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Team Deluge
The following twine work is a small interactive experience which depicts our reflections on what we have learned thus far in language, texts & technology.
[[Begin->intro]]
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Inside this small box are four floppy discs. On each floppy disc is a label with a title hand-written with sharpie marker. The floppy discs read as follows:
[[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/zo2a663.png" width="300" height="300">->Language & Text]] [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/kZbe2Pk.png" width="300" height="300">->Writing Culture]]
[[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/AfLHnTu.png" width="300" height="300">->Print Culture]] [[<img src="https://i.imgur.com/1xwJP1X.png" width="300" height="300">->Hypertext]]
You find [[some notes]] in the box as well.
You also find a page containing some [[cited works->works cited]].
You can also [[go back.->office]]
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You grab the Language & Text floppy disc and insert it into the nearest mac computer.
[[Next->Language & Text 2]]
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You grab the Writing Culture floppy disc and insert it into the nearest mac computer.
[[Next->Writing Culture 2]]
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You grab the Print Culture floppy disc and insert it into the nearest mac computer.
[[Next->Print Culture 2]]
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You grab the Hypertext floppy disc and insert it into the nearest mac computer.
[[Next->Hypertext 2]]
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<h2>Language & Text</h2>
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By Thomas Dill
In discussing Language and Text, it was important to me to define what, exactly is language and text? Language is communication. The transfer of ideas through some kind of medium, such as [[speaking]], or pictures, or text. What, then is text? We see it’s a form of communication. But what kind of communication? The first time the word text is used is from a Roman educator named Marcus Fabius Quintilianus. He lived around 35-100 AD, and attempted to quantify rhetoric in a 12 volume book called Institutio Oratoria <!-- (English: Institutes of Oratory)-->[[(1)->works cited]]. In this 12 volume series, he wrote “after you have chosen your words, they must be weaved together into a fine and delicate fabric”. [[(1)->works cited]] At the time, this was all in Latin, and the Latin word for fabric is text.
In a meta sense, we have language (communication) being written (woven) into a text. Or communication written down in a way that makes a cohesive theme, idea, or thought. From these early scribblings on stone to a digital text displayed on a screen, Language and Text has continued to change and evolve.
The first time anyone wrote anything down was around 3,000 BC in Mesopotamia, where records used for inventory and business transactions were inscribed into clay tablets. This made the text durable, didn’t require you to remember specific thoughts or ideas, and you could transport the message around. </p>
<img src="https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/2q9B-Spi4mtnb26g8bLZQd1ZHw8rPCOtS8zvk6OHPn0/https/live.staticflickr.com/4372/35753176203_7d240274e4_b.jpg?width=820&height=547" class="center">
<p class="center">Clay Tablet with Cuneiform Writing</p>
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From the Mesopotamia clay and stone tablets forward, language and text evolved and became more complex, with clay tablets giving way to wax tablets, metal plates, chalk on stone,cloth (silk, linen), animal hides, parchment, papyrus, paper… all the way to digital text on a digital screen. The oral traditions in favor until around 1000 AD slowly gave way to the written text, which up to then was all handwritten by specialists. These were typically from a religious order of Monks who hand transcribed religious texts. It wasn’t until the 15th century and the invention of the movable metal type set printing press by the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg that text started to really take off. While a printing press had been invented in China around 200 AD, the Chinese syllabaric writing style was not easily adapted to printing as it would require over 2,000 type sets. For Gutenburg, it was a perfect conjunction of alphabetic language (26 letters!), cheap paper, metallurgy for the metal type sets, and a demand for more written books.
Language was now standardized as it was written, with the printers deciding on many rules (like spelling, grammar, and even standardization of regional dialects into a national dialect). The printing press made text easy to make, cheap for people to acquire and consume, and enabled the transfer of language (remember, language as defined above as communication with the transfer of ideas through a medium). This “kickstarted” the Renaissance, and would eventually lead to many more innovations in science, culture, and philosophy.
Today, language continues to evolve, and text in digital forms are starting to take on many of the characteristics of syllabaric and hierographic of ancient cultures. Have you not seen a gif or emoji and used one in a digital text message or email?
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[[Exit Reflection->small box]]
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<h2>Language & Text</h2>
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By Elyse Mollahan
Writing has been an instrumental part to human civilization since it was created. It is said to be one of the greatest innovations that mankind has created, and serves as the foundation to all future technologies.
Writing became a method of transcribing thoughts and oral words onto tangible objects of longevity, like parchment, clay or stone, with some having more longevity than others. The tangibility of these written words allowed for communication between individuals that were not face to face, and provided a reliable consistency in accounts of historical events or folk tales. The consistency that written words provided granted those very words an authority of truth, making written words seen as truth or fact. This resulted in many early civilizations holding written documents in high esteem and respect. The people who learned how to write were typically scholars, [[monks]] and those of or in higher social classes. This is best seen in Europe with the Church being the dominate force of literacy. Many cultures and countries in Europe were greatly influenced by the Church due to their control on literacy and belief. However, the use of writing is believed to have originated with Mesopotamia with merchants who would use written language to track their stocks and goods.
