _____ 1. concerned _____ 2. compliant _____ 3. clear, truthful _____ 4. ornate _____ 5. tiny _____ 6. beneficial _____ 7. harmful _____ 8. ideally A. austere B. equivocate C. mulish D. cynically E. benignly F. colossal G. apathetically H. pernicious

“Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie first appeared in “The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the pleasures of Reading.” Sherman Alexie is a well-known Native American writer that publishes short stories, novels, and poetry. Out of the three narratives, I found myself connect with this story more than the others. Alexie tells us about his childhood as an Indian boy that grew up on the Reservation. His father was a big reader so as a kid he’s always had an interest in books and eventually it became a passion. As he advanced in reading at an early age, peers would have difficulty with the content that he’s already achieved. Other kids would frown upon him because it was out of the ordinary for an Indian to be smart. Children on the Reservation were expected to be unsuccessful, but Alexie refused to let himself fail. Throughout his obstacles in life, he ended up becoming a writer and now, visits the Reservation to make sure children get as much education as possible. Reading saved his life and he believed it could save theirs as well. Sherman Alexie uses multiple techniques throughout his narrative to inform the audience about how he saved his life through literacy by tieing in his personal perspectives.

Analyzing the big picture, what surprised me is the variety of English styles of speaking, and hence writing, throughout the world.

When people speak to one another they usually do so very rapidly, and subconsciously. The opposite can be said of writing as it is more slow, and deliberate, often requiring intense thought. As demonstrated already in English 101 it is necessary to visualize, plan, and draft while writing. The principles of oration were separate from those of writing until the Age of Information, with the development of modern technology. The proverbial gap was abridged with texting. It allowed writing to catch up to the speed of speaking. Unfortunately while it did match the speed, it took away formalities used in writing such as spelling, punctuation, and using capital letters.

Developments in digital technology are expanding our understanding of “writing.” To the extent that technology is available and appropriate, by the end of their first

Some think that people with knowledge of the world’s complexities and its limitations are often unhappy, while their less-knowledgeable counterparts remain contented. They think that being ignorant of the cold reality surrounding them will bring them happiness because their minds will be peaceful and innocent. However, knowledge is a very strong element to world development. It allows great things to be achieved. Therefore, knowledge actually does make one happier.

Has our “text,” language ruined our actual language? The author of 2b or not 2b is written by David Crystal. Throughout his article Crystal argues about the benefits of texting and how texting is not a new thing. David Crystal uses two rhetorical strategies to prove his argument, one being humor to compare two types of poems that were sent through text message, the other using analogy to compare schooling, and texting, and the last his using analogy to compare abbreviations that are used today, were used in history.

1.) Basically, Gladwell leads the reader back and forth through time, and through the history of cancer research. It begins with trials and failures of commonly used drugs and treatments, all with limited to no success. Then new, un-thought of experimental, multi pronged treatments, which attacked cancers on multiple fronts, were developed. At first too powerful, then reduced, tweaked and perfected, these new multi-pronged treatments became a cancer fighting force to be reckoned with. Demolishing childhood leukemia in its first few bouts. Then a cellular biologist who figured that mass screen testing was not utilized massively enough, decided he was going to collect man-made compounds

Online media is pushing literacy in different and cool directions. Kids and teenagers today are coming up with new ways of writing. Clive tells us in The New Literacy,¨The brevity of texting, and status updating, teaches young people to develop haiku-like concision.¨ When kids text they write short and fast things and don't go into much detail. Since we are changing the way we write, in four years from now when we have even more new technology imagine how many more ways of writing there will be. He also says that, ¨For Lunsford, technology isn't killing our ability to write. It's reviving it—and pushing our literacy in bold new directions.¨ But still most people think

Given the prevalence of books, magazines, and newspapers in everyday life today, it is difficult to imagine a world without print. The transition from the essentially oral culture of the late Middle Ages to the print culture of the Renaissance fundamentally changed human interaction. In Western society, the invention of the printing press and subsequent widespread literacy signaled the shift away from a primarily oral culture to a literate, print culture. Many scholars, including Plato and Harold Innis, have suggested that the advantages of an oral culture exceed those of a print culture. Even further, the past few decades have seen calls to orality, or propositions that we must return to oral culture to balance print culture. As seen through a lens of the history of print culture, the benefits of literacy and a predominantly print culture outweigh the benefits of an oral culture because of the impact print has had on standardized language and national consciousness, the field of science and accuracy, and the quick dissemination of information and dialogue. Through a comparison of advancements during the Print Revolution and current features of modern society, I will argue that there is no need to re-embrace orality because elements of oral culture already exist in our modern print culture.

There will be a specific reference to Elizabeth Eisenstein’s argument for a ‘printing revolution’, in relation to how the printing press brought about a rapid increase and ‘standardization’ of books, a growth of knowledge as well as the preservation of important

This course will focus on the methodologies of book history as they are applicable to the Anglophone written tradition,

How has writing and the way we read changed in the last fifty years? Technology, reading, and writing has changed greatly over the last five decades, but how much has it affected our culture? Technology has become our culture, we are cyber culture. We need everything as fast as we can get it, somehow we’ve lost the time through the years to read and write as we once did.