Unit 2 Bards of the Internet

Unit2BardsoftheInternet PhillipElmer Dewitt Aboutthetext Thisessayisanexposition whichdescribesthecurrentfashionofnetwriting exploresthecausesofthepoorqualityofwritingfoundontheInternet explainsitsmeritsanddifferencesfrompublishedwritingaswellasjustificationsforitssurvivalandprevalence Organizationofthetext Theessaycanbedividedinto3parts PartI Para 1 2 Itisanintroductorypartthatpresentsananalyticalcomparisonbetweenwhathappenedtowritingwhenthetelephonewasinventedandwhatishappeningoncomputernetworksnow PartII Para 3 11 Thispartisthemainbody itexploresthecausesofthepoorqualityofwritingfoundontheInternetandexplainsitsmeritsanddifferencesfrompublishedwritingaswellasjustificationsforitssurvivalandprevalence PartIII Para 12 13 Inthispartofconclusion theauthorpresentsacounter argumenttooneofthecriticismsagainstnetwriting TextAnalysis PartI Para 1 Para 2 Itisanintroductorypartthatpresentsananalyticalcomparisonbetweenwhathappenedtowritingwhenthetelephonewasinventedandwhatishappeningoncomputernetworksnow Languagepoints 1 Oneoftheunintendedsideeffectsoftheinventionofthetelephonewasthatwritingwentoutofstyle Whentelephonewasinvented noonerealizedatthattimethatitwouldoutdatewriting 2 andgivetheirfingers andsometimestheirmind arest andprefertousethetelephoneratherthanthepen inahumorousway 3 Whichmakeswhat shappeningonthecomputernetworksallthemorestartling Here which isarelativepronounreferringtothesituationmentionedintheprecedingparagraph Thesentencewouldbegrammaticallyacceptableifitwererestructuredas Allthismakeswhat shappeningonthecomputernetworksallthemorestartling 4 JustwhenthemediaofMcLuhanweresupposedtorenderobsoletethemediumofShakespeare theonlineworldisexperiencingthegreatestboominletterwritingsincethe18thcentury Contrarytowhatisexpected atatimewhenthemediaofMcLuhanweresupposedtomakethemediumofshakespeareoutofdate letterwritingontheInternetisenjoyingthegreatestdevelopmentsincethe18thcentury PartII Para 3 Para 11 Thispartisthemainbody itexploresthecausesofthepoorqualityofwritingfoundontheInternetandexplainsitsmeritsanddifferencesfrompublishedwritingaswellasjustificationsforitssurvivalandprevalence Paragraph3 Inthisparagraph theauthorquotesanumberofpeople sremarks Thesequotationsserveasevidenceofthefactthatdeviationsfromthetraditionalmediumofletterwritingarenotrareinhistory Theimplicationisthatweshouldnotbesurprisedbytheboomofnetwriting Languagepoints 1 DavidSewell likensnetwritingtotheliteraryscenemarkTwaindiscoveredinSanFranciscointhe1860s whenpeoplewerereinventingjournalismbygraftingitontothetall talefolktradition Liken to compare to sb issimilartosb Elsee g Ourclasscanbelikenedtoabig happyfamily Graft addsth new thetall taletradition thetraditioninwhichpeopletellastoryorataleinafancifulandexaggeratedmanner A tall tale atall story isastoryortalethatishardtobelieve becauseitissoexaggeratedorunlikely Heretheauthorreferstoauniquekindofjournalisminwhichpeoplereportnewsinmuchthesamewayaspeopletelltall tales Paraphrase DavidSewellcomparesnetwritingtotheliterarysceneMarkTwaindiscoveredinSanFranciscointhe1860s whenjournalistswerefondofwritingnewsreportsinthetraditionaltall talestyle 2 pamphleteers Thoughmostpamphleteerswerenotprofessionalwriters theywerepassionateadvocatorsofNorthAmericanindependence Paragraph4 1 Foritcanbeverybadindeed sloppy meandering puerile ungrammatical poorlyspelled badlystructuredandattimesvirtuallycontentfree Foritcanbeverybadindeed careless pointless childish withmanygrammaticalandspellingmistakes andstructuralmistakes andsometimesithasnorealmessageormeaning 2 ITHINKMETALLICAIZREELKOOLDOOD 1 ThisisanexampleofsloppywritingontheInternet Presumablyitshouldread IthinkMetallicaisreallycooldude Numberone Para 5 Para 6 Inthissection theauthorexploresthereasonswhythequalityofnetwritingissopoor Heusessomequotationsagain Trytofindoutthequotations LanguagePoints 1 GerardVanderLeun hasemergedasoneofthepreeminentstylistsontheNet