Orality: A Thought Experiment

Primary Orality:

Spoken:

“This map for the University of Denver is facing north. It includes a “DU” logo in the bottom left corner. Black lines indicate major streets that cut through and frame campus. Blue squares indicate resident halls on campus. The yellow star indicates where my room is, in Nagel Hall. The blue car indicates where my car is parked in the parking lot in Nelson Hall. Red squares indicate academic buildings, or buildings that I have had classes in. A symbol of a teacher next to a chalk board shows where I have classes or labs this quarter. The library is illustrated with a stack of books. The purple square with yellow caution triangle shows “campus safety.” The red and white flotation devices indicate the Driscoll Center, which has a bridge connecting it on each side of the street. Green ovals denote “greens” or large areas of grass where events take place. A scale is used to signify the College of Law. Athletic fields and arenas are differentiated by sport with symbols for lacrosse, soccer, and hockey. The Ritchie Center's gold-topped Williams Tower is indicated with a gold triangle. In addition, various restaurants, coffee shops, and dining hall options are illustrated with the fork and knife symbol. Don’t worry though, I’ll walk you around campus and point out everything in person so you can find your way around!”

Secondary Orality:

Written as an email message to my dear friend:

Hey! Hope you’re doing well! I wanted to give you a quick overview of the DU campus, so I thought it would be easiest to type it out. Please let me know if you have any questions! To figure out how long it will take to get to campus, use Waze, it’s my favorite traffic app. The main streets running north to south are High Street and University Boulevard. From east to west, the campus is split by Asbury Avenue, Evans Avenue, and Iliff Avenue. Coming off of southbound I-25, you’ll be on University. Turn right on Buchtel Boulevard and then left on High Street. You can park on the street for an hour. Don’t stay too long or you’ll get a ticket! You can also park in temporary parking on Asbury. I don’t remember the name of the parking lot, but it’s on a sign on your right if you’re headed east on Asbury. Starting on Asbury, the lacrosse and soccer fields are to your left. The Ritchie Center and Magness Arena are right next to each other next to the gold steeple! All of the academic buildings that you’ll be looking for are south of Asbury, in between High Street and University. You’ll pass by Sturm Hall, which is where a lot of classes are – I have four in Sturm this quarter! If you keep heading south, the bookstore is in Driscoll, which is sandwiched between Asbury and Evans. There are a ton of flyers in Driscoll – be sure to check them out for ways to get involved on campus! You can use the bridge to get to get to the other side of Evans. The library is huge, also feel free to waste some time there – there are tons of books and magazines to read. If you keep walking straight and then turn right, you’ll find my residence hall, Nagel. Feel free to explore around!

A list of food places on campus:

-Dining Halls in Nelson, Nagel, and Centennial Halls

-Bagel Shop in Daniels College of Business

-Coffee Shop/Subway in Driscoll North

A list of food places nearby:

-Jerusalem (1890 E Evans Ave)

-Starbucks (2000 S University Blvd)

-Illegal Pete’s (1744 E Evans Ave)

-Jelly U (1700 E Evans Ave)

-Noodles (1737 E Evans Ave)

There are also a ton of places on Yelp that you can check out :)

I also sent you a pdf of the campus map where you can find most everything you’ll need. Everything is clearly labeled. There are lots of people on campus that you can ask at the “Information” desk, and please feel free to text me if you have any more questions – you have my number!

Reflection:

As mentioned in the first chapter of Orality and Literacy, Ong defines “primary orality” as “the orality of a culture totally untouched by any knowledge of writing or print” (11). On the contrary, “secondary orality” is a part of “present-day high-technology culture, in which a new orality is sustained by telephone, radio, television, and other electronic devices that depend for their existence and functioning on writing and print” (11). With these definitions in mind, I constructed two separate scenarios for giving directions to a friend touring DU, one for someone part of “primary orality” and the other a member of “secondary orality.”

I found it difficult to try and describe DU to someone who is only versed in “primary orality.” To aid this process, I used visuals, and no text, to provide an overview of DU’s landscape. I utilized colors, images, and scale to differentiate between academic buildings, residence halls, outdoor spaces, entertainment, food locations, resources, and points of reference. Knowing that this theoretical person could not read signs or directions, I thought it would be helpful for them to have a visual aide when exploring campus. I was much more comfortable writing the response directed toward a member of “secondary orality.” I used an email format because if I were getting directions, it would be helpful for me to print it out and read it while I was walking around. Of course, I might not even bother printing it out, I may just read it off my phone… As mentioned in Orality and Literacy, Ong quotes Olson when he says “orality relegates meaning largely to context whereas writing concentrates meaning in language itself” (105). With this idea in mind, I used my constructed visual map as a context platform for the folks versed in “primary orality,” where the text in my email alone did this job for the “secondary orality” audience.

Despite the fact that the “primary orality” audience may be equally or more intelligent than the “secondary orality” audience, I felt the need to make an entirely different map for the “primary orality” audience. Without modern technology (printers, cell phones, applications, internet, or the ability to read a labeled map), I found that communicating directions could only be successfully done with the help of a visual aide. I also figured that it would be imperative for me to be present while giving the tour and pointing things out, because my “primary orality” subject would not have the luxury of simply reading building names, looking on a labeled map, or texting a friend if they had a question. Ironically enough, I used my computer to make the map for the “primary orality” audience. But before we get on the topic of how sad it is that technology is taking over our lives, etc. etc., even Ong reminds us that “essentially the same objections commonly urged today against computers were urged by Plato in the Phaedrus (274-7_ and in the Seventh Letter against writing” (78). Within the context of any time period, I suppose all new technology must face its share of criticism.  

Not only am I thankful for the advances in writing and technology because it makes communicating and giving directions easier, but just a short while back in history, as a female, I would not even have the luxury of writing this paper. “For well over a thousand years, it was sex-linked, a language written and spoken only by males” (111). Of course, the language Ong is referring to is Latin, although I’m pretty sure females weren’t allowed to write down a scathing rant about Ong’s book back in the olden days…