I can’t help but notice how many words and concepts I do not understand while reading Ong’s book. I am about 12 pages into Chapter 3 and have honestly had to look up about 15 or so words (gotta love the kindle app, all you have to do is highlight the word and the definition pops up!).
I understand that many of these words are highly specialized in a field I have very little knowledge on (hence the reason I am taking this course!), but I just find it hilarious how many of these words I do not know. On the plus side, when I read the definition I can contextualize and understand the meaning, which I guess is just as important.
Anyone else feel like they are looking up every second word?
Marcia
May 31, 2018 — 9:53 pm
I found it very challenging to read Chapter 3 but I was really interested in Chapter 4 and enjoyed it very much. Keep reading!
michael yates
June 1, 2018 — 12:23 am
I’m hoping Chapter 4 is more interesting. I admit I was actually enjoying the first 15 or so pages, but Ong then just starts beating a “dead horse” and going into a level of detail I just found unnecessary! I truly think you would have to be quite interested in this area of study to find what he is saying interesting.
steve campbell
June 2, 2018 — 7:29 am
I think Ong might be fairly influenced by the area he is studying. His redundant writing, his usage of “showing off” vocabulary; resonate as that of oral culture. Could our difficulties in reading his text be indicators that Ong had adopted orality into his writing style?
michael yates
June 2, 2018 — 11:57 pm
Now that is an accurate observation! I kept asking myself why he uses such language when he could explain his ideas far easier in simpler terms… I guess he viewed himself on a soapbox lecturing to a group of academics while writing his book!
alicia lok-malek
June 5, 2018 — 3:05 pm
Good call-out! Yes, I had the same thoughts on this. In general, I think a lot of research papers have this tendency. What is interesting about this discussion is the connection to Willinsky’s vision of an open research library. While in concept, that is great. In conjunction, there is a much bigger need to make research more readable and digestible. It is only then that the value of open access to research could be realized.