The Literary Anthology as Classroom Textbook

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Oren Lupo

Educational textbooks date back to the founding of the first Church schools in England in 700 CE. (Carpenter and Pritchard, 1984) Latin was the language of the Church and English state, and thus indispensible to the education of Old English-speaking young men entering the Church’s monastic orders.

Teaching reading and writing in the medieval Church was delivered with the aid of Latin primers and grammar texts, as well as books covering the basic alphabet, songs and liturgical prayers for youngsters.  Such books contained collections of well-known dialogues, sayings and quotations from classical authors that were memorized and recited by rote. The predominant mode of pedagogy for younger students was the question and answer format, or catechism, which required only one manuscript textbook with little or no supporting materials or outside knowledge on the part of the teacher. (Wakefield, 1998)

One of the most important early textbooks is The Grammar and Colloquy of Ælfric (1006 CE), which served as a manual of Latin grammar and glossary intended for young pupils. Ælfric’s school book is exceptional because it is set as an entertaining dialogue between some lay-person students and their teacher (Carpenter and Pritchard, 1984).  With the rise of medieval universities in England between the 12th and 16th centuries, textbooks began to include manuals on logic and rhetoric in Latin based on classical models. Textbooks were also created to train Latin students in verbal fluency and rhetorical skill. They were part of the medieval curriculum of the Trivium and Quadrivium, intended to provide training in the liberal arts by including arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music. (Fideler, 1996)

Fig 1. Child's Horn Book - 1661

During the 16th century, Elizabethan Grammar Schools educated the boys of the nobility from ages 7 to 14.  One specialized type of textbook used in teaching younger children was the horn-book, which was built from a wooden board and handle protected by a horn cover with printed ABC’s, grammar lessons or prayers pasted on parchment. (see Fig. 1) The first English-language manuals of Latin grammar and syntax were also put into use during Elizabethan times, which led to the standardization of William Lily’s  Grammar (1540) as the only authorized Latin teaching text by order of Henry VIII. This textbook remained in use for over two hundred and fifty years in English universities and Grammar Schools.  (Carpenter and Pritchard, 1984)

The Enlightenment ushered in some profound changes in English education during the 18th C, including the addition of teaching in English alongside Latin, and the beginning of the textbook publishing industry among booksellers. Illustrated primers for younger children began to be published, and there was a rise in overall opportunities for gaining literacy, book ownership and home-based instruction in England. At the same time, certain Enlightenment philosophers questioned the value of rote memorization and the rigid, limited classical curricula of English schools. John Locke proposed that education should cultivate both the mind and body, and that it be directed toward achieving broad vocational and social purposes in line with citizens’ natural rights to life, liberty and property.

The late 18th century also saw a change in the English-language textbooks used in the United States that stemmed from the Enlightenment philosophies and nationalism which inspired the American Revolution. Religious instruction was combined with teaching of American language, spelling, and pronunciation as distinguished from English models (e.g., a famous example is Noah Webster’s American Spelling Book).  (Chall & Squire, 1996)

An important development of the Victorian period in the English-speaking world was the publication of children’s textbooks and readers that presented historical, geographical and scientific facts and information, rather than just religious instruction, though moral instruction was a common feature of children’s books that taught reading through stories (Wakefield, 1998, 11-14). This differed between boys and girls among the upper classes that could afford education, however, as private home-instruction by tutors and governesses for girls mainly consisted of hours of memorizing a limited range of questions and answers from popular instructional books.

Textbooks introduced during this time in the English-speaking world responded to advances in educational philosophy, the rise of regional schools systems, the professionalization of teaching, and the introduction of standardized curricula, all of which have continued to be central concerns in modern textbook editing, publication and instructional design. (Fagan, 1980)

Anthologies and Introduction of Literature into the School Curriculum

The introduction of teaching anthologies as classroom textbooks coincides with a change that occurred in the late 19th century in Britain, and other parts of the English-speaking world, which saw the addition of literature a field of study in the school curriculum and provided a transition from the moralistic instructional readers of the Victorian period.

The age-old need to teach reading and writing created the opportunity to use literary works as teaching tools in widely available textbook formats, of which the literary anthology was a new development.  The change to textbook-format literary anthologies presented students with samples and specimens of writing in their original form, either with or without abridgment, in a way that differed from the miscellaneous format of the Latin readers. Also, the anthology type of textbook was not as well suited to memorization and repetition as the miscellany; it was better suited to the modern pedagogical practices of selective reading and teacher-directed comparative study.

Literary anthologies have been used in mass education in the 20th Century because they provide formats for shorter works (the story, the essay, the poem) in a single volume. They also may be structured around broad sweeps of time, thus presenting a continuous survey of distinct historical periods, and enable a juxtaposition of texts in one volume that can compare and contrast the growth of literary techniques and periods. (Banta, 1993) In addition, modern anthologies may include supplementary resources in the form of footnotes, illustrations, glossaries, historical maps, and other apparatus.  For these reasons, literary anthologies are now the standard textbook format for introducing literary works to students from elementary school through to university courses. (Hook, 1971)

On the other hand, literary anthologies have a history of their own stemming from imitations of the classical model (anthology translates from the Greek root: anthos flower +legein to gather) of collecting poems and songs into single volumes. The practice of assembling poetry anthologies, both as classical translations and in English, goes back to Elizabethan times (Ferry, 2001). The format was revived in the 19th century as gatherings of “representative” poetry selections gathered on historical, national or aesthetic themes for home reading.  The most prominent and widely read of these was Palgrave’s Golden Treasury (1861). It set the popular mark for incorporating poems on both a historical basis, genre and verse forms (e.g. lyric, sonnet, ode), as well as covering different expressions of feeling and subject matter that would appeal to different types of readers.

This second current in anthology publication involved considerations that were beyond any given anthology’s merits as a classroom textbook. In the United States in the 1920’s, for example, there was a mass movement driven by immigration to provide educational textbooks in literature that were distinctly American, not British, which also would reflect the transition to Modern writing of the era. This created market of teaching anthologies for schools and colleges that was addressed by a number of important American Modernist poets and editors of the time (Abbott, 1990).

Anthologies were instrumental in the canon formation of English-speaking literatures, which is essentially the consensus among authors, critics, publishers and the reading public about what makes a literary work “great”, “timeless” or “representative” of a particular historical period. The matter of canon formation in literary textbook anthologies is far from being settled, however. (Pace, 1992) Because textbook anthologies can confer status and acceptance on a work simply by their choices of what to present to a large and impressionable audience, they can also serve the “gatekeepers of the fortress of high culture” (Landow, 1989) by keeping certain works out of the literary canon.  For this reason, widely used modern general anthologies such as the contemporary The Norton Anthology of English Literature (M.H. Abrams editions), are acutely aware of the issues and controversies involved in surveying works by women, minorities, post-colonial and indigenous cultures,  and different national literatures. (Mujica, 203-4)

References

Abbott, C.S. (1990) Modern American Poetry: Anthologies, Classrooms, and Canons. College Literature, 17(2/3), 209-221.

Banta, M. (1993). Why Use Anthologies? or One Small Candle Alight in a Naughty World. American Literature, 65 (2), 330-334.

Carpenter, H., & Prichard, M.  (1984). Books of Instruction. In The Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature (pgs. 73-74). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chall, J. & Squire, J. (1996). The Publishing Industry and Texbooks. In R. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, &P. D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (pgs. 121-122) New York: Longman.

Fagan, E.R.  (1980). Textbooks and the Teaching of English. The English Journal, 69(5), 27-29.

Ferry, A. (2001). Tradition and the Individual Poem: An inquiry into anthologies.  Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Fideler, D. (April 27, 1996) The Seven Liberal Arts. Retrieved from http://cosmopolis.com/villa/liberal-arts.html

Hook, F. (1971). The Anthology: To Be or Not to Be. English Education, 2(2), 105-109.

Landow (1989) The Literary Canon. Retrieved from http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/canon/litcan.html

Mujica, B. (1997) Teaching Literature: Canon, Controversy, and the Literary Anthology. Hispania, 80(2), 203-215.

Pace, B.G. (1992) The Textbook Canon: genre, gender, and race in US Literature anthologies. The English Journal, 81(5), 33-38.

Wakefield, J.F. (1998). A Brief History of Textbooks: Where have we been all these years? Paper presented at the meeting of the Text and Academic Authors (pgs. 1-29). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/PDFS/ED419246.pdf

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Symbolic Script: Zapotec Writing in the First Millenium BCE

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Annette Smith
Calendar cartoon

Mesoamerican calendar cartoon

One of the significant milestones of human cultural development has been the creation of symbolic systems to represent and communicate thought. Writing systems based on this capability have allowed our species to externalize ideas, store them for future reference, and communicate with others irrespective of boundaries of time or space. The change from signs which directly related to the idea or object to signs which were purely symbolic had significant implications for education and social structure.

