Final Exam: Part 2--

Within the four groups of knowledge we studied, mentally I divide them into two groups. The hard line falls between oral knowledge and written knowledge. The more prehistoric units of knowledge always seemed to overlap, and I had trouble drawing a fine line between what I would definitively call folk and what I would call oral. The more modern conventions, on the other hand, have a finite definition; written knowledge no longer includes using vocal chords, and print includes using a type face. While important in antiquity,these later conventions of knowledge are teetering on the edge of going obsolete because of the new conventions that the digital age is thrusting upon us.

Final Blog: Blurred

When studying a subject, it is often convenient to make categories and divisions of the knowledge. This helps us to understand and more easily remember what we have learned. At the same time, it is important to remember that our artificially-created divisions are just that--artificial. Real examples may fit into more than one category, or no category at all. While there may seem to be clear distinctions between folk, oral, written, and printed knowledge, the lines are really very blurred.

The Chronologic Progression of the Units of Knowledge

Throughout the course of the semester I have noticed the progression of the units in class. These knowledge units build off one another and each have a specific area that they are used in a culture. Folk knowledge is chronologically first because of the minimal requirements needed for it to be used. Oral knowledge builds off of folk knowledge because it is basically folk knowledge but is disseminated publicly. Written knowledge further builds off these two since it was used to write down folk and oral knowledge so that they would not be forgotten. Print knowledge is written knowledge that is massed produced and easily accessible to the world at large.
As I have posted about folk knowledge and have read others’ posts, I have noticed that folk knowledge is taught mostly in the home and is most important for children. Some folk knowledge posted on the blog was my post on brushing teeth, or Alyssa’s post on midwifery. In my folk knowledge group during today’s salon we agreed that things such as rituals and traditions are folk knowledge. Things such as when a boy becomes a man through rite of passage or marriage are folk knowledge and have different meanings and traditions in different cultures.
Oral knowledge builds off folk knowledge. As cultures became more advanced individuals and groups (bards, Greek philosophers, etc.) traveled throughout their country disseminating knowledge that they had gathered. Tales of Gods and heroes and different philosophical ideas were some of the knowledge that was disseminated orally. Diane’s post on Homer’s epics and Kody’s post on prayer are examples of oral knowledge. During the salon my group and I discovered that before things were written down most government, religious and civil matters were of an oral nature. Heralds are a good example of this. They were king’s messengers who were sent to give proclamations.
Written knowledge is very connected to oral knowledge as compared to the other knowledge units. During the time of the Greeks and Romans, Oral knowledge reached its greatest zenith through great orators like Julius Caesar, Cicero, Plato and Socrates. Also, written knowledge grew just as rapidly. Massive libraries in Rome and Alexandria were established. Monuments with written text also reached their zenith during this time period. Alyssa’s post on Why did Plato Write? and Kody’s post on medicine and writing show the importance of written knowledge and its connection to oral knowledge.
Print knowledge is very similar to written knowledge with several key differences. With the invention of print books could be mass-produced, lowering the cost. With the lowering of cost, subjects that did not have as much priority, when knowledge had to written by hand, could now be published. Also, the perusal of knowledge became a much more individual pastime. Before, books were owned by the elite and the Catholic church. Common people had to listen to them to get information and had to take their word that what they were saying was true. Now, almost everyone has access through printed material. In my salon group I brought up an interesting subject that had to do with my civilization. My civilization was the Jewish nation and with the invention of the printing press the Jewish scholars had to debate whether or not the Torah should be allowed to be printed. Before, the Torah was written by hand by one person from start to finish. This ensured that copies were pure in form and that they were written by a holy individual. In the end, they decided that it was okay as long as some Torahs were written by hand. It is interesting to compare this to the Bible. Christians were very anxious to have the Bible printed and distributed to the general population.
This class has opened my eyes to a world I had not noticed before—the world of the institutions of knowledge. Before this class I had the narrow-minded view that everything came from Google and Wikipedia. Now I understand that I have learned so much from so many different sources, some very ancient in origin. Never again will I look at the acquisition of knowledge the same again.

Final Blog Post

       Folk knowledge is characterized as practical knowledge or survival skills for living within a society. Sharing folk knowledge is the least formal of all knowledge types, making it the easiest to break down learning or interpersonal barriers and form bonds through sharing it. Sharing folk knowledge is not the only way or even the best way to learn and work together, though. Despite claims that other forms of knowledge are less bonding, folk knowledge does not accommodate collaboration and building community more than other types of knowledge, it simply takes less effort to form a community around sharing folk knowledge because folk knowledge involves the lowest common denominator and thereby attracts the largest number of people.

