{"id":269,"date":"2021-04-14T19:10:06","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T02:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/?p=269"},"modified":"2021-04-14T19:10:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T02:10:06","slug":"final-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/2021\/04\/14\/final-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #940303;\"><strong>Writing as Reflexive Technology:\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #940303;\"><strong>The Evolution of Expressive Writing<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Writing as Reflexive Technology: The Evolution of Expressive Writing\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Efvfd1LnfKg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For my final project, I chose to explore the development of a type of writing technology and to develop a video to share my learning with you.<\/p>\n<p>Below is the script and references that are used in the video.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #8c0707;\">________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Writing as Reflexive Technology: The Evolution of Expressive Writing<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The earliest records of writing were found in Mesopotamia, (present-day southern Iraq) in the late fourth millennium BC.\u00a0 \u201cEarly writing had three essential functions. It was used in state administration and bureaucracy, in trade and commerce, and in religion.\u201d\u00a0 (Gnanadesikan, 2011, p. 2)\u00a0 The function of writing has evolved and expanded significantly since these earliest inceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing evolved to engage and enlighten, offering a sort of magic that could be difficult to explain. \u00a0 Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who kept a diary during the Nazi\u2019s reign, said, \u201cI can shake off everything as I write, my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.\u201d (Frank, 1993, p. 177) Virginia Woolf, known for her severe episodes of depression, found comfort in writing, saying that, \u201cEvery secret of a writer\u2019s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.\u201d\u00a0 And Walter <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ong, who studied orality and literacy\u00a0 (2002) wrote \u201c\u2026.without writing, human consciousness cannot achieve its fuller potentials, cannot produce other beautiful and powerful creations\u201d (p. 14.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing is known as a reflexive technology, \u201callowing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">writers to see themselves in what they write\u2026on papyrus, in codex, on the videoscreen\u2026the reflexive character of each technology permits writers to find themselves in the texts they create and therefore to know themselves in a new way\u201d\u00a0 (Bolter, 2001, p. 189).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s writing technologies include electronic writing, and \u201c&#8230;we write both to express, to discover, and to share who we are, and in a postmodern age our written identity is, like hypertext, dynamic, flexible, and contingent\u201c<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00a0(Bolter, 2001, p. 190).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond electronic and pen and paper writing, which some may see as an archaic form of reflexive technology, other reflexive technologies are used in our daily lives to help increase our self-awareness.\u00a0 Wearables such as the Fitbit bracelet that measures our physical activity or the Muse headset that measures our focus through brain waves are digital reflexive devices.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These devices help us to change ourselves by being more aware of ourselves, giving us quantifiable awareness on how we are doing.\u00a0 Like writing, these devices can serve as \u201cmirrors\u201d helping us to see ourselves more clearly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, for all of their digital progress, if we want to truly know ourselves and transform ourselves, these reflexive technologies pale in comparison to the reflexive value of writing.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deconstructionists such as Derrida have written of the value of writing as a reflexive tool, specifically referencing Sigmund Freud: \u201c<\/span>Freud speculates that\u2026the perceiving self, is shaped by\u2026writing.<b>\u201d <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(G. C. Spivak, in the preface to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of Grammatology <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by Derrida, 1976b, p. xli, cited in Bolter, 2001, p. 194).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing makes our \u201cverbal thoughts visible\u201d (Bolter, 2001, p. 193), helping us to understand ourselves, particularly our unconscious selves, more deeply.\u00a0 Not only does writing reveal our mind\u2019s thoughts to ourselves; writing also creates our selves.\u00a0 It might even create our minds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bolter wrote, \u201c<\/span>If the technology of writing has been traditionally regarded as the cre\u00adation of the human mind, possibly its greatest creation, we could also argue in the other direction: that the mind is the creation of writing<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (Bolter, 2001, p. 194).\u00a0 This is the essence of the value of writing for creating the self, one\u2019s identity.\u00a0 It is the essence of fields such as cognitive psychology and narrative therapy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While writers have known the healing powers of writing for centuries, its value as a therapeutic tool has only become clear in recent decades.\u00a0 One approach that has been applied in numerous studies is Pennebaker\u2019s \u2018Expressive Writing\u2019 technique.