In the transition from oral language to written language, there is loss in information. Many languages have auditory cues or sounds that cannot be replicated by some written languages, and the conveyance of intent is left to the reader’s interpretation. Other aspects often lost are emphasis and volume, which on initial transcript into written language, cannot be properly conveyed. However, written language can supplement these discrepancies.
Through the use of artistic emphasis, written words gain textuality and characterization. </p>
<img src="https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/71ThWnR5QgTH-sqDQ5TiWPhnFtlCYsE8fyIyjCWvAq0/https/live.staticflickr.com/7402/9423367308_b084acea20_b.jpg?width=610&height=814" class="center">
<p class="center2">Aarau, Aargauer Kantonsbibliothek, ZF 18: Werner Schodoler, Eidgenössische Chronik, Vol. 3</p>
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When someone writes a letter, its unique to that writer and carries a personality with each stroke of the pencil or brush. This is primarily seen in poetry or storytelling. Writers could emphasize words with cursives or boldness, even write upside-down, neat and orderly, chaotic and wild, creating an interactivity and intrigue engagement between the written words and the reader. Written words can vary in size and position on the paper, and instill a mood or atmosphere for the readers as the creative methods of writing help guide the reader’s imagination to the writer’s intention. Christian Vandendorpe points out a wonderful example of this in his book, the calligram of the mouse from Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland, [[(54)->works cited]]. Comically, when the revolution of the printing press came about in the 1400’s, the printed text lost that creative supplementation writing had founded, for the exchange of a standardized regional dialects and mass production.
In reflection, writing was vital to the growth of civilization. As Charles Bazerman puts it in his book about writing: “Writing is a unique human achievement,” and “It is distinct from art,” [[(Bazerman, p7)->works cited]]. The Ability to write our languages added to man kinds intuition and problem-solving abilities, opening the door for mathematics, sciences, architecture and new technologies. The world that we know today, wouldn’t exist if our ancestors didn’t start making marks in stonr or clay.
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[[Exit Reflection->small box]]
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<h2>Print Culture</h2>
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By Brendan Reardon
The [[printing press]] was first invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439. Although there were other derivatives of printed type from civilizations including China, this breakthrough began what we call print culture, the embodiment of all texts created using a printing press. Print Culture, through printed text, has voiced opinions, information, history, and critical analysis from a very diverse group of people. From Religion, Science, Politics, and Public thought, people have used the printing press as a way to communicate their thoughts, that hand-written manuscripts failed at in effectiveness and efficiency. The invention of print revolutionized the way humans communicate in that everyone could have access to written information rather than a select elite. Consequently, print has left a great impact, but is easily forgotten in its role within society. </p>
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<p class="center">"Web Press" by Rod Raglin</p>
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At first, the printing press was gladly accepted. Monks did not need to hand-write every page of a manuscript any longer. This jump in efficiency made printed material much cheaper then written manuscripts. According to Kovarik in REVOLUTIONS IN COMMUNICATION, Print also helped standardize language in that the printer had to decide on one dialect to use while printing. This was required in order to create coherent text that a large audience could understand [[(Kovarik)->works cited]]. However, print brought controversy as opinions from different walks of life tend to create.
Soon after Gutenberg, people began to use the printed word as a way to spread new ideologies, scientific breakthroughs, and thoughts on the current religious state. These new ideas from people like [[Martin Luther]] brought severe opposition with their different way of thinking, despite the truthfulness of their stance. Many religious wars began with the outbreak of alternative ideas, regarding religion, being communicated in print.
Jumping foreword, the American Revolution was built by the printing press spreading colonial sentiments across the colonies through local newspapers. According to Waldstreicher, “American Nationalism emerged from the conjunction of local celebrations and their reproduction in the press” [[(Waldstreicher, Pg. 2)->works cited]]. Consequently, the United States has relied on the newspapers as a “Fourth Estate,” or a pillar the country relies on to communicate various information, opinions, and accountability for the government (Kovarik).
In reflection, print media has served an enormous role within history that has left an enormous footprint, but is not frequently seen in that light. In the present day, with the advent of digital media, print media is seen as a dinosaur like relic. People are eager to embrace the new and forget the old.
In order to intelligently embrace the new, however, you must learn from the old in order to better govern the new. Digital media is taking over aspects of life that many could never have predicted. In order to understand digital media’s full power, we must learn from the past and apply those lessons to the current landscape. We cannot take for granted the old foundations of communication, that print media gave to society, and remember the benefits and negatives it gave us.
