Reading Response #12

Summary and Synthesis:

     In "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" by Dennis Baron, the relevance between literacy and technology and the importance of the two in the writing world is discussed. Baron believes that all writing is technological; it is "a way of engineering materials in order to accomplish an end." His point begins with the development of the pencil. He explains how even though a pencil is more simple than a computer, it is still a complicated piece of technology. After discussing the advancements of the pencil, Baron adds that "the first writing technology was writing itself."Baron also discusses the history of technology and writing utensils--i.e. the pencil--and its purposes in the past. They were first used to record, instead of for communication.

     The topic of originality and fraud is discussed in Baron's essay, making it easy to compare to other articles we have read. Past articles have discussed plagiarism and originality within a text, and how it is easy to copy someone else's ideas. Baron furthers these topics and explains how the computer and other aspects of writing technologies make it hard to prove credibility and authentication.



Pre-reading:

     Technology, by my definition, are kinds of advanced tools used to make a task easier and to serve a helpful purpose to those who use them. For example, we have cell phones, computers, televisions, and digital cameras. Technology is always being improved and people are always trying to find new ways to make it more efficient for people.



Questions for Discussion and Journaling:

2. I do not think that Baron is trying to give this message in his essay. Baron explains the way writing technologies have changed and how they have affected the way people read and write. I think that he carries this throughout his essay. It seems to be implied that, even though he himself is uncertain, the nature of writing will forever be developing and changing over time with the advancements of technologies.



My thoughts:

     I really enjoyed Baron's essay. It caused me to really think about technology. It was a completely different take on writing and in turn was refreshing to read. Although it was a longer piece, I liked how Baron broke each topic down into subheadings. It was easier to read than past articles we have read, and Baron made a lot of sense. It was pretty simple and easy to understand.