Chapter 4, Section 1

<p>Ong claims that writing is the most influential technology there has ever been, and understanding <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Index of Terms" href="https://www.supersummary.com/orality-and-literacy/index-of-terms/#637611">orality</a> allows for better understanding of the impact of writing on consciousness and society. Because written words can be detached entirely from their authors, writing can exist autonomously or “context-free” in a way that traditionally spoken words cannot. Written words cannot be refuted directly as spoken words can; unless physically destroyed, they remain in existence even when entirely disproved.</p>

Chapter 4, Section 1 Summary: “The New World of Autonomous Discourse”

Chapter 4, Section 2

<p>The same arguments that are made against computers in the late 20th century were once made against printing by early modern scholars and against writing by Plato and his contemporaries in ancient Greece. The main arguments against all these technologies are that they are impersonal and unresponsive, that they make people rely on them despite being of questionable value, and that they weaken minds by removing the necessary exercise of memorization. Ironically, by the time objections are made against these technologies, the technologies themselves have already influenced society and cognition to such an extent that even their critics use said technologies to record, publish, and distribute their opinions. According to Ong, Plato and his contemporaries in particular would have been unable to construct their arguments against writing without having internalized the technology of writing in order to think such analytic and abstract thoughts.

Chapter 4, Section 2 Summary: “Plato, Writing and Computers”

Chapter 4, Section 3

Chapter 4, Section 3 Summary: “Writing is a Technology”

Chapter 4, Section 4

Chapter 4, Section 4 Summary: “What Is ‘Writing’ or ‘Script’?”

Chapter 4, Section 5

Chapter 4, Section 5 Summary: “Many Scripts but Only One Alphabet”

Chapter 4, Section 6

Chapter 4, Section 6 Summary: “The Onset of Literacy”

Chapter 4, Section 7

Chapter 4, Section 7 Summary: “From Memory to Written Records”

Chapter 4, Section 8

Chapter 4, Section 8 Summary: “Some Dynamics of Textuality”

Chapter 4, Section 9

Chapter 4, Section 9 Summary: “Distance, Precision, Grapholects and Magnavocabularies”

Chapter 4, Section 10

Chapter 4, Section 10 Summary: “Interactions: Rhetoric and the Places”

Chapter 4, Section 11

Chapter 4, Section 11 Summary: “Interactions: Learned Languages”

Chapter 4, Section 12

Chapter 4, Section 12 Summary: “Tenaciousness of Orality”

Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Analysis

Social Sciences

Anthropology

Humanities

Philosophy, Logic, & Ethics

Natural World

Science & Nature

Sociology

Life & Time

The Past

Walter J. Ong

Adult

Book

Nonfiction

Guide

Study Guide

Book Brief

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About Orality and Literacy

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Overview

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Orality And Literacy Summary and Study Guide

Background

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Orality and Literacy Background

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chapterType

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1: “The Orality of Language”

Preface-Chapter 1

Orality and Literacy Preface-Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 2: “The Modern Discovery of Primary Oral Cultures”

Chapter 2 Orality and Literacy Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 3: “Some Psychodynamics of Orality”

Chapter 3 Orality and Literacy Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 4: “Writing Restructures Consciousness”

Orality and Literacy Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 5: “Print, Space and Closure”

Chapter 5 Orality and Literacy Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 6: “Oral Memory, the Story Line and Characterization”

Chapter 6 Orality and Literacy Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 7: “Some Theorems”

Chapter 7 Orality and Literacy Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

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Key Figures

Orality and Literacy Key Figures

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Themes

Orality and Literacy Themes

Index of Terms

Orality and Literacy Index of Terms

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Important Quotes

Orality and Literacy Important Quotes with Page Numbers

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Essay Topics

Orality and Literacy Essay Topics

Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

Chapter 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4: “Writing Restructures Consciousness”

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