INFLUENCE OF WRITING ON PEOPLE
Prepared by:
Lamia Rahman Chowdhury
ENG 105, SECTION: 12
Prepared for:
Assistant Professor
English Department
Date: 10 August 2011
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to acknowledge and express my deepest gratitude to the following people, who, in many ways, have contributed and inspired me to complete my research paper. First person in order is to Dr. AQB for providing his guidance and support in the preparation of the research paper. I am very much grateful to the NSU students, who have cooperated and taken their time to participate in answering my research questions. To my family and friends who have extended their efforts and understanding by helping me find respondents for the questionnaires, albeit some of them were prodded into doing so. A special mention goes to my dear friend, SK, who lent me her laptop when my own laptop sadly stopped functioning in my time of need. Lastly, to Almighty Allah for giving the strength to compile information needed to input into completing the research paper in due time. It has been a difficult topic to research on.
ABSTRACT
Writing has been playing an essential role in our lives since we learnt how to read and write. This research paper, hence, emphasizes on how writing has influenced a person and how it has managed to change his or her life. The research highlights the points on the origins of writing and how an author’s style of writing affects our personality. My hypothesis consists of how inspiration derived from other writers has given them the courage to face or help them in certain situations of life and whether written works such as research papers or journals or articles has contributed in changing their priorities such as giving more time to saving the environment or going into a different career field. Questionnaires have been prepared and some of the responses do match with the hypothesis such as how writing does make a person to think outside the box. The research findings have allowed me to identify that writing has been an influential tool in people’s lives but they do not acknowledge it as much. Some consider technology to be the new power. They do not realize that both are invariably related. Technology will not develop if writing does not help in developing it and writing will not develop if technology does not provide itself as a platform.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction2
Background4
Research Questions (Areas of Research)10
Hypothesis11
Methodology12
Data Presentation and Analysis13
Summary of Research Findings28
Recommendations29
Conclusion30
References31
Appendix
Related Documents
INTRODUCTION
A caveman started writing by carving symbols on walls. The invention of quills and inks allowed people to record in scrolls of parchments. Advancements in technology have propelled people to digitize their writing rather than penning them down. No matter what is being used to write, the definition of writing remains the same: It is the work of a writer. However, it is the contents of the writing, which has evolved with time.
When a writer picks up his or her writing material, they put down their emotions, thoughts, and experiences into books, articles, or blogs, which millions of people read. These writings in one way or the other has become one of the most influential tools on people and their lives. For example, had it not been for writing, people would not have known about religion, history, or literature. Through writing, people can give advice or take advice on how to handle a business successfully. Research done by past scientists has helped present ones to find cures for diseases. It is because of writing that civilization had advanced and brought the modern evolution that people are seeing today.
Whether people know it or not, they have been heavily influenced by writing. The influence began with learning alphabets. Books guided them to improve their reading and writing skills. It has taught them how to speak English or their native languages. Interest in literature might have been encouraged by works by playwrights such as Shakespeare and authors such as J. K. Rowling. Today’s doctors and nurses have been directed to their career paths because of articles on people who do not get treated because of insufficient medical care providers. Via research paper, people are acknowledging the effects of harmful causes on environment. If they did not, there would have been less rallying against environment protection. Writing has spread awareness that is required to alert people about immoral or illegal events in the world, against which they can take a stand.
When it comes to influencing people, writing has its benefits, but it also produces disadvantageous effects as well. Forums are a platform, which allow the sharing of various perspectives. However, certain people do not appreciate opinions that go against their ideals. Thus, this brings about unnecessary disputes and bullying. People believe that writing is making one’s expression of opinion is easier and thus allowing them to change customs, which has had been established for generations.
BACKGROUND
The Origins of Writing Carboni (2006) claimed in his article The History of Writing that writing has been one of the most important element in developing civilization. According to him, origins of writing cannot be determined, as it had been “independently born in different parts of the world.” However, he does mention that around 3500-3200 B.C. the Sumerians and the Egyptians were the first people who wrote (Multiple origins section). For centuries, writing had been used for accounting purposes. Gradually, it progressed to being used for recording the dead, “for legal purposes, for literature and school texts” (Slow progress section). Another writer, Wilford (1999), who attended a meeting and collected information regarding the origins of writing, has noted in his article When No One Read, Who Started to Write? that archaeologists, historians and other scholars did not believe that the Uruk king was the one who had invented writing to replace spoken messages. Instead, they believed, “writing more than likely began as a separate and distinct symbolic system of communication, like painting, sculpture and oral storytelling, and only later merged with spoken language.”
