Folk Knowledge: Fundamental for all Knowledge Mediums

First, I began writing this post in the MN airport where I quickly realized that because I was packing while sick and dead tired (thus this late post), I managed to grab 2 pieces of paper that I thought were my salon notes, but really were not. . . On that note, I am feeling a lot better. I will do my best to remember what we discussed in class, but will not use direct quotes from the salon as I don't have those resources. . .

For my post I am focusing on how folk knowledge--especially familial knowledge--is foundational to social solidarity and preservation of knowledge.  Ultimately folk knowledge is necessary for all other forms of knowledge to spread.

Check and Balances

After endless oral discussions, writing rambling blogs and essays, and reading lengthy publications printed and digitally, it is apparent that no form of knowledge supersedes another; they all possess nonpareil authority in a complicated web of checks and balances. To exclude one form of knowledge and hold it above the others would cause an imbalance detrimental to holistic knowledge of the future.

Each form of knowledge is superior to another, but only in its own rightful time and place. This, however, does not qualify its ability to overrule and replace another.  Unfortunately we may be too ignorant to understand this, because we all too often restrictively operate in our own paradigm and neglect to see beyond our own limitations. We generally are fastened to the idea that our way of doing things is the best way. For example, we may be too enveloped with editing and publishing to look up (so to speak) and see how much more beneficial it is to publish digitally. So instead of being able to reach millions, our hard work, sweat, and tears may only end up being cited several times. This same concept applies to the four forms of knowledge: folk, oral, written, and print.

Print knowledge has spread like wildfire since the invention of moveable type. This invention ended the long tedious hours spent transcribing the Bible, and for the first time made it widespread and accessible. This increased the literacy and education more than ever before. I do not doubt that this greatly contributed to the development of schools, colleges, and universities. As you can see, printing knowledge’s most influential time was from the 1400’s until now, where the technological age has replaced paper with intangible forms such as the internet. However, even today, printed knowledge still has its place, a place where it is superior to all other forms of knowledge. For example, the printed version of the scriptures holds more valuable than a digital copy. There is something about holding and feeling it in your hands, and reading it personally yourself. That experience cannot be replaced by any other medium.

Written knowledge also has its time and place. Although it has been out-shot by print in terms of its reachability and its practicality, it cannot be replaced. The artistic beauty that is so uniquely defined by the hand that created it, whether on paper, on stone, on bamboo, on clay, or on any other medium, is irreplaceable. Even in this day and age there is so much more meaning when things are hand-written. For example, receiving a letter from a friend or loved one evokes more emotion than receiving a card from the store. Perhaps this is because of the work that goes into writing a letter rather than receiving an email or a text message. Or maybe it is because you are able to see the personality of that person through their handwriting, which connects you in a way. These are things that cannot be replaced even with the variety of fonts you can find on the computer. It is so important to keep this knowledge alive (and not forget it in rapidly increasing technological age) so that not only can we keep the artistic talents alive, but also so that we can better understand our past and our origins. Those who have never had to write a long passage out on paper, will not understand, comprehend, or appreciate how difficult it is to write an entire book by hand. These people are more likely to take things out of context written in the past because they do not understand how easy it is to make a mistake when translating or transcribing a document, and thus, they separate themselves from history, leaving behind so many things uncovered.

Oral knowledge is often argued to be too informal to hold any validity. It may be true that someone saying something has less power and authority than a printed or written document, but who says it is invaluable? Oral knowledge is powerful and has authority in its right time and place. General Conference, King Benjamin’s speech, LDS Devotionals, temple ordinances, prayer, all have power beyond anything written. My personal opinion is that when words are vocalized, you can feel the emotions behind it. This makes it powerful when spoken with the right authority. However, when listening to an audiotape, the meaning and emotions are often lost. To me, this means that if it is not spoken with authority, then interaction is a necessary component. This interaction invites collaborative setting where information can be tossed back and forth as ideas are generated. This brainstorming is often an important necessary before knowledge is written down or published!