The Final of the Final- Oral Knowledge and Religion

The mediums of knowledgeconsistently change, and slowly and bring about a tradition to those that use them.Regardless of these changes, however, the previous forms of knowledge are neverfully abandoned. This was brought up in a discussion with Lauren and Summer aswe discussed the pros and cons of the transitions between knowledge mediums. Thetransition from oral knowledge to written knowledge within medicine technicallyoccurred thousands of years ago, but yet we still see both forms in our livestoday. In regards to religion, it is a nearly impossible challenge to pick amedium that is superior to others based on effects that it has had on religion because of it being such a vast topic spanning over thousands ofyears. However, there are many major events within the history of religion thatare based around an oral presentation or an oral event. Despite the fact that theBook of Mormon has and will continue to flood the earth, oral knowledge hasbeen most influential in religious practices due to the fact that major religiouschanges are brought about in an oral fashion including monumental speeches madein past times.

Final Exam: Part 1--

Unit 1: Folk Knowledge
Self-directed learning
My blogging consisted of tales of music and manners. We were just starting the class, so I wasn't exactly sure what exactly I was looking for as a self-directed learner. Folk knowledge started for me as a kind of foreign subject, one which was really hard to define and I was never really sure where to draw the line between it and other forms of communicating knowledge. My learning brought me to a more clear understanding of just where folk knowledge lies and effects every inkling of our lives. Also, this.

Others' blogging
Alysssa's tattoo post seems to be a common choice for us as a group, but for good reason. I think the unique subject drew eyes immediately. There was also a post on trumpet playing - as a trumpet player myself, I remember seeing the post and actually being able to relate to what was being said.

Collaborative learning
Seeing the thought process of others in folk knowledge especially was important I feel because of how collaborative (in person) the folk knowledge medium is innate of itself. Other than the blog posts already spoken of, the process of getting to know our core group started here. I don't remember an exact meeting other than sitting with each other in class, but it was fun to get to know some people better.

Projects / Activities
Justin taught me how to catch quarters. That was a fun evening. Then, I taught my roommate to competitive pokemon battle. As silly as both of those sound, I think it was the project that helped me most fully find my definition of folk knowledge. While not necessarily things you could make a living on or even use practically, I figured out that lots of folk knowledge is in place for the sole reason of humans being social beings. They provide ways to fit in to the current society.

Unit 2: Oral Knowledge
Self-directed learning
I got assigned the Celts. The Celtic language was actually really interesting to study, and I found a lot of nuances and connections to the modern day that I didn't think still existed. Specifically, I remember being amazed at the influence the Celtic bards had - they basically controlled all of the culture of the Ireland area. The wars were also fun to study about, but they were less orally-knowledgely-applicable-(ly?).

Others' blogging
I remember Diane's troubles and frustration with the Slavs - the lack of information seemed to be pretty overwhelming at the time. The Romans and Hittites were also taken as pet projects, and I recall Kody posting about the final and how it had seemed silly at first but he had come to appreciate the significance it had.

Collaborative learning
I actually had so much to comment on this unit that I wrote an extra blog post outlining my thoughts and connections between oral knowledge and a book that I have sitting up in my dorm. Much in the same way that I got the most out of the folk knowledge unit by speaking in class with the others, I felt like I got the most out of this unit by collaborating in our blog medium, "speaking" with each other and sharing thoughts.

Projects / Activities
The speech. I'm an awful actor, an awful speaker, and it goes to show in my performance during our class video. Even so, I thought the experience was uplifting and informative. Seeing King Benjamin's speech run live really hit me hard just how much oral knowledge can shape a people's way of life, especially after seeing what it did for the Nephites years after he died even.

Unit 3: Written Knowledge
Self-directed learning
My self-directed learning during written knowledge didn't necessarily manifest itself in certain blog posts during this unit, but you'll just have to trust me that I did learn but had a really bad overload mixed with a hint of writer's block. I decided since I already had a really strong base going with the Celts, I'd keep researching into their language, which turned out to be okay since our final ended up being an precursor to the Goidelic I'd been studying - Ogham.

Others' blogging
We lost a group member here (Amanda :( ) so we lost some content being added to the blog. Alyssa's influx of knowledge on the Roman's really was pretty amazing though, and her post on C really klued me in on a lot of kool stuff.