Like Carboni, the scholars and historians could not pinpoint the exact origins of writing. Wilford asserted in his article that they thought that writing “arose independently several times in several places, like Egypt, the Indus Valley, China and among the Olmecs and Maya of Mexico and Central America.” Dr. Holly Pittman, one of Wilford’s sources observed that the key reason why writing had been invented was because people needed to store information that could not be kept in human memory. Therefore, this has eased people’s record-keeping (Wilford, 1999). Effective Writing Styles Writing is a means of communication that a writer uses to convey their feelings or thoughts. Therefore, how a writer addresses a subject matter to its audience is an essential part in revealing the writer’s style of writing. This is because the manner in which a writer pens down words depicts the “writer's personality and voice, but it also shows how [he or she] perceives the audience, and chooses conceptual writing style which reveal those choices by which the writer [might] change the conceptual world of the overall character of the work” (Wikipedia, 2011). For example, authors who write fiction use genres such as action-adventure, thriller, horror, romance, fantasy, humor and it plays a large role in emphasizing their work. Likewise, when a journalist edits the news, they have to ensure that their writing style is of professional level. They will have to emphasize their work by being objective to the matter they are addressing. People are affected by the style an author adopts. A writer using humor in his or her work can have an impact on the reader’s personality. They can shape them up to become wittier or develop their sense of humor. A person reading novels which have fantasy contents broadens their imagination and enables them to think outside the norm. For example, sorcery, aliens etc. True stories have tremendous effects on people because in some way or the other, it resembles closely to their life. Therefore, emotional style of writing is effective in a sense that a reader can empathize with the situations of the person on whom the story has been written on. They can be largely affected by the fact that they are living a much fortunate life than the person and can force them to evaluate their lives. The Power of Writing: How Has Writing Influenced People? It can be agreed upon that writing has been one of the essential tools that has helped advance civilization. An interview taken by Boulton asserted the idea that “writing is the enabling technology of civilization.” However, the interviewee Searle (Personal Interview, n. d.) believed writing to be a constitutive element of civilization. Schools, universities, marriages, governments – they have all been established because of writing. Rules require writing, which is implemented in building these elements. In the interview, Searle believes that through writing, people has changed the way they think and talk. Through writing, people may have discovered how to uncover feelings such as love, angst or any other kinds of emotions. (J. Searle, personal communication, n.d.) On the other hand, writing is a tool for other purposes. According to Pennebaker (2005), writing can be taken as a route to heal someone who is in an emotional turmoil regarding divorces, job rejections, university problems, relationships. This is evidenced by:
“When people are given the opportunity to write about emotional upheavals, they often experience improved health,” Pennebaker says. “They go to the doctor less. They have changes in immune function. If they are first-year college students, their grades tend to go up. People will tell us months afterward that it’s been a very beneficial experience for them” Furthermore, the professor in the University of Texas at Austin has observed that a person’s emotional turmoil become linked to his or her relationship with others and their view of themselves. Thus, writing provides a chance for people to focus and organize the experience. They will be able to see what had led them to the emotional event, in other words, writing will “[allow] people to step back for a moment and evaluate their lives” (Pennebaker, 2005) One way writing influences an individual or group when he or she or they make decisions. Farrell (1992) has mentioned in his article The power of writing:
Whether in business, politics, or the academic world, most corporate decisions involve complex choices (p.1)
Farrell’s belief is that writing solves the complexity of a problem, shapes decision-making, and thus has a profound impact on the reader’s mind. This can be agreed upon as when an individual is perplexed regarding choices, writing down pros and cons can help them to determine their final selection (Farrell, 1992, pp. 2-3)
Boyd et al. (1992) has interviewed students at Plymouth State College regarding the impact of writing. The researchers were surprised to find that they received positive responses. The students found writing to be enjoyable. One of them believed writing helped share views with the class, most of them responded that writing sharpened their skills of writing and disciplined them. The students were now able to structure their assignments correctly with no grammatical or spelling errors. It showed that writing played a large role in improving students’ writing skills as they go from kindergartens to higher levels of education (pp. 28-32) Writing brings about a technique of reflecting and discovering opportunities. It teaches a person to become more carefree and solves their mental and emotional confusion (Rowley, n. d.). It has an ability to show the writer that there can be aspects to the confusion that he or she had not thought of. For example, a businessman may have a feeling that an element is missing, which is required in giving him the successful launch that is in his mind. Writing a start-up business plan can be a key guide to identify where the weaknesses lie in his plan and how opportunities can prop up. If he had not written down a business plan, he might have not spotted it and hence it might have been a less