I remember reading Plato’s Phaedrus a year ago. I thought I had a good basic understanding of the main ideas expressed in the text. After reading Phaedrus this semester my perception of the text has shifted radically. My first introduction to Plato was during a rhetoric course; my readings of Plato were paired with Quintilian and Aristotle. This semester I read Plato alongside writers like Baron, Reddick and Malcolm X. These writers wrote in a time very different from Plato’s, but reading the Phaedrus in this context showed me how well Platonic ideas apply to modern theories. In the Phaedrus we read:
And every word, when once it was written, is bandied about, alike among those who understand and those who have no interest in it, and it knows not to whom to speak or not to speak; when ill-treated or unjustly reviled it always needs its father to help; for it has no power to protect itself or help itself” (Plato, 3).
This passage of the Phaedrus is one example of Plato expressing his opinion against the transition from speech to a written form. Writing makes information available to a larger audience and Plato argues that this audience is not equipped with the background necessary to understand the information how the author intended.
There are two texts from this semester that seem to speak to, or answer questions that were also addressed in the Phaedrus.
In the article English Expository Discourse written by R.J. Reddick in 1992, Reddick attempts to define the characteristics of expository writing. In the course of his larger discussion he provides a theory describing how readers interpret information. Reddick writes that “If we do not occupy the intellectual space as [the author], the assumptions we bring to her Argument will come from some other space, and those assumptions will transform that Argument into something she may not recognize as hers” (Reddick, 221).
In the Phaedrus, Plato admits that the written word is extremely accessible; this level of accessibility leaves writing vulnerable to misinterpretation. The passage from the Reddick article also acknowledges the possibility of reading a written work, and coming to a different conclusion than the author intended. Both Plato and Reddick understand that readers are generally diverse; this diversity can lead to different interpretations of a single text.
The Malcolm X text, Learning to Read illustrates the relationship between reader/interpreter and text. Throughout Learning to Read, Malcolm X reflects on his time in prison and explains how his time in prison provided him with an opportunity to read a variety of books. As a reader, Malcolm X’s personal experiences and other outside influences how he interprets different texts. Malcolm writes: “The teachings of Mr. Muhammad stressed how history had been “whitened”—when white me had written history books,the black man simply had been left out” and “I hat I had never forgotten how when my class, me and all of those whites, had studied seventh‐grade United States history back in Mason, the history of the Negro had been covered in one paragraph” (Malcolm X, 3).
His experience a Black man influences how he interprets the text.
For example when he learns about genetics we read: “Mr. Muhammad’s how the white man had been created led me to Findings in Genetics by Gregor Mendel…Reading it over and over, especially certain sections, helped me understand that if you started with a black man, a white man could be produced” (Malcolm X, 3). It is unlikely that Gregor Mendel predicted Malcolm X using his text to interrogate questions surrounding race.
My exposure to Plato influenced my interpretation of other texts we read in this course. My personal experience in this class is a great example of a reader bringing their own assumptions to a text in order to derive meaning.
Are there any texts from this semester that helped increase your understanding of other reading
In today’s society, technology is constantly changing. Companies like Apple produce a product and a year later the product is considered dated because of the emergence of a new model. Though the technological market is always changing, there is periodically a product that introduces a feature that is considered so novel or different that it revolutionizes how people interact with the world. In an essay entitled From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology writer Dennis Baron takes reader through some the most groundbreaking movements in technology. He shows readers that while each form of technology is different from its preceding forms, there are similarities in how society responds to new technology. He examines the power of new technology by tracing its impact on literacy. Throughout his essay he focuses on the history of the pencil; Baron illustrates how the pencil was once viewed as a groundbreaking technology that had a strong influence on literacy and writing practices. Today most people would have difficulty viewing the pencil as an object that is as cutting edge as a computer, but that is exactly the argument that Baron makes in this essay.
