In The Beginning Was The Word By Christine Rosen

Technology has changed people’s communication greatly. Technology hurts human communication because it separates bonds, and people don’t know how to do face to face talking anymore.

We as a society are evolving with each generation to come. We are getting stronger, faster, and smarter. Just as cell phones are no longer square blocks with numbers on them and TV’s are not in black and white, writing itself has also evolved. Once upon a time many wrote and spoke in a Shakespearean form of language and over the years it has evolved into something we call modern English. In recent years, technology has advanced greatly and cell phones have become one of our primary use of communication. With cell phones came a new form of writing called text messaging. Text messaging is used to send short, concise messages to anyone around the world. Often times text messages involve the use of abbreviations which stand for different things and also involves frequent use of emoji’s as a form of expression. This form of writing is now considered informal writing and is not acceptable in academic settings. In Michaela Cullington’s essay “Does Texting Affect Writing?” she touches on both sides of whether texting is hindering students writing or if it’s actually having a positive effect. She then makes is clear that she believes most students are educated enough to know when text speak is appropriate and when it’s not so therefore it has no effect on students. Although, I agree with her thesis, she lacks credibility due to her insufficient evidence. In addition, I also believe

When people speak to one another they usually do so very rapidly, and subconsciously. The opposite can be said of writing as it is more slow, and deliberate, often requiring intense thought. As demonstrated already in English 101 it is necessary to visualize, plan, and draft while writing. The principles of oration were separate from those of writing until the Age of Information, with the development of modern technology. The proverbial gap was abridged with texting. It allowed writing to catch up to the speed of speaking. Unfortunately while it did match the speed, it took away formalities used in writing such as spelling, punctuation, and using capital letters.

In Danielle Allen’s essay, Our Declaration, she argues that all people should understand and recognize that the Declaration gives all people in the United States the undeniable freedom to self-govern. One person has the power to change the government; although this is not specifically stated, the freedom to self-govern implies every voice matters. She guides the reader to this idea by using simple and easy to follow examples to show the reader that they have the power to invoke a change the government. Allen also uses credible sources in order to give her reasoning credibility as well as using arguments that elicit an emotional connection.

Has our “text,” language ruined our actual language? The author of 2b or not 2b is written by David Crystal. Throughout his article Crystal argues about the benefits of texting and how texting is not a new thing. David Crystal uses two rhetorical strategies to prove his argument, one being humor to compare two types of poems that were sent through text message, the other using analogy to compare schooling, and texting, and the last his using analogy to compare abbreviations that are used today, were used in history.

Writing has changed in quite a few ways in the last couple of decades. Shakespeare writing is different than something ten years ago, just as something ten years ago is different than something current. The population adapts to the changes that occur within various aspects of society. But, this is because we are always creating new and unique ways to better the world we live in. Facebook and texting are two tools that changed the way we communicate, as well as, the way we write.

Deborah Tannen is a linguistics professor with a focus the communication between men and women. In her essay, “It Begins in the Beginning”, she has little credibility in on her stand concerning her stand social interactions between boys and girls. Although she is an educated women and her work regards males and females, she is not an expert in the development of the gender. Tannen gives claims to prove her main point, but does not have any sources to substantiate her claims. Tannen demonstrates stereotypes through her essay as evidence of claims such as, “Girls don’t give orders…”

Humans nowadays would rather reply with an emoji or abbreviation instead of using clear language. New methods have helped humans in general to express more with less use of words. All these methods were picked on by humans throughout the years which have now become the preferable way to communicate as stated by Betty Birner from the passage ‘Is Language Changing”, “New words and phrases are picked up from all the individuals that they are communicating with, and these mix to make something brand-new and unlike any other person's distinct style of talking”. Betty Birner demonstrates how even though the new methods of speaking have been fairly new advancements, people seem to pick them up as they see others doing them, and these cause trends which make people like them and keep using them while they are forgetting about being precise. Although this is a way of demonstrating how people believe language is not necessary when new methods are introduced, personal experiences can also demonstrate

In the article “2b or not 2b”, David Crystal begins with discussing how others such as John Humphry argued that texters are “vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his neighbors 800 years ago. They are destroying it” (335). This is also the common belief of most people. People often argue about the bad points of technology over our language. However, Crystal believes that texting can improve children’s ability to read and write rather than hinder their literacy as many people claim. He also argues that not all texting are done in abbreviated words. Complex messages and institutional messages are often texted in standard form of

If computer technology changes the way we communicate then the majority of our social interactions will be though computer technologies.

There is a transformation happening today that is completely changing the way that we do things. The ways that we are communicating are shifting from face to face interactions to short, interactive messages. Technology seems to be making it easier to stay connected, but it is restricting our interactions with others and leading to isolation.

Personally, I believe the advancements in technology have greatly assisted us to communicate with one another. However, I also believe that our communication skills have declined. The internet was a new concept when I was younger, and the only way to reach a person was either by phone or a letter. Then came the creation of AOL instant messenger and email. This allowed people to speak with one another without the need to remember a telephone number or mailing address. These new tools also assisted in the introduction of a lackadaisical mentality during conversation. I specifically remember using "a/s/l" instead of typing out age, sex and location when I was in a chat room. We became accustomed to using abbreviated terms and the need for using proper punctuation or grammar was never frowned upon. Now my primary communication tool is a text message since it is much faster than calling an acquaintance. Email is the primary tool I use when I need to formally communicate. I can be as formal as necessary while compiling my thoughts and proofread the message prior to sending it to the recipient.

It is not hard to observe that new technologies are fundamentally altering the ways in which we communicate in

These drawbacks include too many people being reliant to talking online rather than in person and not verbally communicating with friends even though they are in the same room. Jasmine Fowlkes shows the reality in how social media is affecting our new generation through her article, “Viewpoint: Why Social Media is Destroying our Social Skills.” After discussing the results conducted by several researchers, Fowlkes states,“As more generations are born into the social age, social media will continue to be the favored communication form among young people. However, this shift may begin to affect their ability to properly communicate in person with peers.” Many start to rely on applications on our devices to talk to people, but this results in less verbal communication. In addition, Kelly-Fay’s Talktrack research study showed that conversations held in person are much more impactful than on social media. Rather than making social media a huge part of your life, Fowlkes wishes that people would look up from their phones and engage more with others since that could change their lives.

How has writing and the way we read changed in the last fifty years? Technology, reading, and writing has changed greatly over the last five decades, but how much has it affected our culture? Technology has become our culture, we are cyber culture. We need everything as fast as we can get it, somehow we’ve lost the time through the years to read and write as we once did.