The World On Paper

Chapters 1-5

I have really enjoyed reading David R. Olson’s The World on Paper (1994). I am very fascinated by the questions this book raises as well as the historical accounts he provides. Olson’s writing has caused me to shift my thinking about writing. Before reading, I had never really considered the relationship between speech and writing. If you would have asked me before which is superior, I would have answered “Writing, of course!” without giving it a second thought. Now, I cannot answer that question. Even though this book is about writing, it has definitely given me a new appreciation of orality and cultures that value it. It is easy for me to think of our American culture to be more civilized and advanced, and therefore superior to other cultures, especially those residing in Third World countries. Olson (1994) reminds me, however, that “All cultures are, by definition, successful; if they were not they would not have survived,” (p. xv). Wow! Right from the beginning I had to alter my thinking and consider different perspectives.

One notion I find very interesting is how Olson examines the influence of writing on how we think. I am currently taking Psycholinguistics with Diane Schallert. In that class we consider how language influences our thinking. It seems very appropriate to be taking these two classes together (as are 3 other classmates). I think Olson made an interesting point when he said, “Even if we grant that thinking indeed has a history and that literacy could have played a part in it we still have to assign a priority to social changes as opposed to psychological changes,” (p. 25). I hadn’t considered the influence of outside forces, such as urbanization, on thinking.

Olson states that “Learning to read and write is at best a mere introduction to the world of literacy,” (p. 41). As an elementary school teacher, I know that teaching young students to read and write is much more than a skill they will need in their lifetime. Even though I know they won’t all go on to college, I would like to think they will all continue to use literacy in ways in which they must “exploit the resources of a written tradition,” (p. 64). I like Olson’s description of literacy on page 43. He writes that “Literacy is not just a basic set of mental skills isolated from everything else. It is the competence to exploit a particular set of cultural resources. It is the evolution of those resources in conjunction with the knowledge and skill to exploit those resources for particular purposes that makes up literacy.” Sometimes it is hard to communicate these functions of literacy to young students, especially when so much time is spent on getting them ready to pass the TAKS test (a whole other issue which I will not go into right now).

The way Olson highlights the importance and value of speech makes me think about those students who can tell you a wonderful story with lots of great ideas but when it comes time to writing that story down, they can only manage a couple of sentences. I would like to find a way to value the oral discourse they are capable of, but also find a way to help them get those thoughts on paper while preserving their ideas. (Any thoughts or suggestions???)
Something else this book reminded me of was the conversation assignment from a couple of weeks ago. As I was transcribing the conversation, I was aware that what I was notating was nothing more than the actual words spoken. I knew there was a lot lost including the intonation, timing and prosody. Olson discussed these same things as being a problem with what text does not represent. After reading his chapter on ”What writing doesn’t represent,” I began to realize that perhaps I have placed too much value on writing. Olson has certainly caused me to think differently about this aspect of literacy.