Reading and Writing

Bill Schaff

Professor Leake

Writ 1120

January 26, 2013

Reading and Writing

Reading and writing has been evolving ever since it started in the stone ages and will never stop evolving as long as we keep reading and writing. While we may not see cave paintings as literacy, it was their way to pass information on to the next generation and our reading and writing all progressed from this idea. I feel like it has to evolve though, every new innovation, form the invention of paper to the ability to surf the web, progresses reading and writing a step further. Whether people argue this progression in literacy is positive or negative, there is no debating that it will continue to happen as newer and newer technology immerges into our society. I believe that this change is not only necessary but also vital to staying up-to-date with how fast societies are progressing.

            Literacy, in my opinion, has to progress from generation to generation. With new mediums and technologies being invented daily, we are capable to accomplish so much more than ever thought possible. In Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making us Stupid”, he notes, “we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970s or 1980s, when television was our medium of choice” (2). Even though texting and emailing are not the most formal written texts, it still allows us to read and write much more than we ever have. Without things new mediums such as computers and the Internet we could still be hand writing letters and papers for personal and scholarly work. Also, writing back when there was only pencil and paper was all formal. I believe that individuals did not write in an informal tone because it was not instantly delivered. If someone made a grammatical or spelling error in their hand written letter they could not just instantly fix it like we can today. The letter could take days to arrive to their intended individual. Only recently have writings taken on an informal tone which I believe is due to the new mediums that we communicate through. If someone sends a text message and it contains a spelling error, that person can instantly send another text to correct what he/she spelled wrong. This can all be done before the intended receiver ever reads the message. In my opinion, it is technology that is allowing individuals of this generation to write in such an informal tone, but the difference between the last generation and this one is that this generation has two different style of writing. “We see students moving with relative ease across levels of style (from the most informal to the most formal)” (Lunsford, 2).

Some individuals may still argue that technology has made our reading and writing skill levels drop. “News, political debate, theater, art and books are judged not on the power of their ideas but on their ability to entertain”, argues Chris Hedges (2). He goes on to explain that because of technology, people will only look at pictures if possible and not read in depth about it. Hedges implies that we are slowly loosing the ability to read and write well because of technology improvements. I could not disagree more with what Hedges is saying. Technology is improving the way we read and write but in a different way than it has before. Individuals will distinguish their style of writing depending on whom they are writing for. Andrea A. Lunsford, an English professor at Stanford and previous Director of Reading and Rhetoric, notes that, “young people are for the most part aware of the context and audience for their writing—and they make the adjustments necessary to address them effectively” (Lunsford, 2). So yes, individuals of this generation write with terms such as “How r u?” and “Going 2 store 4 food, get you something?”. But that is mostly to friends in an informal writing style, whereas if they were going to write a paper for school or a letter, they can switch off the informal way of writing and write in an academic style. Also, Lunsford suggests a very accurate argument in my opinion. She explains that if the writing ability of this generation is actually diminishing, we should really ask ourselves if the children are loosing the ability to read and write or it the education system and teachers are not effectively teaching the children (Lunsford, 3).

            Technology has had a very significant impact on how people write. Just in the sense that the Internet has provided individuals with unlimited resources all at their fingertips. This a major improvement to how we write. The term “Pancake People” (Carr, 7) is an extremely accurate term for the people of this generation because of the immense variety of information we can access. To be able to reference nearly any academic writing in the world just by a simple “Google search” has not only made writing better but it allows for much more detailed and accurate writings. Also, it’s not only this generation who is experiencing this great change in writing. When the typewriter was invented, it created an entirely new way of writing for individuals. Back in 1882, a man named Friedrich Nietzsche was going blind and could no longer write. Writing was a passion of his that he could no longer do. He purchased a typewriter and this gave him the ability to once again write (Carr, 3). Technology can not only improve the way we wright but it can also, as in Nietzsche’s case, give the power of writing back to people. These new mediums allow us to write in a way that will push ourselves further and further. For all we know, if we had not made these refinements in our reading and writing mediums we could still very possibly be drawling pictures on cave walls. These new ways to read and write are turning us into a different kind of literate generation but it is still a very literate generation. Society as a whole would not be able to progress a fast as it has with out these new mediums for reading and writing because information would not easily available for individuals to reference and use. But, progression is not the only benefit of literacy, it has many other major benefits. For example, by having a literate community, people can accurately judge situations and can engage in effective action for a just society (Scribner, 12).

Defining literacy is a very hard this to do, there is not just one way that we can define literacy. Scholars have tried to make an “umbrella definition”, a definition that would define what literacy is as a whole but there are always contradicting statements in it (Scribner, 1). Now Urban Dictionary does not have the most reliable definitions for words but I do agree on their definition of literacy. Urban Dictionary defines literacy as, “Having the ability and comprehension level enabling one to efficiently communicate with others within a specific profession. However, a common misconception of this word defines it as having the ability to read with comprehension.” In my opinion, this is spot on. I believe that writing and drawling all started as a way to communicate information from group or generation to the next, it’s not how well we can read or write but how we communicate with each other. I believe that this idea needs to be taken into consideration when determining how well people can read and write. If individuals are communicating with one another and understand what he/she is trying to say than I think they are literate. Chris Hedges argues, “In our post-literate world, because ideas are inaccessible, there is a need for constant stimulus.” I ask why, why do you think that this generation, my generation, is not literate. Just because we do not read the way you do or text in with proper grammar, does not make us illiterate. It make us different, it makes us unique. Our literacy is based on a different way of reading and writing but studies show that this generation is writing more than the previous and the writings are three times as long (Lunsford, 2).  

I believe that the future holds significant changes for the way we read and write. If you look at where we have come from in terms of writing, from a very formal and hand written style to texting with extremely improper grammar, one has to wonder where it can take us. What will be the next great thing in writing, what will the next generations literacy skills be like, the generation before this one had trouble with spelling words, this generation has trouble with using the “wrong word” because of spell check (Lunsford, 3). Will the next generation have good spelling and use the “right word” but not be able to hand write anything? Then we look at reading, the generation before this one would read entire books and articles in depth, this generation mainly skims articles and books online to find what they are looking for (Carr, 2). Will the next generation even be reading books or will computers be reading books to them. I believe that no matter what the future holds for reading and writing it will always be there, it’s just the way that individuals read and write will change and we must embrace this change or society will not progress.

Works Cited

1) Urban Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013. <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=literacy>.

2) Carr, Nicholas. Is Google Making us Stupid. N.p.: n.p., 2008. 1-8. Print.

3) Lunsford, Andrea A. Our Semi-literate Youth? Not So Fast. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-3. Print.

4) Hedges, Chris. America the Illiterate. N.p.: n.p., 2008. 1-3. Print.

5) Scribner, Sylvia. "Literacy in Three Metaphors." 93.1984: 6-21. Print.