The two writers I included in this paper Andrew Ofstad and Ursula Le Guin have similar and different ideas on how technology can affect literature, but also if reading maybe declining in society. I don't focus so much on if reading is declining; I focus if technology is really detrimental to reading and learning to society. I think it is important to see that reading is important for learning, but technology also has a way for people to read and learn as well. I don't expect you as the reader to agree with my own conclusion, but to decide on your own opinion on the matter after reading my essay. Andrew Ofstad's "America's Decline in Literacy Reading: Grappling with Technology's Effects on the Print of Culture" and Ursula Le Guin's "Staying Awake: Notes on the Alleged Decline of Reading" are both essays that focus on the decline of reading in society.
Fahrenheit 451 argues if books really do matter. The argument of books in today’s world of living is questionable and can be prolonged for a series of time due to modern day technology. This debate will go on for years and years into the future. As technology gets higher used and smarter, we will use papered books less in the future and people be so caught up in all of this technology that they will not see the true meaning of paper-back books and why they can be so important. There’s nothing like holing a real book in your hands being able to smell the inked paper.
Texting can be very helpful in various ways like promoting creativity and is just another form of communication, so it will not decline or destroy language. Shorthand language (abbreviations) ideally utilized in texting has been used for years before the invention of texting in a variety of forms, but has just recently been seen as damaging. It is interesting how todays’ language is merely made up of abbreviations. Chat rooms were the number one spot where abbreviation took place before the cell phone came along – well text messaging. According to Crystal, “Adults who condemn a “c u” in a young person’s texting have forgotten that they once did the same thing themselves (though not on a mobile phone)” (338).
Time and Distance Overcome Whenever a new thing is invented people are always skeptic about it, because it’s something unfamiliar and somehow unsafe. How come we are scared of new things at to try new things, most of the great ideas work out as miracles, most of them. In the essay “Time and Distance Overcome”, by the American non-fiction writer, Eula Biss, you see the miracle of the telephone Biss writes “"And I believed that the telephone itself was a miracle." And why wouldn’t it be a miracle, look where it has brought us today. But what was the real story behind the telephone and the telephone poles?
When you write to people, besides your friends, you should do them the courtesy of spelling correctly so they will not have any trouble reading your text, it will also seem more professional. You should also learn to spell correctly because the internet is unable to differentiate between alternate spelling and different words. Also if society accepted all kinds of different spellings of the same words every written word would have an unlimited number of meanings. Correct spelling is just snobbery but it is necessary for society to function optimally. 2.
People wish they could be more like him, fearless to challenge those they feel act wrongly. Personally, when I witness behavior that defies social norms, I think to myself “what would Larry David do”? That is because when it comes to social norms, Larry David is the perfect man to expose why it is important not to break them. A typical person who hasn’t been exposed to Larry David’s ideology may not think much of the young, naïve line cutters from 1st grade. However, the episode “Vow of Silence” shows exactly why those line cutters should not be given
In the world we live in, it seems that every other person is out for self gain They will step on anyone and do whatever it takes to get what they want, but does that make them purely evil? What if in their final moments they go something good? Or if their evil ways are result’s of circumstances that they can no control over? It’s a hard line to draw and in King Lear Shakespeare explains why through the use of conclusions. The most important conclusion Shakespeare has drawn about the nature of humanity in King Lear is the fact that evil is not something the gods have cursed you with at birth but it is something that you choose for yourselfACt .
Many futuristic sci-fi novels in the 20th century promised a future where you could turn out the lights, get a drink, turn on the TV and more with a simple voice command. And it didn’t seem so far-fetched; all we needed was some kind of recognition software and the lazy desire to not move a single inch. Sure enough, it is becoming a popular method of inputting text on a computer and smartphones, what with telecommunication companies wanting to save some money by getting rid of tech support agents. But once it appeared in real life, people started complaining, mainly about the program’s inefficiency and their vocal strains; it didn’t work quite as well as they thought it would. Inflexibility can take the blame for the voice recognition software’s inefficiency.
However, the use of “widening gyre” and “tide” highlights a sense of foreboding, suggesting that history will make a reoccurrence and peace will never be restored because society will not learn from its mistakes. From a modern day reader it can be understood that Yeats’ prediction of history was correct as the Second World War began just shortly after the poet’s death. In The Second Coming Yeats creates images of disaster and catastrophe through words such as “anarchy” and “drowned”. The word “anarchy” could refer to the disorder and chaos that was once held back by civilization but as a result of World War One it has now been loosed into the world. Whilst the war had ended shortly before the publishing of the poem, the word “blood-dimmed” suggests that the tragedy of the First World War will never be completely forgotten as the memory of disaster will always
This makes them an official part of the English Language, so should we be complaining if they are used in our English Essays? The majority of people think that using text speak should be thoroughly avoided anywhere other than texting as it can become a habit, or a usual way of writing. This can reduce your chances of getting high grades in school, as well as job opportunities. On the other hand, text speak affects spoken language very little. Worldwide people speak differently from the way they write, and texting — quick, casual and only intended to be read once — is actually a way of talking with your fingers.