It is ironic that the development of symbolic writing systems led to illiteracy and the roots of inequality that persist into current society.

Zapotec Sacrifice Victim

Sacrificed Captive

This entry will look at the definition of icon and symbol, symbolic mark-making in Mesoamerica in the Zapotec culture, and the implications of symbolic writing for social structure and education.

Icon, Index and Symbol

In the late 19th century, Charles Sanders Peirce described the terms ‘icon’, ‘index’ and ‘symbol’ in the context of communication.

“An Icon is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes merely by virtue of characters of its own, and which it possesses, just the same, whether any such Object actually exists or not… A Symbol is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes by virtue of a law, which operates to cause the Symbol to be interpreted as referring to that Object.” (Peirce in Buchler 1955, p.101).

Aleph

Bull's Head

The “law” governing the meaning of a symbol is arbitrary and agreed upon by a group. For example, a sign which is a drawing of a bull’s head might indicate a bull for trade, in which case the bull’s head would be an icon. If, however, the bull’s head were to represent something else entirely, like a sound, or a whole idea like strength, it would be termed a symbol.

Hard-Wired for Symbols?

Within the course of language development the technology of symbolic writing has developed at least four times. There is evidence for this in China (6500 BCE)(Hecht, 2003), Mesopotamia (fourth century BCE)(Barton, 2007), Egypt (3000 BCE) and in Mesoamerica (1000 BCE)(del Carmen Rodríguez Martínez et al., 2006).  The fact that this occurred independently in geographically distinct parts of the world suggests that humans are somehow biologically predisposed to creating this kind of symbolic mark-making to record their thoughts or ideas.

Lascaux-auroche cave paintings

It could be argued that the cave paintings created by anatomically modern humans in the Upper Paleolithic period (c35,000 BCE) were the earliest icons, and were the beginning of a sequence which led to symbolic writing (Watkins, 2001). It may also be true that any kind of mark that represents something in the world of the mark-maker, be it a thought or an ear of corn, is symbolic. The mark is two dimensional, or at best slightly three-dimensional in the case of marks on clay or stone, and this is already an abstraction. It is beyond the scope of this entry to debate the biological basis for mark-making in humans, but the evidence for our being hard-wired to create written works is quite compelling.

Writing in Mesoamerica – Zapotec Signs and Symbols

By 600 BCE, the Zapotec of Mesoamerica had a mixed system of writing, which included both icons and symbols (Urcid, 2005). They had a central capital city at Monte Alban, which remained the centre of the Zapotec empire for over a thousand years (Marcus, 1980). Elements of Zapotec script persisted for almost 1500 years (Urcid, 2005). The great difficulty researchers have had in deciphering the Zapotec script is a reflection of the fact that it is at least a partially symbolic system. If it were purely iconic, there would be little difficulty in understanding the marks.

Zapotec Script

Zapotec Script

Symbolic writing appears to have existed in Mesoamerica since c1000 BCE. A recent discovery of Olmec writing on stone monuments pushes the date of symbolic writing in the region to the first millennium BCE (del Carmen Rodríguez Martínez et al., 2006).  Earlier instances of writing on more ephemeral surfaces (wood or bark) have disintegrated in the tropical climate of Mexico, so there are probably holes in the archaeological record of writing in Mesoamerica (Marcus, 1980).

In the same time period as the development of written symbolic script, Zapotec society moved from small chiefdoms to a more centralized concentration of power in the Oaxaca valley (Marcus, 1999). Haviland, et al (2008) see writing as an indicator of centralized power. “With writing, central authorities could disseminate information and store, systematize, and deploy memory for political, religious and economic purposes.” (p.253).

Depiction of Royal Marriage?

Depiction of Zapotec Royal Marriage?

Zapotec, like much of early Mesoamerican writing, was political. Mesoamerican rulers recorded conquests, dynastic marriages and named themselves after the calendrical titles they were born under. They also associated themselves with major astronomical events. “Different though this may be from the record keeping of ancient Mesopotamia, all writing systems share a concern with political power and its maintenance.” Haviland et al. (2008), p.254

In a society that practiced ancestor worship, establishing links of genealogy was important in legitimizing rulers. Script was used as part of monuments, and on tombs, to demonstrate how powerful and legitimate the rule of a particular person or lineage was. (Urcid, 2005; Marcus, 1980)

“The main thesis guiding the exegesis of scribal practices in elite domestic contexts is that, in a highly ranked and unequal society, the transfer of property between human generations is central to the reconfiguration or reproduction of the social system, and that ancestor veneration, particularly among the higher-ranking corporate groups, constituted a cultural institution deployed in order to legitimize such transferences.“(Urcid, 2005, p.28)

Implications

While it is impossible to definitively say that writing caused centralized power in Mesoamerica, or that centralized power caused symbolic writing, it is true that the creation of both of these technologies (the art of centralized governance could probably be described as a technology) was contemporaneous (Marcus, 1999). An undeniable result of a move to symbolic writing would be that there would be elite who could read and write the script while the bulk of the population remained illiterate.

Teosinte

Teosinte, early ancestor of Maize

If a written sign is an icon, a direct representation of the thing it signifies, it is easily understood by anyone. If an ear of corn represents an ear of corn then any member of society can read the mark. If, however, an ear of corn represents something else, say fertility, then only those who know the arbitrary link between corn and fertility will be able to correctly interpret the sign.

Once a culture begins to have signs that require specialized knowledge to create and interpret they begin to create in-groups and out groups, those who have the knowledge and those who don’t.

From the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary:

in–group noun \ˈin-ˌgrüp\
Definition of IN-GROUP
1: a group with which one feels a sense of solidarity or community of interest

out–group  noun \ˈau̇t-ˌgrüp\
Definition of OUT-GROUP
: a group that is distinct from one's own and so usually an object of hostility or dislike

In Zapotec culture, the in-groups now consisted of the ruling elite, the scribes they paid and a new class of priests. Even ancestor worship changed from where a person’s direct ancestors were venerated to worship of the ancestors of the ruling elite. (Marcus, 1999)

Having specialized writers, readers and patrons creates a stratification of social structure. Houston (2004 ) describes the creation of “script communities”, the in-groups that write, read and teach symbol systems. There must be enough resources in the community that the scribes, teachers and learners can take the time away from subsistence activities to take part in the act of writing. The community must value the work of scribes enough to feed them, although they may not participate in farming or hunting. With unequal access to the technology the distribution of power will necessarily change. The most important people may no longer be hunters or farmers.

Scribe

Symbolic systems create the need for education in which the novice is taught and must memorize the meaning of a sign, and be able to reproduce it faithfully in order for the written piece to be understood by others. Houston (2004) sees this as implying levels of social status, gender relations, and power based on who gets to read and write and how the technology is taught. Education in writing and reading was an activity removed from the teaching of skills needed for subsistence. “Ensuring that a script endures must involve the strategies of pedagogy and apprenticeship.” (Houston, 2004, p.6). It created a class of experts who were not directly involved in the production of food or the defence of the society against enemies.

The development of symbolic writing led to the concept of illiteracy, which continues to underpin inequalities and access to power in contemporary human society.

References

Barton, D. (2007). Literacy: An introduction to the ecology of written language – 2nd Ed. Blackwell Publishing, Hong Kong. Retrieved October 29, 2010 from http://books.google.com/books?id=4ZjfJ8cPe1UC&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=historical+change+to+symbolic+writing&source=bl&ots=33WOWubewS&sig=2HTI4e1pQElBHGX1YWqC1SLXy30&hl=en&ei=T9W0TJ3MFcOB8ga-wYCGCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=historical%20change%20to%20symbolic%20writing&f=false

Buchler, J. (1955). Philosophical Writings of Peirce. Dover, New York. Retrieved October 4, 2010 from http://books.google.ca/books?id=ClSjXRIbxAMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Philosophical+Writings+of+Peirce,+ed.+Justus+Buchler&source=bl&ots=a9tGkq1FKE&sig=4nymk-iHyi2kh4ZIdsdbiE_dwMw&hl=en&ei=cZHNTM6jNojUngfE8fX2Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB#v=onepage&q&f=false

del Carmen Rodríguez Martínez, M., Ceballos, P. O., Coe, M.D., Diehl, R.A., Houston, S.D., Taube, K.A. & Calderon, A.D., (2006). Oldest Writing in the New World. Science. 313(5793), pp. 1610 – 1614. DOI: 10.1126/science.1131492