Last but not least Folk knowledge, too, is vitally important. And I am not using the word “vitally” lightly. It is the very key to our survival. Without folk knowledge, we would not have the other three. And this is why: if we did not have to survive and have the need for relationships, then we would not have language. If we did not have language we would not have writing. If we did not have writing, we would not have printing. Therefore, we would not have printing if it were not for folk knowledge. History aside, how did we learn how to speak? Folk knowledge. How did we learn how to read? Through folk knowledge. How did we learn how to write and type? Folk knowledge. Everything we have today can be accredited to this.

One type of knowledge without the other would leave us incomplete. For each one has been the foundation for another.

Oh What Do You Do With Your Leisure Time

Major changes in the format of knowledge in society always improve the process of transmitting knowledge, but the institution of a University has not kept up. As orators pushed societies away from predominantly folk based knowledge, we gained the ability to learn by repetition, and slowly acquired rules whereby we could not only gather information, but determine if it was true. With the advent of writing came the longevity of the book. Knowledge gained in historic times suddenly became available to future learners in a way that no immortal poet could have dreamed of. With printing came mass production. Now authors could not only reach far into the future, but they could expand their audience in the present. A new freedom came with each improvement: the power of a group of devotees followed the orator, the authority of ancient knowledge settled on the author, and the economic potential of impulsive customers (twilight fans?) maintained printers. With the digital age, the improvement we now see is efficiency. We can write, edit, and print documents all from one office chair. We can distribute text, images, and videos instantly by posting to the internet. With the aid of computers we have more information and more time.

Farewell the Tranquil Mind, Farewell Content, or Then Farewell Frost, and Welcome Heat!

Hehe, it's another pun... (These are both lines from Shakespeare; the first I made into a pun with "content," and in the second, I juxtaposed "heat" and "frost" because I'm headed back to the South after finishing exams!)

Although all four types of knowledge discussed in class- folk, oral, written, and print- have their own specialized uses in different areas, their uses today play a very different role than in the past. One's use has become very different from the others' in the modern age in terms of what knowledge it continues to preserve and deliver: oral knowledge has ceased to become an effective method of learning new knowledge but has instead taken the role of preserving past cultural knowledge.

Skepticism Drives Progress

Skepticism of developing knowledge institutions, while frustrating for those seeking immediate change, ensures overall improvement in the system. We are continually working towards superior knowledge systems. However, every knowledge institution is flawed and will be until there are perfect humans.

Just a little side note...

For one of my other classes I was researching Mission Statements, and on Wikipedia I found this:

"A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making. It provides "the framework or context within which the company's strategies are formulated."^[1] Historically it is associated with Christian religious groups; indeed, for many years, a missionary was assumed to be a person on a specifically religious mission. The word "mission" dates from 1598, originally of Jesuits sending ("missio", Latin for "act of sending") members abroad."

First of all, I think that it is SO cool how religion plays a part in so much of what we have today. I love discovering how our ideas today stem back to religious origin! It is so fascinating to me! It makes me realize how ignorant I am about history and that I want to know so much more!!!

Reviewing for the Salon

This post is to be my review for the in class salon described here.  As I study things out tonight, I will continually update this post.  I'm publishing it this way to make collaboration easier.  Any comments posted will be considered and I will update my post accordingly.

Notes Reflecting on Honors 201 Experience

Unit 1: Folk Knowledge

• Self Directed Learning:
• At the start of the semester, I didn't know what to blog about as there were near limitless possibilities with little structure. I based these posts off of my personal family experience and did little outside research, as it was difficult to connect something so personized. I felt unskilled at blogging and dappled in my family's history in Mexico and my recycling habits. However, my posts didn't feel connected. My self-directed learning improved as the semester went on.
•  Others' blogging:
• It was fascinating to see other's insight into everyday life. I especially appreciated how they managed to connect their personal experiences with history. My peer's posts inspired me to do better.I was impressed with their insights and desire to do extra research: such as Brenda's response post on trumpets.

Salon!