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1983, James Pennebaker conducted a study that asked college students to write about a traumatic experience that they had kept as a secret and then compared it to their physical health (as indicated by physician visits).\u00a0 Pennebaker found a positive correlation between the writing and the students\u2019 health (American Psychological Association, 2016).\u00a0 This study prompted several other studies around expressive writing and a new form of therapy was born. Pennebaker\u2019s simple technique, which asks individuals to write about a traumatic event for 4 consecutive days, for 15 minutes per day, has been replicated and adapted around the world (American Psychological Association, 2016).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies \u201c&#8230;indicate that expressive writing can result in fewer doctor visits, fewer depressive symptoms, enhanced immune system functioning, better grades&#8230;\u201d (Slatcher &amp; Pennebaker, 2006, p. 660) <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lowered anxiety, less rumination (Novotney, 2014) and the ability to change overall perception about a stressful event from a negative perception to a positive one. (Ullrich, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While much of the research using Pennebaker\u2019s technique is focused on writing about very negative and traumatic experiences, there is also \u201c\u2026evidence that writing about more universally experienced negative events and emotions, such as test anxiety and failure\u201d (DiMenichi et al., 2019, p. 8) can offer benefits for writers.\u00a0 In an examination of neural processing and expressive writing, it was demonstrated that \u201cwriting about test anxiety helps to decrease that anxiety and boosts performance\u201d and expressive writing was identified as an \u201ceffective tool for educators to use to address negative emotions stemming from classroom experiences\u201d (DiMenichi et al., 2019, p. 8).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expressive writing not only shapes the self; it can also shape our relationships.\u00a0 To explore the effect of expressive writing on romantic relationships, Slatcher and Pennebaker asked individuals to write their \u201cdeepest thoughts and feelings about their relationship\u201d for 20 minutes per day, 2 days in a row.\u00a0 Their results found that \u201cthe relatively simple act of writing about their romantic relationship changed the way in which participants communicated<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">with their partners in IM conversations\u201d (Slatcher &amp; Pennebaker, 2006, p. 662)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speaking of applications such as instant messaging, the relative simplicity and effectiveness of the Pennebaker technique has led to its adoption in e-mail and web-based applications, with evidence suggesting that e-mail-based treatments are also effective in improving health outcomes (Sheese, Brown &amp; Graziano, 2004).\u00a0 While studies have applied Pennebaker\u2019s technique using technologies such as text and email, there has been no deliberate study of differences in effectiveness between handwritten expressive writing and typed expressive writing. Perhaps there aren\u2019t any significant differences, given that studies of the Pennebaker technique continue to find similar psychological and physical health benefits, regardless of whether the writing was handwritten or typed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Walter Ong, who explored the transition from orality to literacy, appreciated \u201c\u2026that <\/span>various writing technologies permit the writer or reader to slow the insistent pace of spoken language, to control the rate at which he must produce or receive words.<b>\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Bolter, 2001, p. 192).\u00a0 Perhaps it is this slowing of pace, this opportunity for reflection, that creates the value of writing, as it appears that the method of writing matters very little. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does matter is the story itself, the words that spill from the pen onto the page or are stamped onto a screen from the clickety-clack of a keyboard.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the same vein, Pujol\u00e0 (2010) notes that \u201cdigital environments such as blogs, infographics or e-portfolios allow for different possibilities in terms of facilitating metacognitive reflections beyond the written word\u201d (Pujol\u00e0, 2010, cited in Birello &amp; Pujol\u00e0, 2020, p. 535).\u00a0 Blogging in particular has been shown to provide \u201c\u2026all of the same opportunities as journaling, including the introspection of values and actions, and the reflection of life circumstances\u201d (Hibsch &amp; Mason, 2020, p.3).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continuing with the theme of technology, Pennebaker worked with Martha Francis to develop the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count text-analysis software.\u00a0 This software has been used to demonstrate the value of career writing for the development of career identity (Lengelle et al., 2014) and how our language use is strongly connected with our personality traits (Hirsch &amp; Peterson, 2009, p. 524).\u00a0 As a result of Pennebaker\u2019s efforts, <\/span>\u201c&#8230;people across multiple disciplines are discovering that it is possible to analyze people\u2019s psychological states through the analysis of their words\u201d<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Psychological Association,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2016, p. 682.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing has evolved as a tool for knowing, creating, reshaping, healing and transforming the self.\u00a0 Expressive writing, and the work that it has inspired, has contributed, and will continue to contribute, to positive psychological and physical health outcomes in the future.