Haviland, W.A., Prins, H.E., Walrath, D. & McBride, B. (2008).  Evolution and prehistory: the human challenge – 2nd Ed. Thompson, USA. Retrieved October 13, 2010 from http://books.google.com/books?id=LfYirloa_rUC&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=prehistoric+mesoamerican+writing&source=bl&ots=gevad034Y_&sig=03-l87aJjdxIkOKPCvLsQnim1gE&hl=en&ei=6ZzMTL2fAY-gsQOJwOzsDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q&f=false

Hecht, J. (2003). Oldest known Chinese script discovered. New Scientist.com. Retrieved October 28, 2010 from http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17823931.600-oldest-known-chinese-script-discovered.html

Houston, S.D. (2004). The first writing: script invention as history and process. Cambridge University Press, UK. Retrieved October 25, 2010 from http://books.google.ca/books?id=jsWL_XJt-dMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=First+Writing:%EF%BF%BC+Script+Invention+as+History+and+Process&source=bl&ots=DbtYs5GeZJ&sig=miWcr6tBUCkYdFqW9BCYlD3Sxbo&hl=en&ei=kqP%EF%BF%BCMTJCrIZT0tgOhu6nuDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

Marcus, J. (1980). Zapotec Writing. Scientific American 242, pp. 50 – 64.
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0280-50

Marcus, J. (1999). Men’s and Women’s Ritual in Formative Oaxaca. In Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica, David C. Grove and Rosemary A. Joyce, Eds. Dumbarton Oaks, USA. Retrived October 26, 2010 from http://www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/Social/social04.pdf

Urcid, J. (2005). Zapotec Writing: Knowledge, Power and Memory in Ancient Oaxaca. Retrieved October 10, 2010 from http://www.famsi.org/zapotecwriting/zapotec_text.pdf

Watkins, T. (2001). Signs Without Words: The Prehistory of Writing. Paper read in London, UK. December 15,  2001. Retrieved October 17, 2010 from http://www.arcl.ed.ac.uk/arch/watkins/watkins_signs.html

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Radio and Television: Change Agents

Posted on October 31, 2010 by doug larsen

Radio and Television: Change Agents

In his book Technopoly, Neil Postman (1992) argues that technology needs to be understood for both what it contributes to a culture and what it takes away.  According to Postman, it is a fundamental truth that technology will change a culture.  This paper explores how radio and television (TV) have influenced the cultural development of the United States, in particular how it created an opportunity for disengaged members of the citizenry to be informed, and/or engaged in political processes.  In the in early 20th century the notion of broadcasting pertained to the spreading of seeds in an agricultural context.  With the emergence of radio, broadcasting came to symbolize the spreading of ideas (Mishkind, B., 1995).  The broadcasting of ideas through radio and TV have been instrumental in influencing US public policy, such as the Civil Rights Act 1964.  Television coverage of the Civil Rights Movement redefined the country’s political landscape (Everet, A.) thus changing the culture of the United States.

Radio rose to prominence in the early 1920s. For those of us born during the time of television, it is easy to view radio as a mere prologue to the development of TV (Lewis T., 1992; Kear, L., 1992).  However, this would be an oversimplification of its influence on the American citizenry, and notion of one nation.  According to Tom Lewis, radio defined America as much as the automobile.  E.B. White, is quoted as stating “I live in a strictly rural community, and people here speak of The Radio in the large sense, with an over-meaning.  When they say “The Radio” they don’t mean a cabinet, an electrical phenomenon, or a man in a studio, they refer to a pervading and somewhat godlike presence which has come into their lives and homes (Lewis, 1992, pg.1).  This provides a glimpse as to how profound this technological innovation was perceived.  It was the first mass medium that could reach the entire nation by one person at one time, thus proving to be a powerful instrument in national affairs and domestic public policy.  Prior to radio, Americans primarily identified with a region and/or state.  Radio provided a means for Americans to view themselves as a nation. This proved to be an influential factor in political sphere in regards to elections and the development of public policy. Herbert Hoover’s campaign in the 1920s, for example, primarily depended upon radio leading his campaign manager to declare that the day of political speeches an event of the past.  Not only did radio influence how campaigns were run, but it also changed them from long oratories to short sound bites (Lewis, 1992). 

Radio and TV fundamentally changed the form and substance of political campaigns, thus presenting increased opportunity for public engagement, especially among the minority populations, such as blacks.  Prior to radio, the primary communication methods of during an election campaign were newspaper and localized speeches that tended to be long oratories (Lewis, 1992).  Naturally this severely limited how many people could be directly informed about election campaign issues because they had to attend the campaign speeches or have access to local news papers.  It is important to note, illiteracy was a major issue in the early 20th century.  According to National Assessment of Adult Learning (NAAL) the beginning of the 20th century 10.7 percent of the white population and 44 percent of the black population was illiterate.  At this time, the definition of illiterate meant they could not read or write on any level, not even their names (NAAL). The dependence on newspapers for information meant almost 50% of blacks were excluded from being informed about national issues.  By the end of World War II, 95 percent of all homes had a radio (Boyd, 2008).  Interesting enough, with the rise of mass media there was a corresponding rise in black literacy rates from a low of 56 percent to a high of 96.4 percent in 1969.  The dramatic rise in radio and television use within America homes corresponds with the increased emphasis on equality of rights for black Americans, as evident by the Civil Rights Movement.

 The convergence of the Civil Rights Movement and technological advances of television resulted in the nation viewing the struggle of blacks for equality within America, in particular the Southern United States.  The events leading up to the movement, for example, the murder of a young fifteen year old boy and blatant acquittal of his murders – led to a dramatic increase in the number participants in the Civil Rights Movement.  Numerous events, such as the Montgomery bus boycott, and Birmingham protest received national coverage and challenged the values and sensibilities of the nation.  In the case of Birmingham, the police had filled their jails and other areas to capacity with children protesters.  Therefore, on the second protest day they used high pressure water hoses resulting broken bones, and forcibly rolled children down the street, as well K-9s were used to attack other protesters (Cozzens, L., 1997) . “Newspaper and the print media provide a degree of separation from reality, but TV graphically brings happenings right into living rooms, complete with color, sound, time sequence, and even to some degree, the feeling” (Cybercollege, Part V, pg.1).  These pictures of conflict during the Civil Rights Movement, such as Birmingham incident, brought incidences of reality into America’s homes, thus shocking the nation toward changes in public policy.

Benjamin Hooks: TV’s Impact on Civil Rights

 The Civil Rights Movement resulted in President Kennedy proposing a bill to eliminate the legal authority to discriminate against blacks.   In order to demonstrate the support for the proposed civil rights bill, civil rights groups united to organize a march on Washington August 28th, 1963.  The influence and scope of television is underscored by 250,000 demonstrators marching on Washington, which were 150,000 more than expected.  It is at this time Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered the closing address, his famous “I Have a Dream” speech (Cozzens, 1997).  This event received extensive media coverage, and Kennedy’s civil rights bill was passed about a year later. 

“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against blacks and women, and ended racial segregation in the United States. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public (“public accommodations”).  The impact of this legislation included the prohibition of discrimination in public facilities, in government,[ and] in employment, invalidating the Jim Crow laws in the southern U.S. and it became illegal to compel segregation of the races in schools, housing, or hiring (Wikipedia Civil Rights Act 1964).

Undoubtedly, the influence of television showing 250,000 people from various parts of the United States marching on Washington served as a change agent for more inclusive political and social policies, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

  Conclusion

A logical inference is that these policy changes would not have happen in a timely manner without the visual representations of this conflict broadcasted throughout the nation.  In fact, without television it is in question that a struggle for civil rights would have happen because television was instrumental in fuelling the initial momentum that propelled it forward.  Furthermore, one is left to question if there is a relationship between the advances in radio and television with the dramatic increase in literacy rates among the black population.  Possibly, the black population’s engagement with the political system increased the motive and opportunity for education among black Americans.

Postman’s (1992) argument that technology changes a culture proved to be accurate as it relates to race relations in the United States.  Radio changed the country from one with a multitude of regional identities to the notion on one nation.  This is especially relevant within the context of race relations because TV provided the nation images that challenged their core values and sensibilities.  A number of factors coalesced with the emergence of TV, though it is clear that national coverage created a situation that required federal authorities to address long standing discriminatory practices in the Southern United States.  A question worth further study is the role of television as a change agent toward increased literacy rates among black Americans.  