Collaborative learning
While I didn't really get the chance to blog that much during this unit, I still followed the progress of the others in their learning and tried to chime in a couple times. Writing about writing to me felt like discussion of a lot of semantics and such, so I really never felt all too inclined to be super interested (sorry, but English was never my favorite class).

Projects / ActivitiesEven so, getting ready and doing the final project with team misc. gave me an appreciation for the scale of how much of our historical record would not be here or would not be accurate without the concrete writing. And when I  say concrete writing, I mean that quite literally. Carving words in stone was quite the task, but with the help of my teammates and the familiarity of the subject in question (again, I had researched Ogham a bit in my personal studies) we got the project done in an admirable fashion. 

Unit 4: Print Knowledge
Self-directed learning
My first trip to the library ever was when this unit started. Blogs seemed to elude me but I found the most interest in Chinese and the other Far East countries. The now-esteemed fifth floor was my guide to everything I needed for this unit, from Korean culture and how printing affected it to paper exports and how Europe was led to the Gutenburg press by Asian knowledge. Of all the units, I think I learned the most flat-out fact in print.

Others' blogging
As people buckled down in preparation for finals week and such, I didn't necessarily see the quality in blogs drop but I felt like the need to interact was further down. Not to say that there weren't some cool posts, such as Alyssa's post on how the press and reading were connected, but I just generally wasn't struck by what others were saying as much as what I was studying on my own along with the pile of homework I had been stuck with in the rest of my classes.

Collaborative learning
To be honest, this unit seemed to be a bit more solo-queue. Each person really did their own thing, though I suppose I did manage to communicate with one of my fellow assigned group members to ensure our topics didn't overlap for the essay. It was a refreshing moment in an otherwise individual set of projects and quest for knowledge. My friends were the authors of the websites and books, my study partner the fifth-floor shelves.

Projects / Activities

I wrote my essay on what I had spent the most time in the library studying about. I set out to prove that the culture in the Far East was tailor-made to be the basis of printing, and so it was that they were the beginnings of the change to printing from writing. While not as crazy (Please let this be a normal field trip. With the Frizz? No way! awww...) as some of our other projects, I kinda felt like it was a nice break from the out of the ordinary stuff we had been doing. Just a straight, this is what I know, and now you can know it too, essay that I could clearly state my thoughts on the unit.

Blog for final: Part 1

"Notes for the final" is actually pretty vague, (like 'guess what it is we are thinking' vague), so hopefully this is what it is supposed to be. Also, why call it a "salon"? That is a really random word (like provocative). When I think of salons, I think of going to get my hair done. I looked up the word, but I still don't really see the connection, unless the Maiser building is really a house in disguise and we are secretly living in the 17th or 18th century. There has got to be a better word somewhere, like "graded discussion" or "workshop" or something else.

Unit 1: Folk Knowledge
Self-directed learning
For this unit I did two weekly-type blogs and two project-type blogs. I researched the burial and mummification practices of a group of people in Ancient America, mostly because I wanted to do something somewhat unique. I also just became more aware of the way that we teach things to each other, since we talked about it in class, and then I would see it in the world around me. It was weird to think that there are a lot of things I've learned that I don't at all remember learning.

*Pre-Salon Prep Notes*

Unit 1- Folk Knowledge

Self-directed Learning

• I was very interested in the different forms in which folk knowledge is passed along from generation to generation. To guide my research and keep it focused I studied things that were personally interesting to me which I could relate to in various ways. This not only helped my understanding of various interests, but also pushed to me study more and find more information. Like Brenda mentioned, it is fascinating to read my first posts and realize how much it has changed and just the way I go about presenting information has changed. My knowledge of blogging and the topic of “knowledge” itself has branched out in many directions.

Others Blogging

• I found it very fascinating to read other posts and see how people tied the knowledge they researched into their own lives. Everything from dance to stick shift driving to tattoos. Seeing how other perceived folk knowledge helped me to understand it better myself. 

Collaborative Learning

• For these first couple blog posts it was really easy to see that there was a struggle as to what we should say in our comments and how to really keep a riveting discussion going, but even in it’s primitive stages we did help each other learn and understand better the things we were studying

Projects/ Activities

• The project for this unit was very enjoyable. I had the opportunity to teach someone how to play tennis and pass on that knowledge in the same way I received. This gave me more insight into folk knowledge than a number of blog posts combined would have. On top of that I spent some time with a Spanish professor learning the ways of cooking an authentic spanish tortilla which was as much and tasty as it was educational. We had a final group interview to end this unit off and this was the first time I had experienced this type of test. It yielded good opportunities and reasons to followup on each others blogs.