successful launch or worse, a business failure. One of the most updated contents is in newspapers, which inform people about global events such as stock markets, business, declarations by politicians, changes in laws. In one way or the other, they have an impact on the people. Writing makes it possible for people to acknowledge these events; otherwise, they would be kept in the dark. Corrective measures can be taken by businesspeople to ensure that their business is not in jeopardy when the stock market crashes. People can fight for their right if the declarations or changes in laws can impact their lives heavily. Sometimes people tend to choose their career paths based on their parents’ choices, sometimes they choose it because they find the field interesting. Their source of knowledge may have come from another person or through books. However, the original source will always be writing, as it is the most accessible method of recording details and elaboration about the subject revolving around the career field. For example, the present genetic engineer may not have known about the field if geneticists or specialist journalists had not written about the topic in articles or journals which have been published. Past Writers: Their Influence on People It can be agreed upon that if the writers in the past did not record events in their journals, neither people nor the writers of today would have access to abundance of knowledge or revolve their writings on the ideas that had been originated by them. In the past, poems and playwrights that branched from literature held a prominent place in the society. They were written in a manner that readers would be deeply affected by the emotion portrayed in the words of the poets and playwrights. Due to William Shakespeare, literature became a popular study field. His coining of 10,000 words has brought in additions to the English dictionary, which people frequently use. The most original source of writing has to be, perhaps, the religious books sent by God, the one who created writing. There are divisions in belief because Christians think that the Bible is the embodiment of true religion whereas Muslims strongly argue that it is one of the religious books sent by God, and the last Book, Quran, is the only reliable source for religious views. The writings in the Books guided people in choosing their faith and they live accordingly to that religion.
Modern Writers: Their Influence on People Perhaps, the greatest evolution occurred in thinking is because of past writers and the trend is being continued by present writers. Social networking sites are a notable platform for modern writers to express their views. The writing technique has changed from inking and penning down to keying and blogging, but people always need to find some medium to express their emotions and ideas. J. K. Rowling has influenced children by creating the Harry Potter series. It opened a fantasy portal so that they can believe that they are on the same journey as the titular character. They were not the only ones; people ranging from teenagers to adults aged 65, believe in the author’s writing so much that they wish to be wizards and witches rather than “Muggles” (definition for non-magical people in the wizarding world). Authors like Stephen King opened up the possibility that paranormal activities do exist. This can be a reason for people being so auspicious regarding the thirteenth floor in hotels. Because writing has been declared as an act of freedom, people around the globe have means to express their opinions and views more freely, which is more or less have a negative impact on those who oppose the ideas. Some of the TV shows and films, especially American and British ones, are gaining popularity because the scriptwriter is writing down his or her observations in a glamorized way . In this way, they are having an impact on youth, who are starting to adopt the American or British culture rather than their own country’s culture.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS (OR AREAS OF RESEARCH) The research is about writing and its influence on people and their life, therefore the following research questions will be covered: * What is writing? * What are the various forms of writing? * What is a person’s opinion of writing? * How has writing influenced a person? * Has it inspired a person to take a different route in life? * Has it changed their perspective of someone, a cause, an idea, etc.? * If they can interpret the writing as positive suggestion, why do they not implement it in their life? * Has any form of writing caused a negative response rather than its intended positive purpose? * Is writing popular today as it has been in the past?
HYPOTHESIS Writing is the means of communication through which a writer expresses his or her work to the reader. Writing comes in various forms, or rather platforms, from fiction books to newspapers to e-books to blogs. However, I may find some people not taking e-books or blogs as “writing” but rather technology. Even though a person learns from the moment they pick up a book on alphabets, they will feel that writing has not influenced their lives much. Some may credit their skill of writing, reading, and speaking to the books that have helped them but others are likely ignore it.
Regarding situations where writing has made them take a different route in life, I expect to find the respondents who have a job to be more agreeable about it as their career lives may have been heavily influenced by writing. It is also likely that people will believe that writing has helped them learn to overcome obstacles and derive hope, love or friendship. I expect that writing may give person ideas which revolve thinking outside the box. Is writing as popular as it was in the past? I can receive a positive response due to technology. The latter would not exist if the computer inventor did not thinking of penning down the ideas for building the computer. The writing would have stalled if people were not able to come across different perspectives, which they are able to gain access because they have Internet access.