References

Boyd, Lydia (2008). Brief History of the Radio Industry. Duke Libraries. Retrieved October 14, 2010.

http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess/radio-tv-.html

Cozzens, Lisa (1997). Birmingham. Retrieved October 10, 2010

http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/birming.html

Cyber College. (2010, March 11) Social Impact of Television: Part V.  Retrieved October 10, 2010.

http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv034.htm

Everet, Anna. The Civil Rights Movement and Television. The Museum of Broadcast Communications.  Retrieved October 10, 2010.  

http://www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=civilrights

Kear, Lynn. Radio days and nights – impact of radio programs before

Television.  Whole Earth Review, Winter, 1992. Retrieved October 10, 2010

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1510/is_n77/ai_12937777/

Lewis, Tom.(1992). A God Like Presence: The Impact of Radio on the 1920s

and 1930s. Reprinted from the OAH Magazine of History 6 (Spring 1992). ISSN

0882-228X Copyright (c) 1992, Organization of American Historians.  Retrieved

October 10, 2010

http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/communication/lewis.html

Mishkind, Barry. (1995, August 20).  Who’s on First? Pioneer Profiles. Retrieved

October 17, 2010.

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/general/first.html

National Assessment of Adult Literacy.  Literacy from 1870 to 1979: Excerpts

are taken from Chapter 1 of 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical

Portrait (Edited by Tom Snyder, National Center forEducation Statistics, 1993). 

Retrieved October 10, 2010.  http://nces.ed.gov/naal/lit_history.asp

 Postman, N. (1992). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New

York: Vintage Books

Wikipedia Civil Rights Act of 1964 Retrieved October 10, 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

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Shifting Economies in Book Production and its Impact on Education

Posted on October 31, 2010 by chrisaitken

Book production, throughout western civilization has been closely associated with the social pillars of modern society. Two key shifts in the economies of production have been the transition to codex and subsequently print. These shifts have had a profound impact on vast sections of life, such as religion, law, education, commerce, arts, exploration, and industry. The way, in which these technology shifts achieved this, is of course, complex. Some of the principal factors will be briefly highlighted in this paper.

Scroll to Codex

This first move towards the recognizable book known today began to evolve in the first century. It was precipitated by the Roman innovation of a type of notebook using folded, rather than rolled, parchment (Grout, 2002). With a protective wooden cover added, the first codex was in use by the end of the first century AD (Grout, 2002). The production of the codex increased efficiency, was easy to store, and could accommodate longer or multiple texts. Although the convenience of this hand held technology may have be recognized by accountants, traders, travelers, and poets, it was the Christian church that made the codex a cultural, and certainly religious, icon.

Over the next few hundred years, Christianity moved from a loose sect towards establishing a major world religion. As such, Christianity sought to distinguish itself from Jewish and pagan script, and the codex was a major part of this (Kearney, 2009). It was not only able to capacitate the longer Gospels, but could do so in a single volume for easy reference for early priests.

Part of this distinction of Christianity involved an intimate association with reading text. According to Kearney (2009), “Christianity consistently defined and redefined itself by invoking internal and external threats to the proper reading of scripture and world” (p.34). One of the difficulties in defining itself as a world religion laid in the fact that Christiani incorporated sacred texts of Judaism. Providing a different understanding of these texts was partially represented by the adoption of the codex as a Christian icon.

The ensuing Middle Ages was an era dominated by Christian thought in the west propagating the use of the codex. Book production was held in monasteries where monks doubled as scribes. Education at this time was aimed at developing literacy for the sole purpose to study religious books. Further, memorization of these books was encouraged, while analysis and interpretation was not. Still, the codex as a tool of promoting Christianity to the mass population was very effective, even if there was only a single interpretation permitted. “It (codex) was a development in the history of the book as monumental as the invention of printing a thousand years later” (Grout, 2002, para. 17). However, as influential it was to Christianity and society, I am not sure there is the evidence to support this statement.

Manuscript to Print

The codex with its close association to Christianity was significant, to be sure. But, Elizabeth Eisenstein (1979) observes in the Printing Press as an Agent of Change,

as long as texts could be duplicated only by hand, perpetuation of the classical heritage rested precariously on the shifting requirements of local elites. Texts imported into one region depleted supplies in others; the enrichment of certain fields of study by an infusion of ancient learning impoverished other fields of study by diverting scribal labor. (p. 159)

Simply, it was the remarkable increase in book production enabled by the press that restored classical thought and disseminated current thought throughout Europe. The widened literary diet subsequent to the invention of the press allowed scholars for the first time to study classic Greek and Roman literature as a complete cultural system causing people to reconsider preconceived notions. The story of how information and knowledge then sparked the enlightenment and Italian Renaissance has been often told. The specific story of how it would change the nature of education is less known.

By the time of Gutenberg’s press, the rise of universities was already on the way. The volume of books that came on the market in this century would demand new skills from these academics. Not since the existence of the Alexandrian library was there a need to categorize information to this degree. Prior to print, collections were not well-ordered, with uncertain origin and labels, and no agreed conventions for chronology, geography, nomenclature, and orthography (Eisenstein, 1979). Slowly, the emphasis on the memorization of declarative knowledge would give way to the more important information management skills of research and cross referencing. Literates were now able to check multiple sources in one subject matter. These new categories of information would form the subject disciplines, which represent distinct ways of thinking about the world (Gardner, 2007) With the massive increase of specific findings widely documented in print, academics could systematically develop investigatory techniques. The scientific practices of research, analysis, observation, and reporting in one field of study created a deeper understanding. This is noted in disciplines from art to astronomy as very little change is made before the fifteenth century (Eisenstein, 1974). Since print, and increasingly now with digital text, the ability to survey vast amounts of information, and organize it is a useful way for interpretation and the construction of new theory has become the crucial skill for students.

Guttenberg’s invention in the 15 century was unlike any other in terms of its consequences to European civilization. It is after this pivotal period when a new technology is able to serve a community of learning dispersed in Italy and throughout Europe that we find significant social change. A major question of this course has been how this change should occur. Can it be driven by human thought or must it always follow the demands of new technologies introduced in society? Without knowing exactly how innovation will alter our way of life, people will not be comfortable in reforming education to meet this moving target. This is a question, however, educators must address: what will be the skills necessary for young people after the digitalization of text? Even if we do not know for sure, what we have learned from the shift from scroll to codex, and manuscript to print, is that society will be much different and people will need to be able to navigate a massive volume of information in order to make sense of it.

References

Eisenstein, E. L. (1979). The printing press as an agent of change: Communications and cultural transformations in early-modern Europe Volume 1. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Gardner, H. (2007). Five minds for the future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Kearney, J. J. (2009). The incarnate text: Imagining the book in reformation England. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Grout, J. (Ed.). (2002). Scroll and codex. In Encylopaedia Romana. Retrieved from: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/notaepage.html

Press (photograph) Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://blossomingwhereiamplanted.blogspot.com/

Codex (photograph) Retrieved October 30, 2010 from http://chattahbox.com/world/2009/07/06/codex-sinaiticus-oldest-bible-in-the-world-scanned-from-animal-skins-published-online/

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PHOTOJOURNALISM

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Soraya

PHOTOJOURNALISM- A new exposure….

Photojournalism can be explained as a form of journalism that involves collecting, editing and presenting news material for publication or broadcast that creates images in order to tell a news story. It’s beginnings date back to 1827 where photographers aimed to capture moments in the lives of people everywhere. In 1851 the wet plate technology was replaced by dry plates and roll films making it easier for photographers to share their documentation of the world through their eyes. In the early days with slow film and primitive cameras photographers had a plethora of bulky and also very fragile equipment. These early photojournalists brought breakable glass plates, chemicals for developing pictures in improvised dark rooms, tripods for long exposures and cameras that were hardly portable. On an entire assignment a photographer would maybe take no more than one hundred pictures.
Many photographers were revolutionaries believing in the idea that photography had the power to tell important truths about the world. The camera began to expose the world to the unknown. With the development of more sophisticated cameras, new technology and faster printing methods photography soared to new heights. Imagination and image began to come together and photojournalists began to capture the most profound images. Newspapers began to embrace photos as a way to increase sales and elicit interest from their readers. By 1900 the news photos had become a fundamental part of journalism.
During the twentieth century photojournalism was a well-respected communication medium. According to Rothstien, the photojournalists were viewed as, “observers of people and events who report what is happening in photographs; interpreters of facts and occurrences that write with a camera; skilled communicators whose images are transmitted visually via the printed page: (1979. P. 15).