[[Exit Reflection->small box]]
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<h2>Hypertext</h2>
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By Will McLeod
As we progress as a civilization, our technology advances and with it new doors into interpreting and viewing text. Any document that is viewed on a computer or device and can link to other documents is considered a form of hypertext. This has resulted in major changes to media outlets. Moving forward with technology means that hypertext is more relevant now than it ever has been and will continue to do so until it adapts to the next major form or change in technology.
One of the first ways that hypertext made its mark on society was through books. The technology that we have available to us has allowed for easier access to more books. It has also ushered in [[new ways of reading]] and adapting information. We typically follow the standard way of reading in American culture, which is top to bottom and left to right. This is still mostly true, but hypertext allows us to test the limits of reading on a device. As we viewed in class, there are even older forms of digital books that allow the reader to click and read a story in any order by clicking different words or hyperlinks. Devices such as the Kindle and iPad have made reading on the go much easier and user friendly. Hypertext has made it possible to read more books in more places and at any time of the day regardless of light.
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At one point in time, newspapers reigned supreme for informational reading. In today’s era, newspapers are fairly irrelevant and have become outdated. Newspapers force the user to read in a linear fashion like a book. Hypertext allows a non-linear reading experience where the user choses what to read. Newspapers and media companies missed the turn when it came to hypertext. When technology was advancing, the newspaper companies decided that the internet was not going to be a big deal and thus did not invest much into new forms of spreading information. This led to massive revenue competition with online news sources. Bill Kovarik states in the book that the three main areas that newspapers were challenged upon were, “circulation, classified advertising, and display advertising” (134). Newspapers eventually decided to enter the online news craze, but it appears to be too late for many of the companies.
The use of hypertext in propaganda has increased its effectiveness to historical levels. Newspapers and journalists for major papers and news networks have helped to either spread or stop propaganda in every major event in world history. With the development of the internet, as well as the invention of social media, propaganda has been able to spread like wildfire to old and new readers. The most recent example was in the previous presidential election where we saw Russia use social media to spread propaganda and false news. With all of the good changes that hypertext has brought about, there is the potential for some bad to happen as well.
Robert Cailliau writes in his article, Hypertext in the Web – a History, that browser capabilities and their use are on the rise [[(Cailliau)->works cited]]. This has created a dynamic space of information for every user of hypertext. As the technology grows, hypertext will grow with it and become more relevant.
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[[Exit Reflection->small box]] </div>
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You walk through the door and enter a strange office. You hear the door latch shut. In this office are several old mac computers, all turned on and fully functional.
You see a [[small box]] sitting on the desk beside the mac computers.
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Thinking, thinking, thinking. You are trying to think of an idea for your latest DTC project. Desperate, you head to campus. You're not a fan of asking professors for help, but here you are. You arrive at campus, and you [[enter the digs]].
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Nobody is here, which is strange for this time of day. You begin to leave, but notice a [[door->office]] that you swear was never here before.
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<h2>Johannes Gutenberg's Printing Press</h2>
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Johannes Gutenberg’s work on the printing press began in 1439 when he became involved in the business of selling metal badges or “pilgrim’s mirrors” for people on religious pilgrimages. Investors became interested in Gutenberg’s faster, more efficient way to manufacture these badges. Unfortunately, a major setback occurred when it was announced that the Aachen, Germany pilgrimage was being postponed for a year due to the bubonic plague. Looking for another way to keep investors happy, Gutenberg started a second enterprise which lead to him pouring metals into matrixes that held blanks for different letters of the alphabet [[(RIC 28)->works cited]].
This can be seen as the beginning of the printing press. After a few more years of experimentation, Gutenberg created the system that would produce the flawless Gutenberg bible. This printing press system included “metal forges and molds for type; a way to set the type; a long-lasting ink; a new kind of press; contracts for ough quality linen paper; methods to stack and order pages; and financing to pull the system together.” [[(RIC 29)->works cited]]
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DLctAw4JZXE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(video is CC marked) Sabrina Huyett, March 3, 2014.
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[[go back->Print Culture 2]]
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<h2>Oral Culture</h2>
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Before text and symbols, a human being’s main form of communication was through oral language. Oral language wasn’t seen or written, it was heard. Acts of oral communication such as storytelling have gone back to the “dawn of human existence”[[(RIC 19)->works cited]] It was also found that people of oral cultures think and behave differently than those in cultures with text and writing.
One way in which people of oral cultures are different is that they tend to think in more concrete and practical ways, while those in a culture with a written language will tend to use abstract or more linear concepts [[(RIC 19)->works cited]]. People in oral cultures also tend to make decisions in consensus groups rather than with a hierarchy.