Unit 1 – Folk Knowledge

Self-Directed Learning: It is really interesting for me to go back to my very first post, and realize that I had come full circle! My idea in this first post about beans and lacto-fermentation was all about listening to your forefathers' advice in regards to health. Because in this day of technology, we often feel like we have all of the answers and forget to look backwards for solutions. This is precisely what I wrote about in my very last post! It is interesting how I discovered this idea in the beginning of the semester and kept applying it and making new connections as we learned new material in each of the different units. Anyways, I'll get off this soap box, I'm sure you area ll sick of hearing about it! Hahaha…So onto another topic of discussion…I remember having a hard time trying to find new topics of oral language to write about, which ironically this struggle opened my eyes to a thousand ideas I would have never thought of, like managing time, putting on make-up, etc. It was fun to go about my daily routines and have my mind would make new connections which often stemmed back to folk knowledge. This was by far my favorite unit!!!

Others’ Blogging: It was fun to read everyone else's blog posts about the things that they learned and the ideas that have stuck with them through oral knowledge and traditions. For example, how Brianne had learned how to recycle all of her life, and then when she moved, she was determined to bring recycling to Utah! It really hit me how much oral traditions matter to people. It has something to do with origins, with family ties, traditional roots. Fascinating!

Collaborative Learning: Like Alex said, it was a huge learning experience to learn from others' comments on claims you make. It helped you to rethink your thesis, to open your mind to new ideas, and even…dun dun dun…question your own oral traditions!!! Not only did others' comments on your blog posts help stimulate new ideas, but so did reading other people's blog posts. For example, when James wrote about trumpets, and how their sound initiates a response in all of us, it got me thinking about the scriptural reference to trumpets. If it weren't for his idea, I would never have had the thought that sparked this self-directed learning!

Projects/Activities: I enjoyed many of the projects in this class, but this units' project was my absolute favorite. It is often so much fun to teach people something you love to do, for example, soccer. I loved it! It was so much fun, although frustrating, it was a hilarious experience. There is something about sharing and passing on skills from yourself to another. Also, being encouraged to go and learn something new really helped me to realize how important that is to do on a daily basis! Because everything you learn, although perhaps not applicable in the moment, will most likely applicable one day. (I spoke about this in my last blog post as well). It taught me to look for learning in every area you can, and ask people often to teach you something new! They will love it!


Unit 2 – Oral Knowledge

Self Directed Learning: Learning abut the Middle Ancient Egyptian language and culture was so difficult! Because there is so little information on this specific little niche of Ancient Egypt! It also was a struggle to understand how to learn about the oral language when we barely knew anything about their actual written language! But this struggle to understand and wrap my mind around this idea led me to some ideas that were so new to me, of which I am immensely grateful for! I mean, who would have thought to look at the way these ancient people wrote and how it might shed light on the way that they spoke?! It is hard to wrap your mind around the fact that some cultures may have spoke in prose, because it is SO different than us today! But learning this really helps you to remember to try your best to keep things in context! This also really opened my mind to how important the logistics of creating and preserving a language is! The Ancient Egyptians had two forms of writing: through logograms and phonograms. This made it incredibly difficult to preserve their language, and so much of their history is lost due to that. I applied this idea of oral language to creatures other than people in my Loneliest Whale post. It made me think just how important communicating with people creates connection; something that all mammals yearn for.

Others’ Blogging: It was fun to see how many similarities there were between the different cultures' languages! For example, the Maya hieroglyphs (Brianne's culture) were so similar to the Egyptian hieroglyphs! I couldn't believe how two different cultures from completely different parts of the world would have such remarkable similarities.

Collaborative Learning: The others in my group REALLY helped me understand the difference between oral language and written language (the thing I had been struggling with). Alex specifically helped me understand with his comment: "It's also a problem I struggle with when talking about these ancient civilizations...all our knowledge we have of them has been recorded. That's where we find our information. So unless somebody has specifically written about this culture and it's oral forms of knowledge, we have to make inferences based on songs, legends, etc…What helped me understand this unit a little better is that oral knowledge covers everything from language, to spoken poetry, songs, and other things like that. So we don't need to only focus on knowledge that has been solely transferred in an oral manner from ancient times till now. We can study a topic such as language as a form of oral knowledge, even though much of what we can learn about it is obviously written."

