Topic: Style and gender in language; Writing and technology and their efects on language

You will be required to write two paragraphs.

1. The first paragraph, which will be critical thoughts on the course materials. By critical reading, I mean a close examination of the main argument of a text, as well as what evidence is used to support the argument.

Related materials:

The Social Art (TSA), Chapters 15, 17, 18, 22, 23, 31

Language Myths (LM) # 3, 5, 6, 16

2. The second paragraph will be a response to one of your classmates' original posts. Think of these blogs as a way to explore a major theme or two from the week's reading in more personal terms. Once you've analyzed the major points, how do you react to what you're reading? Can you think of experiences from your own life that either support or contradict what you're reading (considering I am an international student from China)? The following is one of my classmate's post:

3 Blog

It is amazing that the most basic technology humans have created is writing and continues to be a vital source of communication. Although it is unclear how writing began, writing has influenced much of our language and how it shapes our lives. Ronald Macaulay writes, "The origins of language are lost in the prehistoric past and can never be recovered" (2006, 77). This seems at first like a very important loss for humankind because we are not able to discover how writing began. However, it seems more important how far writing has come and the variations and influences it has imposed on our lives.

For example, these variations such as syllabic, logographic, and alphabetic writing systems which emerged from evolving over centuries shows how complex writing can be (2006, 77). It is also important to note how different our language may be without writing as Macaulay says, "the existence of a writing system affects our knowledge of language (2006, 80). With other languages relying heavily on spoken word, written language ensures that the past is kept in the spelling, but we are able to evolve and change the language which also becomes reflected in the writing.

Writing is also extremely important because it is not only a blueprint for how our language has evolved but the history it records both in the words and stories. Without writing our society may not have been able to understand and enhance medical, scientific or any fields without a foundation to build from. There is no wonder as to when discoveries are made, they are written in scientific journals for others to read. Writing is vital towards keeping records of improvements and history which seems more reliable than spoken word.

Although writing may seem more formal and does not accurately describe all social classes, it is a step in preserving our history. Without documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, writing on the Liberty Bell, Washington Monument and every work within The Library of Congress, our society would prove vastly different and possibly in a negative way. Macaulay says, "Written texts are static and durable.

They can be scanned more than once and selectively" (2006, 81). Without this availability, society may be at a disadvantage when trying to prove someone's innocence in court, the specific wording to a law and may not be able to learn the form themselves.

Not only has society come so far as creating new forms of writing from those of the prehistoric era, but are able to include style and techniques. Macaulay says, "Whether written or spoken, the language will be simple or complex depending upon our purpose" (2006, 82). If one was to write poetry or a simple text, writing is able to accommodate both forms.

We can also tell stories or state a basic fact. Either way, writing is extremely vital in all aspects of life. Pertaining to the lecture, I do not think the writing which forms texts or emails is hurting written language. I only believe it is a rather new form which we should embrace, like any other such as research writing, poetry and more.

Although it may be loosely used, it is a form that helps convey communication and is still important towards everyday interaction between individuals.

Rachel Dolan