GerardVanderLeunhasbecomeknownasoneofthemostimportantstylistsontheInternet 2 Theyarenottohaveandhold theyaretofireandforget Theyareoflittleliteraryvalue sopeoplewritethem sendthemandforgetthem 3 Manyonlinepostingsarecomposedwith live theclockticking Manyonlinepostingsarewrittenspontaneously withnopreparationwithinaveryshorttime 4 Ittakesahellofalotofworktogetpublished whichnaturallyweedsoutalotofthegarbage Ahellofalotof usedasanemphasized agreatdealofWeedout getridof Ifyouwanttohaveyourbookpublished youneedtodoalotofwork Inthiswayalotofuntalentedwritersarepreventedfrompublishingbadworks Paragraph7 Inthisparagraph theauthorbeginstociteexamplesindefenseofnetwriting Hefirstpointsoutthatthereareactuallysomereallygoodwritings gems ontheInternet LanguagePoints 1 Butevenamongthereamsofbadpoetry gemsaretobefound Eventhoughmostofthepoemsareofbadquality therearestillsomereallygoodones 2 Hedid andblewthemallaway Hedidpublishhispoems andoverwhelmedthemall Here toblowsomeoneaway isaninformalexpressionwhichmeans tomakesomeonefeelverysurprised especiallyaboutsomethingtheylikeoradmire Italsomeans todefeatsomeonecompletely 3 whenImetMarkIwasdressedastheCanterburyTales Ratherdifficulttodoasyoumightsuspect butIwantedtomakeacertainimpression Mark referstothefellownetworkscribblermentionedintheprecedingsentence IwasdressedastheCanterburyTales Iwasdressedinaveryold fashionedmedievalstyle ThewholesentencesuggeststhatGreenwantedtoattractattention Para 8 Para 9 Inthissection theauthordiscussestworeasonswhytherearesome gems ontheInternet oneisthat theDarwiniansurvivalprinciplehasstartedtoprevail whichmeansthatonlygoodwritingwillsurvive andtheotheristhe collaborative workincomputerconferences atwhichideasareknockedagainstoneanother untiltheyspark LanguagePoints 1 aDarwiniansurvivalprinciplehasstartedtoprevail Darwin ssurvivalprinciplehasstartedtocomeintoeffect bewidelyaccepted 2 writerscomposeinakindofcollaborativeheat knockingideasagainstoneanotheruntiltheyspark Spark giveanenthusiasticresponse writersworkinakindofcooperationbyengagingthemselvesinheateddiscussionsandargumentsaboutdifferentideasuntiltheycomeupwithreallybrilliantones 3 includingtheNewYorkTimesandtheWallStreetJournalTheNewYorkTimesandtheWallStreetJournalareahigh qualitynewspaperandahigh qualitymagazinerespectively HeretheauthoristryingtoemphasizethattherearesomegemsontheInternetwhichmajornewspapershaveprintedexcerptsfrom Para 10 Inthisparagraph theauthorexplainsoneofthedistinguishingfeaturesofnetwriting i e Netwritingsfreelylacetheirprosewithstrangeacronymsand smileys which however doesnotdetractfromitsquality LanguagePoints 1 Unlesstheyadjusttothenewmedium professionalwriterscancomeacrossasself importantblowhardsindebateswithmorenimblenetworks cancomeacrossasself importantblowhards canleaveanimpressionasaconceitedpersonwholovestoshowoff Iftheydonotadjustthemselvestothemediumofnetwriting theycanmakethemselveslookconceitedandself importantinonlinedebateswithmorequick wittedandflexiblenetworks 2 theirblue bloodedpeers blue bloodedpeopleareusuallymembersofroyalornoblefamilies Heretheauthorreferstowell educatedkids Para 11 1 Inherentlydemocratizing Heretheauthorsuggeststhatwritingonline thetechnology providesequalopportunitiesforeveryonewhowishestowrite 2 Notonlyhasitenfranchisedthousandsofwould bewriterswhootherwisemightneverhavetakenupthecraft butithasalsothrowtogetherclassesofpeoplewhohadn thadmuchdirectcontactbefore Ithasnotonlyencouragedthousandsofpotentialwriterswho withouttheintroductionoftheNet mightneverbecomewriters buthasalsobroughttogetherpeopleofdifferentsocialbackgroundswhohadn thadmuchcommunicationbefore 3 Computergeek Americanslang computerwizards Para 12 Para 13 Thelasttwoparagraphspresentacounter argumenttooneofthecriticismsagainstnetwriting thatis Itiseasytomakethisstufflookfoolishandtrivial AccordingtoNielsenHayden alotofeveryone sdailylifeisfoolishandtrivial andbesides netwritingrepresents formillionsofpeople aliving b