THE CAMERA AS A WINDOW
“The most effective documentary photographs are those that convince their observers with such compelling, persuading truth, that they are moved to action.” (Rothstein, pg 27)
The use of photojournalism has captured many significant moments in human history. Often times the photos have not been accompanied by text. Some significant events that have been captured include the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassination of President John F Kennedy (1963), and the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City (September 11, 2001). The impact of photojournalism on the people of the early twentieth century and the in the word today can be compared to past shifts in technology. When Plato wrote the Phaedrus, he stated that writing would, “ create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls because they will not use their memories; they will trust the external characters and not remember themselves.” Plato saw new technologies as producing cultural change. Photojournalism as Ong states about writing “has enabled our society to reach the heights that is has” and is “essential for the realization of fuller, interior, human potentials” (Ong, p. 81). Photojournalism has created a level of social consciousness and awareness that had an impact on both writing and aural cultures.
Looking at photojournalism in various oral- aural cultures strengthens the oral expressions associated with these cultures. For example, “the oral expression” that,” carries a load of epithets and other formulary baggage that high literary rejects….” are very evident in the captured images of oral cultures (Ong, p.38). Proverbs that govern the law and other traditional expressions are patent. (Please see photos) This will depend on the perspective of the image captured from the point of view of the photojournalist but generally “once a formulary expression crystallizes, it is best to be kept intact” (p. 39).]
From photojournalism emerges a very interesting gray area between writing and aural cultures. Writing cultures allow material to be retrieved in the situation where the mind is distracted and confused. In oral discourse the oral spoken word is characterized, according to Ong, by redundancy. Photojournalism brings about an interesting opportunity for writing cultures to record their analysis of images and for oral culture to narrate their ideas and perhaps introduce new elements of the human life world; this can be each time the photo is discussed.
Lester (1994) also points out that words and pictures possess a unique language that some individuals can interpret better than others. Helmut Gernshelm entertains this thought further by suggesting that photography may be the only language understood in all parts of the world, and it has the potential to bridge all nations and cultures (1962). Worth, another expert in visual communication disagrees. He explains the images do not have lexicon or syntax in a former grammatical sense; they are not actually a language in a verbal sense (1981).
Photojournalism is built on Elkins proposal that “the object stares back” and this has an uncontainable effect or grasp on the spectator (1997). This view is the allure of photojournalism upon which all other ideas are built. Photojournalism had the sophistication to capture what writing cultures and orality combined are lacking in their interactions. If Bloomfield’s claim is correct that “writing is not language, but merely a way of recording language” then photojournalism can record images that will allow participation from both cultures in the form of interpretation. Similar to the idea of logocentrism that removes both speech and writing from the lived experience of language photojournalism records a universal language. Similar to Logocentrism one may see the parallel that photojournalism presents; language as if it were perfect, transparent, unmediated and authentic. Ong emphasizes that “almost everyone can communicate orally, writing requires a great deal of skill.” Photojournalism can lend its messages to everyone, where the written word only reaches a select few.
Many philosophers such a Jacques Derrida will claim that written word has its own value while others believing in logocenrism regard speech as superior to writing (Plato, Rousseau, Strauss..)

The Impact of Photojournalism on Literacy and Education

We are living in what most of the world would agree is a visual age (Gombrich, 1982). It has been emphasized that we are “entering a historical epoch in which the image will take over from the written word” (p. 37). The image is not necessarily taking over the written word but there has been a drastic shift in the way media communicates with its audience. Newspapers, magazines, blogs, web pages, documentaries and other mediums of information sources have changed where the “ images being contained in the verbal text” are no longer in complete control (Bolter, 2001,p, 48). The increased use of photography that came at the turn of the century has openly demonstrated the real and perceived social and economic gaps that exist between cultures, societies, and countries and even within geopolitical entities. Presently, there is a divide that exists called the digital divide. Some have access to 21st century technologies while others are excluded. Photojournalism provides an alternative to what Postman discusses in the “Judgment of Thamus” where he suggests that the use of computers in the classrooms will likely result in an academic culture that is isolated, individualistic and lacking in community. Petrina (2008) suggests using learning strategies that are collaborative in nature. In oral cultures the qualities of learning are cooperation, community and social responsibility (Postman, 1992, p. 17). Photojournalism can be used as a way to communicate a message and include those individuals who learn best through visual images.
Hicks suggest that when combined together words and pictures are equally expressive, the two become one medium where “ the meaning of the work can be achieved in one perceptual act” (1973). Gernsheim (1962) suggests that photography may be the only ‘language’ understood in all parts of the world and it has the potential to bridge all nations and cultures.

References:

Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of Print. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Chandler, D. (2000). Technological or media determinism. Retrieved from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/tecdet/tdet01.html

Grombich, E. H.(1982). The image and the eye: Further studies in the psychology of the pectoral representation. Thaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press.

Gernsheim, H. (1962). Creative photography. Faber and Faber Ltd.

Lester, P.M. (1994). Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication, Part One. Retrieved October 20, 2004 from http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/viscomtheory.html

Ong, Walter. (1982.) Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.

Postman, N. (n.d.). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Petrina, S. (2008). The Politics of Educational Technology, Module 5, 1.1 Politics,

Rothstein, Arthur. (1979) Photojournalism 4th edition. American Photographic Book Publishing Co., NY.

Worth, S. (1981). Studying Visual Communication. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

PHOTJOURNALISM
“AFGHAN GIRL”
LINK: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2002/04/afghan-girl/index-text

In Migrant Mother Dorothea Lange produced the seminal image of the Great Depression. The FSA also employed several other photojournalists to document the depression.

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. Voltaire

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan AL- Nahyan
Here in the UAE this photo of the late visionary leader represents the oral traditions of the country- the proverbs that govern the Emirate and the values the past and the present.

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The Invention of Pen and Paper

Posted on October 31, 2010 by rsuzuki

When talking about the history of literacy, it is necessary to examine the history of writing technology. Writing is often referred as one of the major communication revolutions in human history (Gunaratne, 2001). There have been several significant developments in writing over the course of time. First, people only used pictographs to express ideas. Then, word-based writing systems developed. After that, people developed sound-based syllabic writing systems. Lastly come the invention of a written alphabet. Ong (2002) points out that writing itself is a technology that calls for the use of tools and other equipment like writing instruments and surfaces. People recorded writings on various surfaces such as stones, metals, wood, wax and clay tablets, papyrus, and parchment using different types of writing instruments such as styli, brushes and pens. The invention and development of pens and paper contributed to the expansion of literacy to the masses.

As early as 3000BC, the Egyptians used reed brushes or pens to produce hieroglyphic and hieratic writings on papyrus scrolls. They used papyrus until the first few centuries AD. Papyrus was an effective writing surface because it was thin, light and flexible (Fischer, 2004). It was also easily stored. Reed pens made out of reed straw or bamboo allowed scribes to make marks on papyrus in a more precise way than reed brushes, so reed pens became the more common writing tool.

The adaptation of this new writing tool eventually led to the emergence of a new writing system. Some historians believe that the Greeks gradually changed the direction of writing from right to left or from top to bottom to the modern western style writing of left to right in order to overcome the limitations of the reed pen (Bhavnani & John, 1998). Reed pens had a problem of easily catching in the fibers of rough papyrus. Reed pens and papyrus were eventually replaced by quill pens and parchment. Bhavnani and John (1998) argue, “humans throughout history have developed devices and processes to assist in the efficient performance of tasks” (Bhavnani & John, 1998, p. 273). Writing became easier with technological development and improvement of the writing instruments.

There were also other types of writing surfaces used throughout time. In the first millennium BC, Romans wrote on wooden tablets with the sheets of wax. They used a metal stylus as a writing instrument. Europeans also used parchment and wax tablets during the Dark Ages. They used a metal or bone stylus as a writing instrument.

The invention of paper and the papermaking process are generally credited to the Chinese royal court official Cai Lun. Before the invention of paper, Chinese used wood, bamboo, silk, or other harder materials as writing surfaces (Goodrich, 1963). They were looking for cheaper and more practical writing materials. Cai Lun developed paper and the papermaking process in 105AD. There are also some recent discoveries that push back the date of the invention of paper a few centuries back before Cai Lun (Gunaratne, 2001). The paper, instead of bamboo, wood, or silk became the primary writing material.

Papermaking process spread to other parts of the world following the Silk Road. According to Gunaratne (2001), the use of paper spread to Samarkand in 650, to Egypt c. 800, to Spain c. 950, to Constantinople c. 1100, to Italy in 1154, to Germany in 1228, and to England in 1309. The manufacture of paper also began in these places; in Samarkand in 751, in Baghdad in 793, in Egypt c. 900, in Spain in 1150, in Germany in 1391 and in England in 1494. Papers and printed materials gradually became available to the masses, which helped their literacy.

Quill pens became the primary writing instrument in the 7th century and were commonly used until the 19th century. Quill pens were made out of the primary flight features, usually from goose. It required a significant amount of labor to produce just one quill pen, but it was strong and durable once it was made. Quill pens allowed people to produce different styles of writing. For example, the German Gothic style of writing began to appear with the use of quill pens (Cheong, 2009). In addition, the quill pens allowed people to write much smaller letters. Quill pens remained as the principal writing instrument for several centuries. A number of important documents were written by quills: the Bible, the American Declaration of Independence, and William Shakespeare’s plays (Cheong, 2009). Similar to reed pens, quill pens required sharpening or reshaping of the tip. However, their flexible pen tips allowed people to create expressive and decorative styles of handwriting, such as Copperplate and Spencerian (Cheong, 2009).

