Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Journal Reflection #1 - Shannon Herlihy


What is Writing?
Writing is essential to the human experience. Generally speaking, it is a series of symbols, words, and sentences of a particular language strung together to create a greater form of information. Writing is a vital form of communication, acting as a way to share knowledge across multiple media, to record both personal and historical events, and even to entertain. We become acquainted with various modes of written language on a minute-by-minute basis, perhaps without even noticing. It may be encountered in an informative manner, like in the case of news stories, textbooks, and directions/signage, etc. Through the use of social media like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, writing acts as a critical tool in the age of rapid communication. With books and poetry, it can serve to entertain, to grab your attention, and to pull at your emotions. Writing exists everywhere, all around us, at all times.

What Does It Do?
As a powerful and purposeful tool, writing can perform an assortment of tasks that have permanently altered humanity. Whether written within the physical world of pen and paper or typed in the intangible realm of technology, writing usually fulfills some specific intention. It may aim to entertain, to inform, to communicate, or to record.

Key Terms

  1. Communication – Ultimately, writing is always used to communicate something, whether it be through symbols, a textbook, a journal, or a Facebook post, etc.
  2. Information – When communicating, some form of information is always provided.
  3. Record-keeping – This is perhaps one of the most important key terms for “writing;” Most written language systems were developed solely for the purpose of maintaining a physical record of information, like receipts, laws, and religious tales.
  4. Entertainment – Writing systems will always serve as entertainment with books and poetry as main sources of amusement.
  5. Language – Language provides meaning to all writing systems. 

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