Something that Brianne opened my eyes to was her experience with the New Testament Videos; there is power and spirit behind words when they are spoken out loud. We have the ability to feel because we can sense the emotion through the intonations annd expressions like previously mentioned. I am sure everyone in the room today felt the power of the Spirit that was delivered through the spoken word.

Projects/Activities: The KingBenjamin speech did not really helpmeet understand oral language…but it did help me realize how HARD it is to memorize! Perhaps if it was culturally important for us to memorize, we would be better at it?

Unit 3 – Written Knowledge

Self Directed Learning: This was hard. This experience really helped me get into the books! It was probably my first time checking something out of the library (at BYU).

Preliminary Post for the Salon (speaking of which...I could use a haircut)

This is an un-edited, first thing that comes to mind type post. I tried to include specific examples in order for it to be more useful in our class salon setting. 

Unit 1 – Folk Knowledge

Self-Directed Learning: I started out by examining the ways in which folk knowledge had shaped some of my views (Sweden post). In deciding what I’d research for my next topic, I stuck with something that always interested me, which made for a more interesting post about tribal tattoos. In my quest for self-directed learning, I found the most productive way to do so was to relate topics to things you already enjoy or are passionate about. This led to my comment in the interview assessment about my bike epiphany.

Others’ Blogging: I enjoyed reading the other people talking about their learning from an expert experiences. I also various personalities began to emerge within our group’s blog.

Collaborative Learning: Best experience was this came immediately after my first blog post. Somebody in the group challenged one of the assertions I made in my post. Upon reading the comment, I realized that I didn’t believe a good amount of what I had just posted. The simple challenge of a group member made me realize that I had just been spewing boring stuff to make a necessary post. From then on I began to think more critically about my claims.

Projects/Activities: Teaching as an expert, learning from an expert. Many interesting aspects to these activities. I asserted that there was a tactile part of this experience that can not be imitated by other forms of knowledge transfer (digital, print, or otherwise). I also began a theme that would continue throughout the class when I said…”I don't necessarily think that anything is being lost when Matt develops his own techniques. Rather, the skill of omelet making is being refined and is given a unique personality. Should we mourn the loss of one specific way of making an omelet? I don't think we should, as long as the greater art still exists. We can celebrate variety.”

Pre-Salon Post

For our final exam, we're having a salon discussion. This is my pre-salon post covering topics from class in a note/list-like format.

"If I Have Seen Further it is Only by Standing on the Shoulders of Giants."

As I was contemplating what my thesis statement would be, and how to approach my topic of Typography, I kept getting stuck. I skimmed the books cited in my bibliography several times with no success. I finally was able to pin-point the reason for this writer's block; I realized that I did not understand the holistic history of typography well enough to understand all of the specifics and jargon within the books. So I Wikipedia-ed "typography," and only got random examples from different cultures from different time periods, but nothing chronological or all-encompassing.

I wondered (with slight exasperation) how I was going to be able to digest all this information in such a short time! Then it hit me. I learn the best when I can tangibly experience what I am learning! For example, during the last unit where we split into our cultural groups and translated a sentence into our specific languages and then switched our work with another group, I was able to finally understand (on a small scale) how incredibly difficult the translation/transcription process is! Everything from the medium, to the writing utensil, to the limited knowledge available, to decoding and encoding, every little factor plays a role and can affect the entire outcome. I would have never truly understood or appreciated the this process, without first experiencing it.

I have realized that so much of my education has had so little tangible experience to really solidify the things I am being taught. Often the things I learn go in one ear and out the other. Or from my brain onto paper, and never really making it to my long-term memory. This has been so bothersome for me the last year or so, because I am quickly realizing how important it is to learn as much as you can! Whether it is learning vicariously by listening to your friend tell about a personal experience, your mother teaching you how to make bread, a business man sharing simple tips on how to spend and save money wisely, a sunday school teacher telling you the chronology of church history---you will most likely need to remember and recall it someday!!! It is SO important that you listen closely and try to hold on to that knowledge! I can't tell you how many times I've known that I have been taught something, but have totally forgotten the important details--not because that is a human thing to do, but because I didn't listen well enough. And if I would have listened, I would have been able to teach someone else something new! (The times where you really kick yourself is when non-members ask you certain questions that you know you should know the answer to, and you miss that missionary moment because you chose not to pay attention!) 