The invention of paper greatly influenced the printing press. Gunaratne quotes Laufer, ”The invention of paper was the turning point in the history of printing” (Gunaratne, 2001, p. 465). The invention of paper also changed the physical act of writing. It required scribes special skills to write on early writing surfaces with early writing instruments. Ong says, “Special mechanical skills were required…and not all ‘writers’ had such skills suitably developed for protracted composition. Paper made writing physically easier” (Ong, 2002, p. 94). Cheap paper and printing technology contributed to the spread of literacy. Printing on parchment and vellum was very expensive. According to Twede, “Only a third of the Gutenberg Bibles were printed on rag paper. The skins of 300 sheep were needed to print one Bible” (Twede, 2005, p. 289). The use of paper drastically lowered the cost of printing. There was an extensive paper industry in England in the 1500s. William Rittenhouse built the first paper mill in the US near Philadelphia in 1690 (Twede, 2005).

The next major development in writing instrument is the metal point pen. In 1808, English engineer and industrialist Bryan Donkin patented a steel point pen (O’Sullivan, 2010). However, pens with steel nibs did not come into common use for a few more decades. The mass-production of tough and strong steel pens, which could last, began in the 1830s. The quality of steel pens kept improving and they completely replaced quill pens by the 1850s. The new type of papers also appeared around the same time. In the mid 1800s, the Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty and the German inventor Friedrich Gottlob Keller took a challenge to make papers out of pulps instead of rags. Wood based paper replaced rag papers by the end of the 19th century. Clifford says, “The invention of paper, the printing press, and the substitution of wood pulp for rags in paper manufacture were both cause and effect of an expanding literacy” (Clifford, 1984, p. 472). Various technological developments made papers and printed materials cheap for people. These technological developments helped spread literacy to the masses.

The mass-produced steel pens had a significant impact on literacy as well. Cheong says, “For the first time, cheap, reliable pens were available in their thousands to the masses, which greatly boosted literacy rates and helped to improve education” (Chelong, 2009). Steel tips were much more reliable than previous writing instruments, which made writing much easier. Next comes the significant shift in technology. All previous pens from reed pens to steel pens were all dip pens. Dip pens were not portable. In 1884, Lewis Edson Waterman received a patent for his fountain pens. His fountain pens were more reliable than previous fountain pens with a leaking issue. Around the same time, the principle of the ballpoint pen was developed, but they were not exploited commercially until much later. Josef Lazlo and Georg Biro invented the modern version of ballpoint pen in 1943. In October 1945, the ballpoint began its first sale in the US market.

Today, pens and paper still remain as major writing instruments. According to the data by Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association, the US market for pens was approximately $3.25 billion in 2007 (WIMA, 2009). The U.S. also produces and consumes about 100 million tons of papers per year (Goyal, 2010). The invention and development of pens and paper have been influencing the literacy of people for many centuries. Whether they will remain to be the primary writing instruments or not in the future is unknown. More and more information is created and stored digitally today. Pens and paper will not become obsolete yet, however, the emergence of computers is challenging the roles of pens and paper in literacy. With the development of new technologies in the Information Age, we will constantly need to reexamine the definition of literacy.

References:
Bhavnani, S. K. & John, B. E. (1998). Delegation and Circumvention: Two Faces of Efficiency. CHI 98, 273-280.

Cheong, S. (2009, November 4). The History of Writing Instruments (Pt. I) [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://scheong.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/the-history-of-writing-instruments-pt-i/

Clifford, G. J. (1984). Buch and Lesen: Historical Perspectives on Literacy and Schooling. Review of Educational Research, 54 (4), 472-500.

Fischer, S. R. (2004). A History of Writing. London: Reaktion Books.

Goyal, H. Pulp & Paper Resources & Information Site. Retrieved from http://www.paperonweb.com/index.htm

Goodrich, C. L. (1962). The Development of Printing in China and its effects on renaissance under the Sung dynasty (960-1279) [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401038.pdf

Gunaratne, S. A. (2001). Paper, Printing And The Printing Press. International Communication Gazette, 63 (6), 459-479.

Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and Literacy: Technologizing of the Word. New York: Routledge.

O’Sullivan, M. (2010). Who Was Bryan Donkin? Derbyshire County Council. Retrieved from http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/images/WHO%20WAS%20BRYAN%20DONKIN_tcm9-139096.pdf

Twede, D. (2005). The Origins of Paper Based Packaging. The Future of Marketing’s Past, Proceedings of the 12th Conference on Historical Analysis and Research in Marketing, pp 288 300. California: CHARM Association (Long Beach, April 28 March 1).

Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association. (2007). 2007 Writing Instrument Industry Statistics. Retrieved from http://wima.org/?TabId=71

Photographs:
Cai Lun [Photograph]. Retrieved October 31, 2010, from: http://www.history-of-china.com/han-dynasty/invention-of-paper.html

Fountain Pen [Photograph]. Retrieved October 31, 2010, from: http://scheong.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/the-history-of-writing-instruments-pt-i/

Metal Stylus [Photograph]. Retrieved October 31, 2010, from: http://www.ringpen.com/history.html#table

Quill Pen [Photograph]. Retrieved October 31, 2010, from: http://www.ringpen.com/history.html#table

Scratching the Surface of Moist Clay [Photograph]. Retrieved October 31, 2010, from: http://www.ringpen.com/history.html#table

The Romans [Photograph]. Retrieved October 31, 2010, from: http://www.ringpen.com/history.html#table

Writing on Papyrus Scrolls [Photograph]. Retrieved October 31, 2010, from: http://www.ringpen.com/history.html#table

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On the Origins and Influences of Silent Reading

Posted on October 30, 2010 by vschrader

Come to my research project On the Origins and Influences of Silent Reading 🙂

Vicki

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Printing Press and Its “Impact” on Literacy

Posted on October 30, 2010 by llee

The advent of the printing press over five hundred years ago may be described as one of the few major significant events in mankind’s history in terms of the greatest impact on literacy. Before paper and print were invented, oral communication was the only method in which information was gathered and distributed. Even though this bound the community together, it did not allow the community to grow and there were no methods of accurately storing and retrieving information. Further, if the community moved on or perished so did their historical records and knowledge. Although the following technologies involved the written word in the form of papyrus scrolls and manuscript codex as examples, it was still quite time consuming and limited to the upper literate elite class of society. When the printing press was invented there was a shift from the laborious manuscript making to the codex print allowing many copies of written work to be quickly created, in turn providing greater access to information for all and providing the framework for the gradual transformation of societal literacy.

The concept of printing was first conceived and developed in China and Korea. Although the concept was conceived by the eastern nations, the first mechanized printing press was invented by a German metalworker named Johann Gutenberg in 1452. Gutenberg did not invent the printing press but rather conceived the idea of movable type which is actually an aggregation of three distinct technologies utilized by humans for many centuries before Gutenberg (Jones 2007). This can be described as a form of remediation of previous communication technologies. Bolter defines remediation when a, “newer medium takes place of an older one, borrowing and reorganizing the characteristics of writing in the older medium and reforming its cultural space.” (Bolter, 2001, p.23). Gutenberg combined the technologies of paper, viscous oil-based ink and the wine press to print books thereby allowing for the mass production and distribution of written work. As a result of the printing press, there was no longer the need for the laborious manuscript copying and production of the written word.

The printing press allowed for the democratizing of knowledge as a greater number of individuals were provided access to more information. Through the printing press, written work was more uniform in its viewing format. The mechanization of the printing press achieved more regular spacing and hyphenation of the print. (Bolter, 2001). Prior to the printing press, the written word was individually scribed with no standard format, with inconsistent writing, grammar and handwriting. The printing press led to more consistent spelling, grammar and punctuation. (McLuhan, 1962). Through this uniformity and reliability of the written work, readers were able to consistently interpret the writer’s thoughts and ideas. While the printing press did not have any significant immediate effects on societal literacy, over the next few decades as more information through the written word was accessible and disseminated, this technology advanced mass literacy as demonstrated through a drastic rise in adult literacy throughout Europe. Prior to the printing press, books were quite expensive as it was a laborious task to hand-scribe each book. As a result, only the wealthy upper elite class could afford such books and therefore the literate were mainly found at this class level. However, with the invention of the printing press creating nearly identical books of quality at an economical price, books were now more affordable and available to the general public. It is estimated that by 1500 there were “fifteen to twenty million copies of 30,000 to 35,000 separate publications.” (McLuhan, 1962, p.207)

Further, some scholars claim that the invention of the printing press has been a significant force in transforming an oral medieval culture to a literate one or one which focuses more on silent and private reading (McLuhan 1962, Havelock 1963, Ong 1982). However, other scholars such as Eisenstein (1983) argue that the development of the printing press did not change medieval Europe as it was literate before the invention of the printing press. Print did not bring about a monumental shift from orality to literacy, but rather changed Europe from one type of literate society to another. While there is still debate in this area, one can agree that the printing press technology has had a profound effect on literacy within Europe.