Pre-Salon Notes

Pre-Salon Notes

Self directed Learning: Brushing Your Teeth; This was my first blog ever and it was a real eye-opener for me. This post revealed to me how much is not learned formally. I have noticed a definite improvement of my blogging over the semester. My favorite is brushing your teeth. Blogging has taught me how to be informal yet educational at the same time.

Others' Blogging: Alyssa's post on tattooing was very interesting. She has a lot guts to do that. This post showed me how broad folk knowledge is. I never considered tattooing folk knowledge. There has been such a variety subjects that have been blogged. I have learned a ton.

Collaborative Learning: Preparing for the interviews with my group was very insightful. Planning and preparing for the interview was a fun yet kind of iffy experience. I didn't know my group very well so we had to go by feel how we interacted. The other projects also helped the group come together.

Projects/Activities: Learning and teaching folk knowledge gave me the insight on how much of it I pass on to other people like my siblings. The King Benjamin's speech showed how difficult it is to pull of such a large group effort. The Rosetta project was my favorite because of the of the tranlating and how my group bonded because of the difficulty of it.

Salon Notes: Preliminary Blog

	Unit 1: Folk Knowledge	Unit 2: Oral Knowledge	Unit 3: Written Knowledge	Unit 4: Print Knowledge
Self-directed learning	Midwifery--maybe one of the first times I just picked a topic from the list of options on the seed post. Midwifery could never move from the realm of folk knowledge to any other realm because it is so dependent upon hands-on experience. You can't learn to deliver a baby effectively from a book. Researching for this blog helped me understand folk knowledge better because I realized that even today professionals field rely almost entirely upon shared folk knowledge (again, no doctor gets his expertise from reading a bunch of manuals or going to a bunch of speakers).	My post on The Origin of Language was almost entirely based on the book referenced by Dr. Petersen in her seed post on oral knowledge. Just as teaching something helps you understand it, writing a blog about a topic really does too. Trying to understand Mark Turner's theory on the origin of language gave me better understanding about how we bring story and parable to create grammar--the system of language.	Researching for my post on the letter "C" and how it came to be a part of our alphabet was really interesting and it helped me understand the process of creating a written alphabet from a spoken language which facilitated my learning through this unit.	Researching for The Printing Press and Reading really helped me recognize that the emergence of the printing press brought with it huge changes, changes which you would not expect. The printing press had a huge influence on our culture today and writing this post really helped me see that.
Others' blogging	Kody's post on Prayer really helped me understand folk knowledge. Because a lot of our posts before that were about hygiene (Shuan's post on Showering was one I patterned a lot of my blogs off of, even my midwifery blog was semi-health related) or dating, I think my understanding of folk knowledge was limited. This post helped me look beyond those two categories and really grasp all the things that folk knowledge encompassed	Kody's post "Written vs Oral-the Hittites" was a favorite in this unit. He was so explicit in laying out the function and systems of language in the Hittite culture. Plus, it helped me recognize the importance of precision in preserving a language. He also talked about how emotion is best communicated through oral knowledge than by any other means of communicating.	Ted's post on Greek language was really memorable, and it really highlighted the strengths of written knowledge. Dr. Burton's post on Written knowledge  was really helpful in my learning process because it defined and discussed writing-dependent institutions.	Diane's post on the history of Dictionaries was really interesting. The printing press played a really big role in the emergence of dictionaries because it kind of created the need for them. Very interesting, definitely facilitated my learning and taught me a lot not only about the history of dictionaries but really the reason we have them at all.
Collaborative learning	Teaching my room mate to do French Manicures facilitated my understanding of folk knowledge in a new way: sharing folk knowledge, being that primary source for a skill for someone else, is really a wonderful thing. Folk knowledge has a special value because of the inter-personal aspect it carries that other forms of knowledge simply do not include.	We talked in class about how it's harder to meet with a professor if you email him rather than go directly to him or call him on the phone. This discussion helped me really see the role oral knowledge still plays in my life, and how it is still very important. Oral knowledge was "realler" to me after that lecture. King Benjamin's speech was also great in helping me understand the power that oral knowledge has.	Going to Special Collections in the Library was definitely a highlight in this unit because the lady there really emphasized the role that writing played in a lot of cultures. The tiny tablet she showed us that had a business record on in in cuneiform was so cool, and it really helped me understand that once writing came on the scene a lot of other institutions emerged or became more efficient.	Reading Walter Ong's "Print, Space, and Closure" really helped me see the way print has evolved and the importance of it taking on some of the roles of written knowledge. I don't know why we didn't talk more about "Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation" but that also gave me a historical context, it was easier for me to see the importance of a more-accessible Bible through the printing press in the Protestant reformation
Projects / Activities	The project/ activity for this blog was teaching and learning folk knowledge. I learned about how to make a tattoo. Maybe this is not the most valuable skill I could obtain, learning about the history and art of tattooing helped me understand folk knowledge in a new way because tattooing is almost entirely reliant upon folk knowledge-- in fact, in many situations it is passed down among family members.	For this blog we had a videoed discussion--we had a dress rehearsal and then two days later we tried again. This exercise helped me as I prepared understand the difference between oral knowledge systems and written knowledge systems. For example, you use a lot more self-referencing pronouns when speaking than you would in writing. It is a lot more informal.	The Rosetta Stone project. I have a lot more sympathy for scribes because of that project. Not only was it difficult to copy a text but to translate was really difficult, too. After Kody's post on Scribes, I had this attitude that scribes received more than they deserved. The Rosetta Stone project set me right!	Because the written paper was probably the most formal proof-of-intellectual-growth we have had to provide this semester, I felt like this project really showed that each medium of knowledge transmission we have studied this semester is slightly more formal than the last. This project gave me an added appreciation for typography and the blackletter font.