Anyways, my point is that I want to get the most out of my education. And the way I do that best is by hands-on experience! So I came up with an idea! To really understand typography--I need to do it! I need to experience the difficulty of carving out letters and printing them on paper. I need to get my hands dirty. I need to let my hands feel the flow of writing with a calligraphy pen. I need to experience. And then I will understand what typography is all about. As all of these thoughts and ideas started piecing together, I had this vision of formulating a thesis statement that would be supported and illustrated through typography itself; my point would prove itself though this art medium! I presented my plan to Dr. Burton and Dr. Peterson, and they were SO kind to let me take this idea and run with it!

So off I went!

1. Step One: Got carving tools
2. Step Two: Went to 5 different craft stores looking for some sort of rubber or linoleum to carve into. Fail.
3. Step Three: After several hours, I searched for "rubber sheets" on Google, and found that hardware stores carry them in the plumbing section! Who would've thought?
4. Step Four: I spent hours and HOURS online looking at fonts and trying to figure out how I was going to implement them into my project. 
5. Step Five: Researching typography for several hours
6. Step Six: Writing and re-writing several thesis statements that would be able to perfectly convey (along with the typography) the idea I had in mind.
7. Step Seven: Carving out my thesis statement (using the fonts I found online) in the rubber, and failing miserably. 

Okay, enough of the list. I am going to explain in detail how this all went down. So I attempted to carve out my thesis statement. It went well at first until all the letters started to get bigger and bigger and more and more crooked as I went along. It was an EPIC FAIL! I, being a perfectionist, struggled with this. This is not what I had envisioned! I could not allow my beautifully thought-up project to look so hideous! So I tried again. And again. And again. Each one progressively got worse. After several more hours, I developed an extreme appreciation for the inventors and artists of moveable type. They published entire, practically flawless, sets of scripture without a computer. And I am not talking about just one word, but a lengthy book and books upon books! And I couldn't even write one sentence! I marveled at their talent. I was dumbfounded. I consider myself a very artistic person, and I have never once, in all my 22-years, doubted my artistic ability, but I just could not do this.

It got me thinking. Why were they so good??? What did they have that I didn't have? And then I realized that it was actually the other way around: I have something that they didn't have, which is inhibiting (in certain areas), my artistic talents. I have technology that does things for me. It is my handicap. Why would I write my own essay by hand, when I can type it on a computer? Why would I create my wedding invitation by hand when I have Photoshop and Illustrator and templates from the internet to do it for me? Why would I make 400 of them by hand when I can print them out for $70? Well there are many  good reasons, and I am so grateful that I didn't have to make them by hand, but I am also limiting myself to being self-sufficient in this small area of typography. Does this make any sense? If I did not have a computer to rely on, you better bet that I would have better handwriting. After all, perfectionistic me cannot live with imperfect handwriting. :)

And then it got me thinking even more. I realized that we, as a culture and as a country, have stopped looking to the past for knowledge because we have been so distracted and consumed with the exponentially increasing technology that has swept our nation. I see this problem affecting our health, I see it affecting our religious faith,  our oral knowledge, our art, our families. Everything. For example, we think that our highly developed medicine will help relieve us from depression, anxiety, etc. When really, these chemicals are ruining our liver, our serotonin receptors, and actually increasing our depression and anxiety and decreasing our health. Yet when our quick medicinal fixes are not actually working, we forget to look to the past for answers because we think that we know so much more compared to their "primitive" practices. We are not realizing that our pesticides and artificial growth hormones are increasing estrogen dominance which leads to all sorts of physical and emotional health issues, and that hydrogenated fats and high fructose corn syrups are causing digestive issues and heart disease as well as kidney failure.  And the list goes on. But we do not think to look back down the exponential curve when health issues, cancers, and obesity were much less rampant. Of course, at this point, you are thinking, "Well there are medicines that are good!"  Yes! That is SO true. There have been so many discoveries that have saved millions of lives! And it is good!