The printing press has also been described as a driving factor in creating significant cultural and religious transformations throughout Europe. Eisenstein (1997) discusses the shift from manuscript to print in relation to three movements, namely the Scientific Revolution, Renaissance and the Reformation. With the invention of the printing press, the scientists were more readily able to share and exchange information. Further, as diagrams were hand drawn, detailed diagrams and sketches would be time consuming and the printing press would easily reproduce many copies with ease. By being able to quickly reproduce diagrams, pictures and tables for mass consumption and readership, scholars were more eager to take the time to produce accurate and useful illustrations. The dissemination of scientific knowledge through the use of the printing press further increased literacy as more individuals would have increased access to such knowledge and would be readily available for the next person to continue or build on previous research.

The printing press was an agent of change in terms of educational practice. It transformed the relationship between educator and student. “Previous relations between masters and disciples were altered. Students who took full advantage of technical texts which served as silent instructors…. Young minds provided with updated editions, especially of mathematical texts began to surpass not only their own elders but the wisdom of ancients as well.” (Eisenstein, 1979, p. 689).

Lastly, many works were produced in the Latin language and thereby the printing press assisted in promoting this language. However, very few individuals knew how to read Latin and so over time and with the demand by the ever increasing literate public, a growing number of written works were being translated from Latin and slowly replaced by the vernacular language of each area. From 1520, many printers turned their offices into workshops for translators. (Febre & Martin. 1997: 271-272). In providing written work in an individual’s native language, this further positively impacted literacy rates as there were less obstacles in access to the written word.

With the invention of the printing press, the most immediate effect was the output of a greater number of books at a more economical cost to the general public. Over the longer term however, books would not only increase literacy rates due to the increased availability and access but also would help begin the spread of political and religious movements within Europe. It is without a doubt the printing press has had an impact on societal literacy rates but to what extent is still debated. Currently we are experiencing a similar monumental shift in education in a new form of technology with the Internet. Hopefully we can learn from the implementation of the printing press and in conjunction with the Internet beneficially understand the growth, development and impact on literacy.

References

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing Space: Computers, hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence, Erlbaum Associates Inc.

Eisenstein, E. L. (1997). The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [first published 1979.]

Eisenstein, E.L. (1993). The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [first published 1983.]

Febvre, L & Martin, H. (1997). The Coming of the Book. London: Verso. [first published 1976]

Havelock, E. A. (1963). Preface to Plato. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Jones, B. (2007). Manuscripts, Books, and Maps: The Printing Press and a Changing World. Retrieved from http://communication.ucsd.edu/bjones/Books/printech.html

McLuhan, M. (1962). The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and Literacy: Technologizing of the Word. New York: Routledge.

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Modern English, Punctuation, and Word Separation

Posted on October 30, 2010 by adorat

Introduction

Thinking back to when I first learned to read in English, I was taught to read aloud.  I was taught to sound out the words.  While learning to read, I was also taught to write.  It was imperative that we put spaces between words but have the letters that make up the words next to each other without spaces.  As I got older, I was told I had to learn to read silently: do not whisper or mumble the words, do not move my mouth when reading.  Over the years of school and getting through hundreds of pages of reading a week, I learned to skim.  With punctuation, skimming to find the important points was easier.  I knew when an idea ended and when extraneous information was included, usually in between parentheses.  Being a teacher, I have noticed many things about my students writing and reading skills.  One main observation is the spelling.  The spelling is atrocious.  The grammatical and word usage errors are plentiful; for example, there instead of their.  A secondary observation I made is the use of abbreviations to the point where I cannot understand what they are saying.  Thus, for this assignment, I am venturing into the world of the transition of word separation, appearance of punctuation, and evolution of Modern English.

The Beginning: Scriptura Continua

It is clear that the writing of text has been around for millenia, as demonstrated by the Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans.  To focus on the age of Antiquity, the writing of text was not standardized, there was no accepted word order which made it difficult to read silently, therefore writing was meant to be read aloud (Borowitz, 2006).  The practice of writing without spaces between words is called “scriptura continua” or “scriptio continua”.  Scriptura continua had the letters sitting next to each other without interword spacing and did not have the distractions of punctuation or upper and lower case letters (Cordingley, 2006, ¶12).  There was no need for punctuation because the text was read aloud and the phrases were understood because of prosodic rhythm (Cordingley, 2006, ¶6).

Latin scriptura continua was disrupted in the seventh century by Irish scribes.  This was to make Latin more readable to those whom Latin was a foreign language.  It was also at this time that the Irish scribes introduced some punctuation (Cordingley, 2006, ¶12-13).  But by the eleventh century, word separation became commonplace and a standardized word order appeared (Borowitz, 2006).

Use of Punctuation and Silent Reading

As previously mentioned, Irish scribes began to separate the words and use punctuation to made texts readable for whom Latin was a foreign language.  Medieval archivists used the full stop to indicate a definite break in an idea.  They also used a final flourish to indicate the end of a paragraph.  Unfortunately by the fifteenth century, the archivists’ practice of punctuation became lax.  This was largely due to the increasing numbers of documents being written.  The lackadaisical attitude of punctuation usage was because the documents and information were intended for the archivist himself and colleagues to read.  The bad habits of the archivists naturally extended to less formal writing practices, such as writing letters to outside parties; thus the regulation of punctuation usage or rules became more casual.  By the sixteenth century, informal letter writing became popularized and the casualness of punctuation extended outside the archivists’ realm (Jenkinson, 1926).

As punctuation and letter writing became more popular, the transition from reading aloud to silent reading began.  Silent reading became more commonplace in the late middle ages.  The reader relied on punctuation to help “discern the limits of clausulae within text and the rhythms of the cursus” (Cordlingley, 2006, ¶15).  Punctuation became the task of the scribe so that the reader could read silently.  Paul Saenger points out that isolating individual words was a cognitive task done by the reader but punctuation for silent reading became the task of the scribe (1997).  The presence of punctuation in text altered and simplified the process of reading in the neurophysiological sense.  Punctuation allows the reader’s brain to group words together which allows for faster reading.  The reader’s eye looks for punctuation marks to help make sense of the words and aids with comprehension.  The reader relies on punctuation to regulate eye movement which also helps with rapid reading (Cordingley, 2006).

Evolution of Modern English

The ancestor to modern English is Chancery English.  Chancery English was the form of English used in the high court of England.  In 1392, clerks admitted that Parliament was addressed in English and by the fifteenth century, Chancery English was used exclusively in the bureaucratic, administrative, and government sectors.  As time went on, English became more commonly used and it appeared in non-Chancery documents which were actually complaints to the Chancery.  Because of this, the form began to evolve.  Writing in English grew outside of Academia and appeared in business writing.  London English appeared and was considered to be a dialect of Chancery English and London English differed from scribe to scribe.  But by the late fifteenth century, Modern Written English was determined by the professional scribes and clerks in Chancery.  It should be noted that Modern English is not Chancery English but has had a strong influence on the spelling, grammar, and idiom of Modern English (Fisher, 1977).

Conclusion

In this brief history of punctuation and Modern English, it is important to observe that English in education was a slow process, just like grammaticization.  Changes within grammar occur very slowly.  It is with punctuation that oral culture transitioned to include a written culture.  Some still view punctuation to be unnecessary as Samuel Beckett demonstrated this in his piece in 1959 L’image.  Gertrude Stein held quite the hostile attitude towards punctuation as she believes that written prose is so structured and that question marks and the such are unnecessary as the reader should get the sense from the way the sentence is written (Cordingley, 2006, ¶8).  Alas, since not all text is read aloud, punctuation allows the silent reader to make sense of the content without prosodic properties.

As I have mentioned, grammaticization is a slow process but construction can rise steeply as the frequency of use increases.  For example, the change of “going to” to “gonna” in every day writing and speech.  This has occurred because of the increase in the types of contexts which this new construction is possible (Bybee, 1998).  The increased usage and appearance in text in a various subjects will make it possible for new words to become more socially, and possibly grammatically, acceptable.  One just needs to look at the new entries into the Webster’s and Oxford English Dictionaries to see how English is constantly evolving and changing.  We find abbreviations and acronyms, made up words (e.g. googled) being added.  Does it using a newly constructed word, such as the verb “to google”, be acceptable because everyone is doing it?  Should we accept the change in our students’ and adolescents’ writing with abbreviation and grammatical errors?  Personally, I do not but it depends on the context.  I expect academic writing or anything submitted in an academic environment to be grammatically correct with proper punctuation and correct spelling.  With the emergence of email, social networking sites, text messaging, and instant messaging, we should expect there to be a change in the grammaticization construction of text.  As Bybee noted, development will occur as frequency of use increases.

