communication
In the “Writing For The Web” author, Applen explains the cultural shift in speaking, writing, and literature text as we know it. Walter Ong introduced the concept of secondary orality. A modern form of communication that is a mix of traditional orality and written text. It includes mediums such as radio shows, social media, and TV. Which rely on spoken language but also use written scripts. This is in contrast to traditional orality, which was the primary form of communication before the invention of written text. We consume and produce this kind of media in our everyday lives.
Orality
Before the advent of written text, communication was primarily oral. People would share information verbally, relying on the power of memory to retain and retell the spoken words. Songs were often used to aid in this process, serving as mnemonic devices to help remember important information. This reliance on memory underscores the remarkable cognitive abilities of our ancestors.
Words
When someone reads a piece of writing, the author’s defense of their work is only possible if they are present. This is because the act of writing, a form of technology that exists outside our minds. This creates a permanence that spoken words lack. The written word, once inscribed, endures indefinitely, while spoken words, once uttered, are lost to the air.
How to connect
My connection with modern-day media, which is second orality, would be using social media and listening to the radio. That is where I get my news from, along with school assignments. For nonmodern press, which is orality would be gossip among friends or telling a dream I had out loud. At school, we had an example of this by playing a game called telephone. At the start of a line, one person would whisper in another’s ear. Pass down the message through spoken word. When the message got to the last person, it was the wrong one.
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