Personal Image 3

Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most iconic authors of the 20th century. Slaughterhouse - Five is perhaps his most personal book as it contains some autobiographical details of his experience at the bombing of Dresden. Slaughterhouse - Five is experimental is style as it seeks to unpack the horrors experienced during the Second World War. 

Don't Wanna Be...

I'm so excited to go home and write! I had block algebra today, so that meant I copied the notes my friend and math protégé, Devon, was taking and instead spent the 2 hours crafting the end of my short story. I've had the worst writer's block the last few weeks, but my dry spell is over.

The entire drive home I try to continue with my train of thought. Maybe this should be s book instead of a short story. This could be the first chapter. Perhaps Ashton, my protagonist, should not return home and instead continue to travel in Europe.

Bursting with ideas, I sit at my computer. My mom calls up the stairs, asking me to come down and say hi to her. Rolling my eyes, I trudge down the stairs and give her the obligatory hug followed by a brisk, "I have sooooo much homework tonight, so I'll probably be upstairs for a while. Can you let me know when dinner is ready?"

Sitting at my computer, I glance over the last thing I had written. My hands eagerly land on the keys and I can feel the story flowing through my fingertips and then-

I can't even remember the end, or the transition to get to the end. All I can hear is Greenday's "American Idiot" that was playing on the radio while I drove home.

Theorems on the Future of Literacy and Orality

1      In postmodern literature, the narrator is usually characterized as unreliable. This differs exponentially from the classical protagonist who often acted with clear and reliable intentions in order to create an episodic story line. The concrete nature of print allows for convoluted plot lines and intertextuality, all of which would have been infinitely confusing in a purely oral context. Even more confusing is the choose your own adventure genre that is regaining popularity since its first boom as the children’s series. The concept of allowing the reader to interact with the text and to associate intimately with the protagonist has its origins in oral literature and storytelling. Ong writes, “The type ‘heavy’ (or ‘flat’) character derives originally from primary oral narrative, which can provide characters of no other kind,” (148). These flat characters serve to organize the storyline, but also to allow the listener to identify with them.

2      Historically, writing allowed for interior personal exploration. Yet, with emerging digital practices, such as twitter, personal blogs, and Facebook, much of what was previously interior exploration has become externalized and posted for the world to see. Ong writes, “print was also a major factor in the development of the sense of personal privacy that marks modern society,” (129). Print allowed readers to contemplate the text silently and personally, an experience that was revolutionary for the development of modern philosophy and science. However, print in the digital world has allowed everyone to share personal experiences, from the dramatic and radical to the monotonous drivel of everyday life.

3      With the increasing presence of self-publication, due in part to a globalized internet market, publishing houses are increasingly losing control of the intellectual content that is available to consumers. Intellectual content has always had some sort of gateway or barrier that keeps it from the casual consumer. In his book, Ong discusses the use of Latin as a means of communicating in academic subjects. Scientists, philosophers, and other learned people wrote and communicated through writing in this manner, though it did not translate to the verbal. This allowed for much of the content to remain among a select few, mainly upper class white males. Ong writes, “For well over a thousand years, it (Latin) was sex-linked, a language written and spoken only by males,” (111).  In modern society, publishing houses have served as the gateway for information. Journals, newspapers, and other publishers only publish what they deem to be ‘good.’ This does not always allow for radical ideas to become widely known or discussed. However, self-publishing removes this gateway. What this means for the publishing world, a business I myself am interested in exploring, is uncertain. What I hope will happen is new ideas, that may have been previously dismissed by publishers, will become popular based on their own merit. Publishers will then be forced, by public demand, to publish them and create a more structured discussion.

Digital Response 2

It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.

~Oscar Wilde

This week I have been reading Blue Ravens by Gerald Vizenor. In his book, there is a surprising reference to Oscar Wilde and his time in Leadville, Colorado. Though I studied Wilde briefly in high school, there was never any mention of his time in Colorado, which is surprising considering I grew up in Boulder. 

Wilde was an incredible man who faced prosecution for his sexuality. This quote speaks volumes to me, though I might amend it to read, "It is what you do when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." It is so tempting, at the end of the day when all work is done, to go home and binge on Netflix and superficial Buzzfeed articles. While this is a habit I have fallen into in the past, it is a something I now struggle against. Nights where I return home to read a book, journal, or article that I enjoy, are nights well spent. I feel better about my state of mind and how I have spent my time in contrast to the nights I spend aimlessly wandering on my computer. 

So Rama, Phaedrus, and a DU Tour Guide are all in a room...

Tour Guide is standing in the middle of the room. Enter Rama. Rama has a monkey, Hanuman, on his shoulder. 

Tour Guide: Hi! Welcome to the University of Denver! I understand that you are interested in attending the University for the upcoming fall quarter?

Rama: Yes.

Tour Guide: What made you decide to come to Denver?

Rama: It's a long story, but basically my father, Dasaratha, kicked me out of my home along with  my brother and fiancé due to the plotting of my stepmother. 

Tour Guide: Wow, how do you - 

Rama: But then Ravana kidnapped Sita, my fiancé, and now I am here. I need to gain new knowledge before I proceed on my quest to rescue Sita.

Tour Guide: What do you feel you can gain by coming to DU?

Rama: Well, to rescue Sita I was advised to go to Sugriva, who is the ruler of the monkey kingdom. But Bali, Sugriva's brother, took the throne. So I was hoping to learn some politics so I can help Sugriva take back his kingdom. Hopefully, he will then help me find Sita.