For Fun

Enjoy this video of Victor Borg reading aloud and his take on punctuation.

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References

Borowitz, J. (2006). The transition from oral to written culture. Retrieved October 24, 1020, from sites.google.com/site/jborowitz/OralandWrittenCultures.pdf

Bybee, J. (1998). The evolution of grammar. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from

http://www.isrl.illinois.edu/~gasser/courses/lis590sos/papers/evgram.pdf

Cordingley, A. (2006). The reading eye from scriptura continua to modernism: Orality and punctuation between Beckett’s L’image and comment c’est/how it is. Journal of the Short Story in English, 47. Retrieved October 24, 2010 from http://jsse.revues.org/index800.html

Fisher, J.H. (1977). Chancery and the emergence of standard English in the fifteenth century.  Speculum, 52, 870-899.  Retrieved October 24, 2010, from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2855378

Jenkinson, H. (1926). Notes on the study of English punctuation of the sixteenth century. R.E.S., 2, 152-158.  Retrieved October 24, 2010, from res.oxfordjournals.org

Saenger, P. (1997). Spaces between words: The origins of silent reading. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

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The Recognized Origins of Sign Language

Posted on October 29, 2010 by ryan edgar

Hello classmates,

I have decide to submit my assignment a few ways.  First you will find a video I made (I am a amateur); next you will find a transcript of what I said in the video; finally is the transcript copied into this post.

I made a video for three reasons:

  1. Deaf students (as it was explained to me) are very similar to ESL students in that they prefer their mother-tongue.  Sign language is “their” mother-tongue; written or spoken language is foreign to them.  Also, like non-hearing impaired students, some are visual learners.  This video is intended to provide accessibility to the deaf and hearing-impaired.
  2. Some have never seen sign language “in action”.  Hopefully this will provide visual evidence of what sign language looks like.
  3. The video (which has no sound) is intended to show you – the viewer – what a deaf or hearing-impaired person deals with every day.

I hope you enjoy!

~ Ryan

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YouTube Preview Image

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Transcript of my research

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The Recognized Origins of Sign Language

Have you ever imagined what your life would be like if you were unable to hear.  What it would be like if you couldn’t hear the roar of the crowd as your favourite sports team clinched the championship?  What if you couldn’t hear your child’s first words?  For most people this is not something they will ever have to consider.  But for many, this is their reality.  In current times, deaf people are integrated into “regular” educational settings.  Obviously they face barriers and obstacles that their non-hearing impaired counterparts do not.  However, through the practice of sign language and other techniques such as lip reading deaf people have become productive, active and respected members of today’s classrooms – but it hasn’t always been this way.

Sign language is a visually-based language that uses hand gestures, body language and facial expressions as a form of communication for the deaf.  Relatively speaking, sign language is a new language (with respect to world-wide acceptance) but it does have a very long and storied history.  One might be amazed to learn that nearly 2,500 years ago Socrates (in Plato’s Cratylus) made reference to deaf people using signs: “If we hadn’t a voice or a tongue, and wanted to express things to one another, wouldn’t we try to make signs by moving our hands, head, and the rest of our body, just as dumb people do at present?” (Wikipedia.org, Sign Language, ¶ 3).  Today, there are literally hundreds of different types of sign languages (click here for a list of different sign languages).  In Africa alone there are more than thirty different types.  In North, Central and South America there are another twenty-five plus languages used.  And, much like individual languages native to countries, towns, and villages, there are several dialects, syntax and structure that set each and every language apart (Fleming, 2002).  Therefore, it would be naïve to conclude that a deaf person from Canada would be able to easily communicate with a deaf person from France.

Much like anything, sign language evolved out of necessity.  Dating back to the beginning of time, deaf people were considered unteachable (Fleming, 2002).   Deaf students were not allowed in “regular” schools and were considered to be of little worth.  For all intents and purposes communication between the hearing impaired and non-hearing impaired did not exist.  Whether it was due to frustrations or ignorance, deaf people were shunned by society.  One could argue that if not for the creation of sign language, deaf people would be living their lives in complete obscurity.

Individuals with the ability to hear believed that deaf people could not communicate.  However, deaf people have always been able to “speak” with one another.  Even in its infant stages of evolution sign language employed movements, gestures, body language and elementary signs that allowed deaf individuals to communicate with one another.  When deaf people would meet they would share signs and take what they had learned and share it with others.  In this sense, sign language is very much like any other oral-based language.

It is widely accepted that sign language has European origins – France to be specific.  In the late 1700’s, French author Abbé Deschamps declared that the deaf community had developed a system of communication through hand movements (Fleming, 2002).  It was from this that the first school for the deaf was born in Paris, France in 1755 by Abbé Charles-Michel de L’Épée.  Épée revolutionized sign language by building on what was already in place.  He wasn’t interested in radically changing the current state of sign language but he knew that for it to gain acceptance he had to build on what already preexisted.  By adding common signs and tweaking sentence structure, sign language more closely resembled French grammar.  Because sign language now mimicked French language and grammar structure, it was able to gain that acceptance that Épée sought (albeit still unofficially).  Épée was such a success that educators from all over Europe copied what he was doing.  Even educators from America travelled to France to study sign language and learn from Épée’s structure. Although sign language had been around for centuries (even millenniums in its purest form) it was Épée’s school that most consider to be the true origin to which all modern sign languages were born.

Sign language was now acknowledged to be a true language even though governing bodies weren’t so quick to officially recognize it.  Most sign languages are not exact spoken languages.  What this means is that typically sign language is not directly translatable into a given spoken language.  Also, those learning sign language (that are not hearing impaired) often struggle because they think in terms of signing words and following spoken grammar rules rather than focusing on concepts.  When trying to learn sign language, the biggest hurdle to overcome is to try and stop thinking in words.  For these reasons Governments weren’t quick to adopt sign language as a true language.  In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s governments merely viewed sign language as a tool or gadget to teach the deaf rather than as a language.  There are many examples throughout history where society is slow in adopting and accepting what is initially unknown or unfamiliar.  Sign Language is just another such case.  To say governing bodies were slow to recognize sign language as an official language is an understatement.  The important thing is they now have.

Aspects of sign language are not that different from most spoken oral languages.  Take English as an example.  One could argue that there are two types of English language.  That what is taught in the classroom and that what is spoken outside of the classroom.  In school we are taught proper sentence structure, grammar rules, and syntax.  Outside of school many of the rules we are taught cease to exist yet we can still understand one another and communicate effectively.  What was occurring in the deaf community was no different.  Students were taught rules and structure that closely resembled formal oral teachings yet students were not following these rules in informal settings.  Eventually, these two types of sign language (both formal and informal) morphed into a common language known today as the American Sign Language (ASL) (Berke, 2010).  This is important because ASL is generally regarded as being “one of the most comprehensive sign languages in the world” (Strickland, n.d.).

It wasn’t long ago that deaf students would not have been integrated into regular classes.  It was just seven years ago in 2003 that Great Britain, a progressive Nation, finally recognized sign language as a valid language.  We have learned that every citizen, no matter their impairment or ailment, has their place in society.  Being deaf used to come with the stigma of worthlessness; thankfully this is no longer the case.  Sign language has made such great strides that educators now see its merits in not only the education and communication with the deaf but with infant children as well.  Infants and toddlers are being successfully taught basic signs that allow them to communicate with their parents before they develop oral communication skills.  On a personal note, I can attest to the ability of children to learn how to sign.  I for one am grateful for its creation!

References:

Berke, Jamie. (2010). Deaf history – history of sign language: how a language of gestures came to be. About.com: Deafness.  Retrieved October 20, 2010. From http://deafness.about.com/cs/featurearticles/a/signhistory.htm

Fleming, Sandy. (2002). Deaf culture: history of american sign language. Essortment.com. Retrieved October 20, 2010. From http://www.essortment.com/hobbies/deafculturehis_slcm.htm

Savitt, Ari. (2007). Evolution of a language: American sign language. Lifeprint.com. Retrieved October 22, 2010. From http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/evolutionofsignlanguage.htm

Strickland, Jonathan. (n.d). How sign language works.  HowStuffWorks.com. Retrieved October 20, 2010. From: http://people.howstuffworks.com/sign-language2.htm

Charles-Micel de lÉpée.  Wikipedia.org. Retrieved October 25, 2010. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Michel_de_l’Épée

How many different types of sign language are there?  Answerbag.com. Retrieved October 25, 2010. From http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/500510

Sign Language. Wikipedia.org. Retrieved October 19, 2010. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language

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