3/10/2005

We began the day with a discussion of our epic poems to each other. Dr. Sexson cited Judges chapter 5:24 as a good example of what we should do:

5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Herber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

This shows praise and repitition; two things to be included in our odes.

Remember way back to the question of the 7 Liberal Arts? Dr. Sexson now remembers to enlighten us as to their meaning. Stephanie has done some research and has found that the mnemonic GGRAMAD (stuttering, mad grandmother) works to help us remember:
Grammar
Geometry
Rhetoric
Aritmatic
Music
Astronomy
Dialectic

Reading aloud gives voive to the word and is more authentic than reading to oneself.

ONG
pg 80-81: Writing is a technology; it is not natural. Speech, on the other hand, is natural.
pg 82: Although technology of every kind is artificial, it has become commonplace in our society and we have interiorized it. Technologies no longer degrade our lives; rather, they enhance them.
pg 89: There are many scripts but only one alphabet. Scripts (pictoral representations, hieroglyphs) alphabet (mimics sound, is phonetic). The alphabet is the great democratizer allowing information to be accessed by all people. Despite this, the alphabet can also be seen as tyrannizing in that only 26 individual letters contain and the information in all our books.
pg 92: With references to the word "glamor" Ong argues that writing is secret and mysterious in comparison to orality.

We need to get back some of that magic of the written word. When was the last time you were amazed that you could read? It's been a long time for me.

We all know the "ABC" song--> fascism :O)