The Oral Tradition
I enjoy looking at the origins of things and ideas. Recently, I have been thinking about why we teach composition or why we teach it the way we do. The idea of writing replacing the oral tradition is interesting. We currently place such a high value on the act of writing and the end-product of writing. It seems everything academically related at all levels of education has a written component to it. We take writing tests to get into schools, we take writing tests to get out of schools, we take writing tests for placement purposes, we reflect on something we are doing in the class by writing a reflection, we write essays on books we are reading, we look at good and bad writing samples, we revise and talk about how to revise…
But how important is writing? If we argue that good writing simply reflects good thinking, then why not just emphasize good thinking? And if writing encourages forgetfulness, as Socrates argued, then writing is just plain bad for us. It seems that technology is slowly pushing into obsolescence the act of writing anyway. Even our signature will soon no longer be needed – Just put your index finger into the scanner please. Even I find myself entertaining the idea of surrendering to the digital world. I keep a journal, for example, but in recent years I have wondered why I just don’t record my voice rather than write or type my thoughts. And why shouldn’t my teacher accept my oral essay, which I just recorded on YouTube? With the price of storage decreasing daily and the ever-increasing ease and flexibility of creating and accessing data, the idea gets more attractive with each passing year.
Or is it the case that good thinking comes about, in part at least, from good writing? In other words, is there something happening in the act of writing, something that Socrates missed, that compels us to argue that the teaching of composition is essential? Or is it the case that it doesn’t matter if good writing reflects good thinking, or even if good thinking is brought about from good writing? In other words, perhaps we can posit that writing is just another form of art, and that a well-written essay is a thing of beauty per se and should be treated and studied and appreciated as such?
But how important is writing? If we argue that good writing simply reflects good thinking, then why not just emphasize good thinking? And if writing encourages forgetfulness, as Socrates argued, then writing is just plain bad for us. It seems that technology is slowly pushing into obsolescence the act of writing anyway. Even our signature will soon no longer be needed – Just put your index finger into the scanner please. Even I find myself entertaining the idea of surrendering to the digital world. I keep a journal, for example, but in recent years I have wondered why I just don’t record my voice rather than write or type my thoughts. And why shouldn’t my teacher accept my oral essay, which I just recorded on YouTube? With the price of storage decreasing daily and the ever-increasing ease and flexibility of creating and accessing data, the idea gets more attractive with each passing year.
Or is it the case that good thinking comes about, in part at least, from good writing? In other words, is there something happening in the act of writing, something that Socrates missed, that compels us to argue that the teaching of composition is essential? Or is it the case that it doesn’t matter if good writing reflects good thinking, or even if good thinking is brought about from good writing? In other words, perhaps we can posit that writing is just another form of art, and that a well-written essay is a thing of beauty per se and should be treated and studied and appreciated as such?