Reflections

While writing and researching for this blog, I have learned some very interesting facts about texting that I did not know before. I did not know the high percentage of people who acknowledge texting an driving is bad yet still do it, I did not know texting may help your spelling, I didn’t even know there were laws against texting and driving and that you can get a ticket for it. This project also helped me with analyzing pictures to try and figure out what message the author was trying to send. Working on this was a great experience that was different from traditional English projects; I feel like it helped me sharpen my writing skills even more.

Visual Rhetoric 2

In this cartoon a mother is trying to broaden her son’s skills by getting him to read a book instead of texting his friends. Since she realizes books are vastly different in length, she tries to appeal to his interest by getting him to think of it as an ongoing text message.

This picture illustrates pathos and logos.

The caption is logos because it is saying that there are going to be times where we have to do tasks that we don’t enjoy, but in order to get through them, we should try to relate it to something we actually enjoy doing.

Pathos is also shown in this cartoon. There are a lot of people that do not read books because they feel it’s boring. This is also illustrated in the cartoon as the look on the boy’s face as he takes the book shows he is not looking forward to reading it.

I can fully relate to this cartoon because I definitely text more than I read books. Sometimes I feel I just don’t have the attention span to stay focused long enough to read them. It’s rare for me to pick up a book and read it for entertainment; what gets me to read books the most are my assignments for school.

Carpenter, D. (n.d.) Retrieved December 6, 2011 from http://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?search=site&catref=dcr0773&MA_Category=&ANDkeyword=texting&ORkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&NEGATIVEkeyword=

Visual Rhetoric 1

 This picture is showing a devastating car crash that was caused by a driver that was texting and driving. I think the target audience would be teenagers first, since they text the most and have the least experience on the road. I also think this could be targeted to adults that have a texting habit. The purpose of the picture is to warn people of the consequences of texting while driving and that it is a serious issue.

The message at the bottom of the picture shows this image has logos. It’s suggesting that the driver did not think texting and driving was a big deal. The driver nonchalantly brushes off the fact that he is busy driving.

Mythos is in this picture because the accident is a reminder to teach people how dangerous texting and driving can be to the community. It’s basically trying to warn people and prevent them from accidents such as the one in the picture from happening.

Pathos is in the picture because it is showing the absolute worst case scenario of texting while driving. This picture makes you kind of feel bad or sad for the driver because such a simple message cost him his life.

Retrieved December 2, 2011 from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrpTjHAXTr9OaK5c0QSxJKn1SDYj6jDKo0Tp_dIExQc_UnxQZzhj8SMc3miDmGSjf3d1Oad7uo0I5lgMEjrvhnYd3nsTdaJojYBUWKA5CuojNBcc2e1wZU2ssELzS0RzbDWTXhp0oD6Ns/s1600/texting-while-driving2.jpg

On The Go

I admit that my attention span may not be as sharp as I would like it be. I don’t have ADD or ADHD, but there are times where I believe I do and the doctors just keep missing it during my checkups. I can be very attentive during class, but once I go home and have to read assignments out of a textbook, my mind will wander all over the place. I’ll start off by reading the book for a few minutes, then my focus will shift to the tv for a couple seconds, then back to the book and after a few more seconds of reading I end up playing video games. I think my short attention span is just another reason why I like to text so much.

The younger generations of kids are definitely used to getting things at a really fast rate with all the advanced technology there is now. Susan Greenfield, a research scientist of Oxford University, is worried that the mid 21^st century mind might be characterized by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathize, and have a shaky sense of identity (Elmhirst, 2009).

Our brains are easily molded. Possible trends like increased Ritalin prescriptions for people with ADD and rises in autism diagnosis may have come about from over excessive texting habits (Elmhirst, 2009). This is an interesting take on the effects of texting that I have never heard before. There is little evidence to prove these allegations, but it will be interesting to see what research shows once it’s looked into more.

Greenfield also believes those who spend too much time on computers will struggle to see the consequences of their own actions, even if they are damaging themselves; i.e. schizophrenia, gambling, and obesity (Elmhirst, 2009). Mobile phones nowadays are like mini computers so I feel this is relevant to the subject. In a way it’s linked to the “Cell Phone Zone” that was discussed earlier in the blog. Greenfield is warning people that technology can take over someone’s life so much that they kind of lose sight with reality. I think that may be the case in extreme situations, but I don’t think most people will have issues that serious when it comes to texting.

I think it is important to carefully monitor how frequently we as a society use technology. After reading about Ms. Greenfield’s theories on how texting may have affected our society, I know I may need to look in the mirror and scale back a little bit on how often I text my friends. The last thing I want to do is have a hobby of mine turn into an addiction and then lose focus on what is important in life.

Elmhirst, S. (2009). Mind bending. New Statesman. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from the EBSCOHost Database.

Does texting negatively affect your literacy skills?

In the introduction, I mentioned that I carefully pay attention to what I’m putting in my papers so that I’m not adding text lingo to them. I would definitely look like a fool if I had acronyms and misspelled words flooded in say a job application or my resume’. I text my friends with the text lingo so much though that it can be a challenge at times to turn it on and off. Thankfully I have yet to turn in an important paper with my casual text. I think texting at the rate I do has affected my literacy skills in a way, but I’ve always wondered if it was a negative or positive thing.

Most people believe texting has a negative effect on people’s ability to read and write, most likely because of the absurd acronyms that are formed, but research says otherwise. Data suggests that exposure to texts has a positive effect on spelling (Powell, 2011). There may be something in the very nature of texting that helps people with literacy. In order to read and produce texts, one needs a good level of phonological awareness, which is the ability to understand sound structure of a language (Powell, 2011). This really surprised me because I certainly expected research to be the other way around. Maybe all the texting I do helps me somehow after all.

Another interesting thing that researched showed was that exposure to misspelled words affects adults more than it does children. Some researchers suggest the reason for that is because kids haven’t fully developed their spelling skills so it doesn’t affect them as much (Powell, 2011). I have heard that the best time to learn a new language is when you’re young and text messages can definitely be considered its own language; maybe that has some part in it as well.

Research shows that texting actually does have a positive effect on people’s literary skills. Despite the research, over 60% of the adults tested still claimed they felt texting was undermining their written language skills (Powell, 2011). I guess some people will always believe what they want to believe. It’s very similar to the study about texting and driving where a high percentage of people believe that texting and driving is a bad thing, yet still do it anyway. The connection is that it’s hard to break strong habits.

Now that I know that texting does not negatively affect my literacy skills, I can continue to text my friends as much I as I want without worrying about losing my English skills. I sure won’t start turning in papers or applications with a bunch of text abbreviations, but it’s nice to know I’m actually enhancing my skills by doing something I enjoy.

Powell, D. & Dixon, M. (2011) Does sms text messaging help or harm adult’s knowledge of standard spelling? Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. Retrieved November 18, 2011, from the EBSCOHost database.