53 pages • 1 hour read
Walter J. OngOrality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1982A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Orality and Literacy was written in 1982. Discuss how technological changes associated with the digital revolution of the 1990s and 21st century (the internet, mobile phone communications, social media etc.) have impacted human communication and thought processes, paying particular attention to Ong’s notion of “Secondary Orality.”
Analyze the evolution of educational practices related to language and communication, with particular focus on the contrast between a rhetoric-centric educational system and a program of education focusing on the “3 Rs.” How might Ong’s prior research on the educational theories of Ramism have influenced his treatment of literacy in education?
Ong describes language as an essentially oral phenomenon. To what extent is this assertion undermined by the existence of sign language and deaf culture?
Select an excerpt from Homer’s Iliad or Odyssey. Identify characteristic elements of orality and oral narratives (as described in Chapters 3 and 6 of Orality and Literacy) within the excerpt, and analyze the extent to which this example of oral poetry supports Ong’s theories and conclusions on the subject of orality.
What are the most significant impacts of writing presented Orality and Literacy? Justify your answer with reference to the theme of The Cognitive and Social Effects of Literacy.
Discuss the extent to which the Anglo-American bias of Ong and other scholars within the tradition of Western linguistic and literary studies influences the theories and conclusions of Orality and Literacy. To what extent does this bias undermine the persuasiveness of Ong’s arguments, and how might further research into the subject of orality from a non-Western perspective contribute to the existing literature?
Select and analyze two features of oral culture and describe how they are affected by the advent and internalization of literacy. Use these examples to discuss and evaluate the theme of The Characteristics of Oral and Literate Cultures.
Orality and Literature is divided into seven chapters and numerous sections. How does this organizational structure contribute to the effectiveness of Ong’s arguments and the clarity of his explanations? Discuss the analytical and logical progression of topics through the course of the text.
In the theme of The Impact of Communication Technologies on Human Interaction and Cultural Development, Ong presents the advent of writing, printing, and electronic communication as the major technological advances affecting human communication. What other innovations in the realm of communication technologies have impacted cultural and social development, and how have they affected human interaction?
Ong was a Jesuit minister and member of the clergy of the Roman Catholic church. How are his religious convictions reflected in his perspectives on the sacred power of the spoken and written word? Discuss perspectives on the spiritual and religious significance of words according to other major world religions.
