Organizing The Chaos With Hypertext
This week’s reading left me with much to think about. “I only wish I could write with both hands…so as to not forget one thing while I write another” (2001, pg. 33), this was said by Saint Teresa and many times I agree with this wholeheartedly. There are occasions, when I have so much to write and yet when it comes time to sit down at the keyboard and let my thoughts flow, all out many of my sentiments are lost because I cannot write fast enough to express everything that I am thinking on paper. My mind is running at warp speed, yet my hands can only go so fast. Some current technologies have helped me with this, I often use the voice recorder on my phone when I am composing an email, because it is easier for me to get my thoughts out orally then to write them down. The voice recorder then translates my words to text, and I can edit accordingly. Bolter comments that there is now a shift in our thinking because of the world wide web, at one time we had too much in our minds to get down on paper, but now,”there is too much information held in electronic media for our minds to assimilate. We are now overwhelmed from without rather than within.” (2001, pg. 46). The Merrium-Webster dictionary defines hypertext as an arrangement of the information in a computer database that allows a user to get information and to go from one document to another by clicking on highlighted words or pictures. Therefore, hypertexts are helping to add some order to the chaos that is electronic media. Hypertext helps organize the massive amounts of information that is present in the world wide web. It serves as a way to index, link and classify the sea of information that is out there.
I also found the section on Writing As Construction interesting. The author commented that Japanese writing (kanji, katakana, hiragana) includes word and syllable signs for different scripts, I lived in Japan for two years and when I started to learn the language I was fascinated at how the symbol word association had so much order. I distinctly remember learning the symbol for fire and then the symbol for mountain, when the two symbols were placed together that was the symbol for volcano, fire-mountain. This picture/word association may seem complicated but once learned is extremely logical. Bolter’s discusses that, “picture writing may gravitate back toward the centre of electronic writing.” (2001, pg. 37) made me think of emojis. These small digital images are often used in electronic communication to express emotion and have become extremely popular in the last few years. The fact that one image can express an emotion, it seems to me as emojis are the modern day hieroglyphics.
References
Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing Space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
What an incredibly fascinating post – thank you!
You comment on how Japanese writing is “extremely logical” in that two symbols can be combined to a literal meaning of a different word. This had me reflecting on the notion of learning a new language (whatever it may be), and how some people claim that some languages are easier than others. Now, ‘easy’ is a relative term dictated by a variety of variables such as previous knowledge and opportunity for immersion, yet knowing that something as complex (for me, anyway) as Japanese is so logically founded, I wonder whether more people would be more inclined to take the leap to learn a new language.
The complexity of picture/word association in language can become a logical step towards full understanding, just as your inference of emojis as “the modern day hieroglyphics”. There is an obvious distinction between symbols in the Japanese language to elicit words and symbols used in online conversations to elicit emotions. The former is used as the language, whereas the latter is used to supplement language. In other words, if Japanese symbols were randomly removed from a text the meaning would be altered, whereas if emoji symbols were randomly removed from an email the meaning would remain.
Bolter’s comment that “picture writing may gravitate back toward the centre of electronic writing” (2001, p.37) made me think of a commercial I heard on the radio one morning on my way to work, where the woman was ‘talking’ in emojis (take a look at the link below as an example). The overwhelming use of the plethora of emojis in online/text/email conversations no doubt enhances the interpretation of the conversation (not to mention the entertainment factor), but it also speaks of the evolution of the capabilities of text with a medium other than words alone.
As an example, take a look at this short video “Can You Solve These Emoji Puzzles” that shows that words sometimes aren’t necessary for a conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUpJcMTlf8E
Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing Space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
You make some interesting point Haneefa!
I relate to your idea that “picture/word association in language can become a logical step towards fully understanding” as in my undergrad in biology I would go through all my notes and make notes from those notes using my own symbols and pictures. I found it made it easier to understand the concepts compared to just rereading over the text.
I am also a somewhat of a pack rat and only recently went through a purge of many of my undergraduate binders. However I kept a small file of different pages from courses that I thought were unique and interesting. Something about it’s natural form and complexity kept me from recycling it. Looking back at it now over ten years later I really have to think and probably use other references to determine what my original visual literacy meant.
Visual literacy is the ability to turn different types of information into pictures and graphics to help communicate the information (Wileman, 1993). Students of this generation practice their visual literacy skills with the example of emoji’s described above. Also, when students communicate through text on their phones or online, they often using symbols and characters to communicate meaning.
Many of my students enjoy graphic novels. Students have to use their inferring ability to determine the plot, as the text often does not describe what is happening in the illustrations. Griffith (2010) reports graphic novels support vocabulary development and reading comprehension through their combination of text and illustrations. A literacy form I would like to explore more of in August : )
Griffith, P. E. (2010). Graphic Novels in the Secondary Classroom and School Libraries. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(3), 181-189.
Wileman, R.E. (1993). Visual communicating. Englewood Cliff, N.J.: Educational Technology Publications.