This quote resonated with me because it is the best description I have found of what is accomplished through the chirographic/typographic process. Oftentimes, I learn more about myself by examining my own writing than any other method.This is especially true if I venture beyond the constraints of academic discourse, into the realm of creativity where it is possible to outrun the critic of my own self-conscious psyche. When speaking, one is generally limited to the expression of the ideologies and characteristics hardwired into their brains. Through the process of writing, the individual is enabled to isolate their thoughts as discrete items to be reflected upon and improved.
As Jennifer of the Falling Waters mentions in her blog, Plato was against writing because of its threat to the structural integrity of the human mind. Taking that notion into regard, I concluded noted that orality aids literacy, yet literacy does not hinder orality. When memorizing my 51 lines of Shakespeare, I found that the only way to get images to truly stick was to come up with grotesque, abstract, and totally unrealistic imagery (i.e., a worm man squeezing out of a lotion bottle). In retrospect, I do not know if it would be possible to come up with such abstract imagery if one's mind was not sharpened by the critical skills of the literate world. Ong mentioned earlier in his book that those living in truly oral cultures have no use for abstract concepts outside the realm of practicality. Could the feral children discussed in Megan's blog imagine such impractical concepts in a world revolving around how to hunt down their next meal?
Beyond the more its obvious benefits (having a literature), literacy also aids our orality. If used correctly, the skills learned through our own writing can help us to become better masters of oral rhetoric.
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