The effectiveness of oral cultures also tends to be underestimated because of the implications of stories passed on orally becoming misconstrued through experiments involving children. Despite this famous experiment, oral cultures are perfectly capable of passing information over long distances and through generations with accuracy when important.
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[[go back->Language & Text 2]]
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<h2>Martin Luther's 95 Theses</h2>
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Martin Luther was one of the first to spread new ideas and opposition to religion through print. This began when Luther wrote a letter to the Bishop of Mainz and nailed a copy of the letter to the doors of a cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany [[(RIC 38)->works cited]]. This letter contained what is known as Martin Luther’s 95 theses, a document that condemned the church’s act of selling indulgences.
Without the technology of printing, Martin Luther’s 95 theses would have gone mostly unnoticed. But Martin Luther was able to utilize printing to spread copies of his 95 theses across Europe, leading to one of the first instances of an idea reaching mass amounts of people with relative ease.
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[[go back->Print Culture 2]]
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<h2>Hypertext story example:</h2>
<h5>Neon Haze by Porpentine</h5>
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Neon Haze by porpentine is an example of storytelling using hypertext links. Neon haze tells the story of a drifter in a futuristic and dystopian world. The user is able to explore detours in the story by clicking on links that are highlighted in pink.</p>
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<p class="center2">Screenshot from Neon Haze by Porpentine</p>
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As an example, when the main character in the story is looking at a transit module, the user may be able to click on those words, leading to an in-depth description of the item and the character’s thoughts on said item. Neon Haze also has moments in which it is gamified by allowing the user to guide the main character away from danger by clicking on the correct hypertext links.
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[[go back->Hypertext 2]]
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By Dylan Niehaus
This is a collection of notes that have been incorporated into the reflections found on the floppy discs.
[[Oral Culture->speaking]]
[[Martin Luther]]
[[Gutenberg's Printing Press->printing press]]
[[Hypertext Story Example->new ways of reading]]
[[Before the Printing Press: Monk Power->monks]]
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<h2>Before the Printing Press: Monk Power</h2>
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Before printing became the primary form of producing literature, the main source of literature production came from monks. Monks performed the tedious task of copying works by hand.
According to Revolutions in Communication, a monk was able to print one double-sided page of one manuscript per day, while in the earliest days of printing, a four-person crew of printers could print about 1,500 double-sided pages per day [[(p. 33)->works cited]]. This shows printing for the incredible revolution in technology that it was.
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[[go back->Writing Culture 2]]
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<h3>Works Cited for [[Language & Text->Language & Text 2]] Reflection:</h3>
<p class="sanserif">(1) Quintilian as Educator, translated by H.E. Butler, Twayne Publishers, Inc New York, 1974. </p>
<h3>Works Cited for [[Writing Culture->Writing Culture 2]] Reflection:</h3>
<p class="sanserif">Bazerman, Charles. “Handbook of Research on Writing.” Google Books, Google, 2009,
Vandendorpe, Christian. From Papyrus to Hypertext: toward the Universal Digital Library. University of Illinois Press, 2009.
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<h3>Works Cited for [[Print Culture->Print Culture 2]] Reflection:</h3>
<p class="sanserif">Kovarik, Bill. REVOLUTIONS IN COMMUNICATION: Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age. 2nd edition. Bloomsbury Publishing. New York, NY. 2018. Print.
Waldstreicher, David. “Rites of Rebellion, Rites of Assent: Celebrations, Print Culture, and the Origins of American Nationalism.” The Journal of American History, vol. 82, no. 1, 1995, pp. 37–61. 2019. Web.
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<h3>Works Cited for [[Hypertext->Hypertext 2]] Reflection:</h3>
<p class="sanserif">Cailliau, Robert, and Helen Ashman. “Hypertext in the Web - a History.” ACM Computing Services, vol. 31, Dec. 1999, pp. 1–6. Google Scholar, www.gsd.inesc-id.pt/~ler/docencia/tm0405/papers/a35-cailliau.pdf.</p>
<h3>Works Cited for [[Reflection Notes->some notes]]:</h3>
<p class="sanserif">Kovarik, Bill. REVOLUTIONS IN COMMUNICATION: Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age. 2nd edition. Bloomsbury Publishing. New York, NY. 2018. Print. </p>
<h3>Image Attributions</h3>
<p class="sanserif">Floppy Disc Images:
"File:3.4 inch floppy disk.jpg" by Amada44 is licensed under CC0 1.0
Clay Tablet Image:
Clay Tablet with Cuneiform Writing: Nebuchadnezzar, King of Justice. By Gary Todd, Public Domain.
Printing Press Image:
"Web Press" by Rod Raglin is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Writing Culture Reflection Image:
Aarau, Aargauer Kantonsbibliothek, ZF 18: Werner Schodoler, Eidgenössische Chronik, Vol. 3. Licensed Under CC BY-NC 2.0
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