Tour Guide: Well I don't know exactly which courses at DU would help you to do that. 

Rama: What do you  mean? I assumed that this University taught useful knowledge. I need to know how to help Sugriva take back his throne. What can I learn here?

Tour Guide: Well, um, we have a great study abroad program?

Rama: I don't want to go abroad, I need to learn how to do something very specific. Hanuman, my advisor, told me this was a great place of learning, and I need to learn.

Tour Guide: See, DU is a liberal arts school, so it expects students to want a range of educational experiences. Maybe you can aim for the law school, that should help you with the legalities of helping your friend, Sumatra-

Rama: Sugriva, actually.

Tour Guide: Yes, sorry, Sugriva, take back his kingdom. Of course, you would have to take some entrance exams.

Rama: What are the entrance exams?

Tour Guide: They assess your current grasp of certain subjects, such as mathematics, history, reading and writing-

Rama: Well I have not been taught to read or write.

Tour Guide: You never learned to read?

Rama: I never had the need. Everything I needed to know was imparted to me by my tutor. I know the long history of my people, how to rule them effectively, and the religious needs of my kingdom.

Tour Guide: So you came to DU because...?

Rama: I am in need of specific knowledge. I assumed that, like in most places I am familiar with, I would find a mentor and advisor who would help me to discover the knowledge that is imperative for my quest.

Tour Guide: Maybe DU isn't the place for you.

Rama: Why?

Tour Guide: DU's academics are based on a thorough education in many different fields of study. I don't think we have the program you are looking for.

Rama: I see. Well, Hanuman and I will continue with our quest. 

Tour Guide: Good luck helping Sumatra-

Rama: Sugriva.

Tour Guide: Sugriva. Sorry. 

Exit Rama and Hanuman.

Enter Phaedrus

Tour Guide: Hi! Welcome to the University of Denver! I understand that you are interested in attending the University for the upcoming fall quarter?

Phaedrus: Yes, I am. My tutor recommended this institution to me. I understand that you have a wonderful philosophy program. I am mostly interested in the art of rhetoric as it is applied to modern politics.

Tour Guide: Great! Well DU has a great communications program as well. You may also be interested in the writing program.

Phaedrus: Oh no, my tutor told me that writing would be the end of true knowledge. I am simply interested in rhetoric and the philosophy of erotic love.

Tour Guide: Umm. OK. Well, there are some mandatory writing courses at DU.

Phaedrus: Why?  

Tour Guide: Well, being able to write in this modern age is imperative to being able to communicate your ideas effectively. 

Phaedrus: How do you know this? It seems to me that most of the population obtains their news from the television, a primarily oral practice. The radio is also a popular way to consume the news. Neither of these mediums requires reading. In politics, leaders express their views in conferences or interviews that are broadcasted on news networks. 

Tour Guide: Yes, that is a good point, but most of what you hear on the television or the radio originated in writing.

Phaedrus: So these speech givers, these leaders of yours, their ideas are not true rhetoric. The art of rhetoric is speaking upon what you know to lead the people in the correct direction. Writing is meant only to remind you of what you know. If these leaders are reading words they do not already know and understand, how can you trust them?

Tour Guide: I was not prepared for this in my training. 

Phaedrus: Have you not been exposed to the art of rhetoric?

Tour Guide: Not like this. Why don't you go follow the guy with the monkey on his shoulder and discuss this with him. I quit.

Exit Tour Guide

Phaedrus: Why is there a man with a monkey on his shoulder? What kind of institution is this?

Reflection:

The first part of this script includes the tour guide and a potential student named Rama. Rama is a character from the Ramayana, perhaps the oldest epic poem in Indian culture. Originating around 500 BCE, the Ramayana existed as an oral story for hundreds of years before it was written down. There are many versions of this story in different cultures, and once written down it is about 24,000 verses divided into 7 cantos. 

Rama has come to the University of Denver to find very specific information. In a primarily oral culture, knowledge is precious and what you choose to learn usually serves a very specific purpose. As Ong writes, "since in a primarily oral culture conceptualized knowledge that is not repeated aloud soon vanishes, oral societies must invest great energy in saying over and over again what has been learned," (41). As such, Rama is confused as to why he should have to take courses that do not serve his purpose. Ong continues, "By storing knowledge outside the mind, writing and, even more, print downgrade the figures of the wise old man and the wise old woman," (41). So while Rama is looking for the wise old man or wise old woman to mentor and advise him, the tour guide is focused on finding a program of study that might help him. 

In the second part of the script, Phaedrus, the student of Socrates in a play written by Plato, interacts with the tour guide. In a similar way, he is confused as to why it is mandatory to take certain courses. However, his confusion is based in the importance the tour guide is placing in writing. Phaedrus maintains that writing is the end of true knowledge. He has come to the University of Denver to practice and learn the art of rhetoric, something he believes should be practiced orally. He is further confused by the act of speech writing for political leaders. He has been taught that leaders practice the art of rhetoric to be able to lead people in the best direction. If others are writing speeches for the politicians, then how can you trust the politicians? Ong writes, "by contrast with natural, oral speech, writing is completely artificial," (81). Phaedrus understands this, and is concerned that the nation's leaders are artificial. To him, they have lost the true art of rhetoric, and this is very concerning and perplexing to him.