So this is my point: Technology is a good thing and can be a great thing. But what is NOT good is that we have been allowing it to handicap us by taking over so many of the responsibilities, talents, and work that we used to do ourselves! We no longer have to do calculus by hand when we have a quick Texas Instrument! We no longer have to walk 2 blocks away when we have a car to take us there that much quicker! What do we need our bodies and our minds for when we have technology to replace all that we have? Of course technology has allowed us to make such progress, which is impressive, phenomenal, and fantastically awesome. But we need to make sure that although it may aid us, to not take over to the point where we forget to look to the past for answers as well. Remember the word "holistic" I used earlier? We need to have a holistic view of the world and of history so that we can remain open minded to the technology in BOTH directions (past + future). Without this, we are likely to closed-mindedly continue down this path we are already on. A path of health problems, obesity, laziness, because we would rather rely on technology to be our quick fix rather than letting it aid us in the talents we already have. Make sure that you can do calculus long-handed, make sure that you can walk 2 blocks (and hopefully more, haha), make sure that you are not popping pills to relieve you from the indigestion or issues from artificial hormones or pesticides, etc.

Lets not be prideful in thinking that we are so advanced because of our technology--but lets be humble in remembering that we have this technology because of the knowledge built from the past. This humility will keep us fresh, open-minded, healthy, talented, and self-sufficient.

You might be wondering what this has to do with typography? Well, as I was doing this project, typography seemed to be yet another example, a microcosm, of this bigger issue. It is a medium in which I can explain and illustrate my point. And even more importantly, an experience that helped me realize that I have been handicapped by this in terms of typography. I have not developed a talent that I could have if I wouldn't have relied on my computer so much.

So, let me present to you my final project:

Voila!!!

This reads: " We frequently neglect to acknowledge the past for our current accomplishments, but we would not be here today--if it were not for yesterday. All of our technology has been derived and built from the ideas of the past:

We would not have the computer without the typewriter; we would not have had the typewriter without moveable type; We would not have had moveable type without letters.  We would not have had letters without paper and writing utensils. Writing utensils and paper would not have been invented without language. Language would not have existed without the need to communicate oral traditions. Oral traditions would have not been necessary--except that it was the key to survival."

So yes, it is a little lopsided, and I wasn't the best at calligraphy, but I made this. All-By-Myself! Unfortunately, I utterly failed at carving it out of rubber, but I tried! And I experienced it! (I ended up drawing it out and then going over it in black ink. For the calligraphy part, I used a calligraphy pen and ink--it was SO hard! And it will definitely take more practice before I am good at it! Also ,I purposefully tried to have the fonts (aka typography) reflect somewhat of the time periods and technology I was referring to!). And now, I can appreciate this incredible talent that people once had, and seek to develop it as well. I am determined to use the benefits of technology but not at the expense of losing what once was. I will take the good from both, be open minded, and learn holistically.


Here are some extra photos of the creation process:

Did I mention that I had to do this backwards?

An Overview of Francophone Printing's Impediments

So in writing this post (which really is just an attempt to come out on top of what I've imagined as a race between Alex and myself to see who ends up with more blog posts... just kidding), I figured I would give a basic overview of the sections of my paper for general discussion.

Basically, I pinpointed the political, economic, and religious factors that impeded printing in the French world, focusing on the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Going the Traditional Route Academically

 It is 8:31pm and I have finished my research paper! :)

Although my annotated bibliography was a general overview of the subject of woodcutting and illustrations, I was grateful for my annotated bibliography and that I had taken the time to write down notes that looked interesting to me. When we were given this assignment, I took the time to go back and review my notes looking for a common theme that might interest me. There, I discovered multiple notes on the social impact of woodcuts for artists and the illiterate. This immediately sparked my attention as I am a sociology major, so I decided to do more research on the subject.