\u00a0 We still have much to learn as we do not fully understand all of the underlying mechanisms that make writing, and especially expressive writing, such a powerful tool for personal transformation.\u00a0 As Pennebaker himself notes, \u201cit continues to vex many scientists, and that\u2019s its beauty\u201d (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Psychological Association,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2016, p. 682.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>References<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Psychological Association. Award for distinguished contributions to the applications of psychology: James W. Pennebaker. (2016). <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The American Psychologist, 71<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(8), 681-683.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/amp0000071\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/amp0000071<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Birello, M., &amp; Pujola Font, J. T. (2020). The affordances of images in digital reflective writing: An analysis of preservice teachers\u2019 blog posts.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Reflective Practice, 21<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(4), 534-551. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/14623943.2020.1781609<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bolter, J. D. (2001). <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4324\/9781410600110\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4324\/9781410600110<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DiMenichi, B. C., Ceceli, A. O., Bhanji, J. P., &amp; Tricomi, E. (2019). Effects of expressive writing on neural processing during learning.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 389-389.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fnhum.2019.00389\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fnhum.2019.00389<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frank, A. (1993). <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Diary of a Young Girl.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mass Market Paperback. Pg. 177.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gnanadesikan, A. E. (2011).\u201cThe First IT Revolution.\u201d<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In The writing revolution: Cuneiform to the\u00a0 internet.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Vol. 25). John Wiley &amp; Sons (pp. 1-10).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hibsch, A. N., &amp; Mason, S. E. (2020). The new age of creative expression: The effect of blogging on emotional well-being. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Journal of Creativity in Mental Health,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 1-11. doi:10.1080\/15401383.2020.1820925<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hirsh, J. B., &amp; Peterson, J. B. (2009). Personality and language use in self-narratives. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Journal of Research in Personality, 43<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(3), 524-527. doi:10.1016\/j.jrp.2009.01.006<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lengelle, R., &amp; Meijers, F. (2014). Narrative identity: Writing the self in career learning. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">British Journal of Guidance &amp; Counselling, 42<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(1), 52-72. doi:10.1080\/03069885.2013.816837<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Novotney, A. (2014, June). Blogging for mental health. Retrieved April 10, 2021, from<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apa.org\/monitor\/2014\/06\/blogging\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.apa.org\/monitor\/2014\/06\/blogging<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sheese, B. E., Brown, E. L., &amp; Graziano, W. G. (2004). Emotional expression in cyberspace: Searching for moderators of the Pennebaker disclosure effect via E-mail.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Health Psychology, 23<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(5), 457-464.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/0278-6133.23.5.457<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slatcher, R. B., &amp; Pennebaker, J. W. (2006). How do I love thee? let me count the words: The social effects of expressive writing.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Psychological Science, 17<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(8), 660-664.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2006.01762.x<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ong, W. J., Taylor &amp; Francis eBooks &#8211; CRKN, &amp; CRKN MiL Collection. (2002). <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Orality and literacy: The technologizing of the word<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Routledge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ullrich, P. M., &amp; Lutgendorf, S. K. (2002). Journaling about stressful events: Effects of cognitive processing and emotional expression.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(3), 244-250. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1207\/S15324796ABM2403_10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Woolf, Virginia. <i>Quotes<\/i>. Unknown.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"post-excerpt\">Writing as Reflexive Technology:\u00a0 The Evolution of Expressive Writing &nbsp; &nbsp; For my final project, I chose to explore the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74950,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74950"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions\/283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/narration4transformation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}