For Baron, in order to explore the technology associated with writing, it is important to acknowledge that the “first writing technology was writing itself” (Baron, 4). His discussion of writing highlights one of the major characteristics associated with any emerging technology, dissent. Baron writes that “writing was once an innovation resisted by traditionalist because it was unnatural and untrustworthy” (Baron, 4). As Baron points out, one of the voices that spoke out against writing was Plato who believed that the writing would “produce forgetfulness in the minds of those that learn to use it” (Plato, 165). Plato also believed that writing would lead to a hollow education for students because they would be able to read without instruction. Knowledge could now be divorced from its source; an instructor no longer had to be present in order to impart knowledge.
While Plato opposed writing technology, others believed writing would bring a positive change to the world. Interestingly enough, future generations would not have access to Plato’s teachings without the written word. Writing helps people preserve information that would otherwise be lost.
If we apply many of Plato’s arguments about writing to modern forms of technology many of the same issues emerge. The computer and more importantly the internet, the e-reader, smart phones all have impacted the way people communicate and engage with information. Since Baron’s essay was written in 1999, it provides an interesting view of how people viewed technology like the computer and the internet in the 90’s. He writes how leaders believed “that hooking up every school classroom to the Web [would] eliminate illiteracy” (Baron, 1). It is difficult to imagine that anyone would oppose a form of technology that could help increase literacy, but similar to previous writing technologies the computer and the internet does come with its own level of controversy.
There are large issues like the digital divide arguments that tell us how less developed countries still lack access to the internet. Arguments about censoring the web, about file sharing copyrighted material, the number of debates are endless. The number of debates can take this post in numerous directions, but the influence on writing practices is quite interesting. While society as a whole would argue that the computer is central to their ability to communicate and record information, there are also cons to this new technology. A scenario that Baron mentions in his essay illustrates the conflicts to the growth of the computer as a primary writing technology. Baron writes;
I found that I had become so used to composing virtual prose that I could no longer draft anything coherent directly on to a piece of paper […] the writing practices I had been engaged in regularly since the age of four, now seemed to overwhelm and constrict me, and I longed for the flexibility of digitized text” (Baron, 1).
I will be the first to admit that I rely on my word processor to identify spelling and grammar mistakes, when I write things by hand I question if my spelling is correct. I would probably miss many of the grammar mistakes without a grammar check. Many people I know rely on auto-fill options on Google and text messaging programs to provide the correct spelling of words. People no longer have to invest the same level of care when constructing a document.
Also, if we return to Plato’s critiques of writing as a technology, these critiques we can apply them to the computer and internet. Plato feared that writing as a technology would lead to forgetfulness. Smart phones allow people to have information at their fingertips; the need to commit information to memory is no longer necessary. College students will readily admit that they cram information in order to pass an exam, and then forget the information once the exam is over.
Plato also warned against getting information without instruction. The modern day version of this argument may center on questions of credibility. The internet provides an endless source of information, when a person researches without proper instruction there is a possibility of using a source that lacks credibility. For example, teachers often warn students to refrain from using Wikipedia because the information on the site is provided by users. The internet is the one place where anyone can be an expert.
Baron also points out that “as a literacy technology begins to become established, it also goes beyond the previous technology” and “while writing cannot replace many speech functions it allows us to communicate in ways that speech does not” (Baron, 6). I would argue that Baron’s statement is no longer truthful; changes in technology are changing the way we communicate. Rather than speak to each other many of us communicate through text messaging. Rather than call a customer service representative we engage in a live chat (I am not entirely the person I am chatting with is real). Communication is becoming increasingly impersonal. How often do you go to dinner and see a couple texting (probably each other) at the dinner table.
Baron’s essay really makes readers think about how far writing technologies have come. The question is if there is ever a point where new technology goes too far. I am the first to admit my love of the internet, computer, kindle, smart phone and laptop (I often have them on and in front of me at the same time) but I am also the first admit that the older writing technologies have a certain charm that is disappearing.
Do we have to lose old writing technologies to embrace new writing technologies? Is there a benefit to keeping both? Can we keep both?
Please view the link below. An example of how I randomly think about this class. This video ended up being relevant to my most recent post and will probably be relevant in my next one (and yes I did watch Beastly and I enjoyed it.