Thesis in Progress

"Transitioning from the Medieval Age to the Renaissance changed the book from an institutionalized, text-limited tool, to an individualized, illustrated public opportunity for all to read and view.
With the Renaissance came the use of the print woodcut illustration, which left its mark not only on how books were shared and emphasized, but also on society. Woodcut illustration expanded access of ideas to the illiterate and increased the social status of artists."

Let me know if you have any suggestions and ideas. I have written my complete paper and probably should have posted this earlier, but I didn't think about it until class today.

Thanks for your input!

Thesis in the Making

My British Lit teacher tells me every time I write a paper that the biggest problem is my thesis. (I'm not sure I agree, but that's not the point.) So, getting started is usually the hard part for me.

My paper revolves around printing in French-speaking Europe in the 15th to 18th century. My thesis, as of present, is thus:

The French-speaking world’s less-developed printing system in comparison to that of other Western European powers was a result of several political and economic disadvantages with which it was faced during the rise of the printing press in Western Europe.

Now, I have a slight issue with this. Does describing their printing system as "less-developed" make sense or does it seem inappropriately vague? It makes sense in my head because I know what I'm going to go on to talk about in my paper, but the lack of almost any specificity in my thesis seems a little undesirable in my mind...

Comments?
P.S. I apparently found out how to double-space part of my post. I'm not sure how to change it back to single-spaced, though, so I apologize if anyone else has OCD issues reading this because I kind of did...

It's a process, and I'm a little rusty.

I was "blessed" with the opportunity to write many essays in my AP Literature class last year. I developed a process for writing that was effective, and allowed me to showcase my strengths. Due to the nature of my classes this semester, believe it or not, but this is actually my first assigned college paper. Consequently, I struggled to get moving.

I realized that I knew very little useful information about my topic that I could make an argument about. I spent some good time perusing the books I had collected as sources, and eventually came up with this loose concept for an argument...

"The economic dominance of the bookseller in early British book trade is responsible for the preservation of many important works, copyright laws, and the legitimacy of authorship." 

After consulting Professor Burton, and his helpful thesis website, I revised it into this concrete thesis that an educated reader could argue for or against. 

"Factors influencing the scope and significance of the British book trade were many; yet, no factor was as important as the role of the early British bookseller. The economic dominance of the bookseller was responsible for preserving many important works, lending legitimacy to authorship, and necessitating copyright laws."

I feel as though this thesis provides a solid base that will keep me on track for the remainder of the paper. Any thoughts and/or suggestions?

The Bible: Truth. . . IF Translated Correctly. . .

I explored the exhibit .The Life and Legacy of the King James Bible at the Harold B Lee Library. However, as I experienced the exhibit, the title seemed misleading. In reality, this is not only the legacy of the King James Bible, it is the legacy of the competition of preceding bibles such as the Geneva and Bishops bible. However, the name makes sense as this is the bible that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints endorses and the exhibit is in honor of the 400th anniversary of the translation of the bible. Thus, the exhibit has a nostalgic title.
Reading Jared's post reminded me of the importance of being aware of errors I thought more critically about the quality of the text and content I saw. Going to the exhibit left me with less confidence in the various bible translations as I saw the various differences in the different bible translations.

Impressions from the Skousen Book Presentation

Many of the books that Royal Skousen showed us, and a lot of the books I have seen in class, are extremely artistic in nature. Whether it’s the illumination, rubricating, illustration or intricate book covers, there have always been artistic elements present. It was interesting to me to start to think of publishing itself as an art. When he started telling us his personal preferences in paper, binding, and other publishing techniques, it opened my eyes to things that I have noticed, but never gave much attention to. I decided to analyze the book that I most recently finished reading, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini.

Mouse Trap Effect: This bothers me beyond belief when I’m trying to read a novel. Now that it has been given a name, I know exactly what I’m complaining about. Inheritance does not suffer from this affliction. The binding is sufficiently loose to allow the pages to fall open.