Done!

I know that we still have two more blog posts and a final for this class, but I just wanted to celebrate with everyone the fact that we are done with all of our regular assignments, especially the essay. I dislike doing essays at the time I am doing them, but always afterwards it makes me feel like I have learned and accomplished something. I am glad I did it, and I am glad it is over, especially since it was pretty hectic in the end to get everything in.

Thesis! Edit: Now includes full paper

EDIT: Open page break for full paper

After lots of searching around and trying to figure out 1) what I was interested in about the far east and 2) what actually had enough information for me to knock out 4 pages, I've come to this conclusion:

Although the printing press is largely thought of as a Western convention, it was Eastern Asia that pioneered the first breakthroughs and early triumphs in print because of a large and diverse system of religions that was focused on preserving and making accessible and standard copies of important literary and artistic works.

I think this is what thrilled me the most about the non-european subject matter - granted, the Gutenberg Bible was one of the first books printed through a printing press in the West - is that all of the religions in Asia (Buddhism, Confucians, and Taoists) all provided a great deal of backing behind the printing movement. Did I state that clearly and concisely in a way that Dr. Burton's helper guide makes sense with? Help is always welcome!

First Response to the Essay

The first thing I noticed about this essay assignment was that in very many ways it is similar to the blog posts we've been doing every week all semester. For one thing, the length is similar. The blogs of my group members vary a bit on word count (Alyssa's tend to be the longest, for example), but I have been shooting for around 800 words per post, which fits securely into the 750-1000 word guideline for this essay. The other thing is that the essay has to have at least two sources. They are probably supposed to be a little more 'scholarly' than the one's I've been using on blogs, but I usually have at least four sources per blog post, so maybe that makes up a little for lack of 'scholarly-ness."

There are also differences, of course, or this wouldn't be a very good unit final. Essays are generally more formal than blog posts (although my rough draft doesn't show it. Hooray for writing last-minute essays at 2:00 in the morning). They are also more heavily edited (supposedly). I considered putting as a difference that the essay is supposed to be an argument, and the blogs are not, but I've had too many advertising units in English classes to believe that there is anything that isn't some sort of argument.

Typography Thesis- I could use some help.

I'm having a bit of a problem with finding a thesis for this paper. I've been in the library for over five hours, looking through books on typography. I hit wall after wall. Some of my thesis ideas are these: Ornamentation in books have declined because of changing societal values; How fancy fonts have fallen into disuse because of changing societal values.

All I can find so far is books on ornamentation in books and font types. They do not actually give me the history for why these type of fonts were used and why they declined etc.

If anyone can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

Typography Thesis

Well this has been a long time coming! Oddly enough I haven't had to write a paper all semester long and so that has made it nearly 3 years since i've written a paper. That is a long time...People can forget things in that amount of time and that's what I feel like has happened to me. I looked at the Better Thesis Website and ran mine past it and this is what I have come up with.

MY THESIS

Ok, I went through Better Thesis Statements and here is my thesis (tell me what you think):

Although the Gothic, Blackletter font Textura is now considered "illegible"; cultural, political, and religious reasons behind its development should be taken into account in assessing its value.