METHODOLOGY
For my primary research, I will be conducting a survey of a representative sampling of females and males aged 18-30. I will also be taking single and group interviews of people who have been greatly influenced and how it has significantly changed their lives. I will be designing a questionnaire with different relevant questions that can be helpful in answering my questions and can be compiled into a completed research paper.
For my secondary research, I plan to browse the Internet and use standard search engines like Google. I will also make use of the resources available in the library and consult a few books that concentrate on writing.
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS As per the methodology, my primary research consisted of designing a questionnaire. I have distributed forty of the questionnaires evenly amongst respondents who are aged from 18-28. The outcomes have been collected and represented by charts. Therefore, in the following graphs, the respondents’ answers in the questionnaire have been interpreted and analyzed to find out how writing has influenced their lives.
The works of a writer can come in various forms: fiction books, poems, non-fiction, blogs etc. Hence, the above chart represents the respondents’ answers regarding their preference of reading materials. Fiction books and non-fiction remain the popular choices for both genders, whereas playwrights and poems are less favored. Surprisingly, sixteen male respondents prefer to read fiction, catching up to the seventeen female respondents, and losing out to reading non-fiction in comparison with the females. This can mean that the male respondents enjoy reading fiction but are losing interest in non-fiction. In the past, poems and playwrights had been amongst the most popular reading materials. In the above graph, only three of the respondents prefer to read them, thus showing how unpopular they have become. For blogs, only eight respondents prefer to read it. However, the number of respondents can fluctuate in the future as we are living in a world of modern technology and more people are starting to take interest in blog-writing. 20% of males have chosen the other category – this can mean that comic books or forums can fall in this category.
If authors keep writing the same type of contents in fiction books, readers will lose interest in reading them. Genres have been introduced to provide diversity to make fiction writing more appealing to readers. The chart above exhibits people’s choices when reading fiction books. The genre with the maximum female interest is mystery, followed closely by fantasy. This shows that the female mind likes to read contents which keeps them guessing in their mind regarding the secret and which broadens their imaginations. Considering the fact that males enjoy watching motion pictures, which have action-adventure contents, it is not surprising that most of them prefer to read it as well. Predictably, romance genre seems to be popular amongst the female respondents; however, the priority given to the genre is ranked third in the interests. This can either means the contents in books with romance genre are becoming repetitive and hence females are losing interest. As represented in the graph, the same number of male respondents keeps interest in mystery, fantasy, and horror fiction books. Likewise, action adventure and horror have the same number of female preference. The selection of “Others” shows that females are more open to other genres. These can be science fiction, humor etc.
The above graph illustrates the impact of writing on the respondents who read fiction. As illustrated in the graph, all respondents have been influenced in some way. Topping the chart in responses is broadened imagination, with 70% of females and 45% of males leading it. This demonstrates fiction has enhanced people’s thinking. It might have helped them to become creative in life or made them think outside the box. Almost 35 to 40% of respondents have selected that their writing and speaking had improved because they have read fiction books. Fictional characters can shape a person’s personality. 30% of females use catchphrases frequently, however only 5% of males do so. Females are more enthusiastic about fictional characters; therefore, it may be the reason why they have selected the option. However, 30% of males do implement the character’s way of dealing with situations in life.
Magazines, travel books, textbooks, newspapers, and research papers fall under non-fiction. Magazines are the most popular reading materials amongst females. It can be assumed that feature articles on advice on cooking recipes, health tips and beauty care dominates their choice of reading magazines. Philosophy provides realistic guidance on how to deal with situations of life, thus making it popular amongst the girls and women. Research papers help to spread awareness about unknown matters; therefore, a fair number of the respondents read it. Textbooks seem to be the most popular choice for the male respondents as they are a good source of gaining knowledge about business, science, art etc. Travel books are more popular amongst the boys as they are more adventurous or because they would like to visit places one day.
Non-fiction writing holds a strong influence on any individual who read it. The above chart depicts an enthusiastic response from the males and females. Leading with the most percentage is 55% of the females, who have improved their writing and speech because of non-fiction writing. 50% of males follow closely. This might also be a root reason for why expressing of opinions had become easier for 35% of the females and 25% of the males. Research papers or featured articles might have played a role in paving a career path for 50% of the female respondents whilst affecting only 30% of the male respondents’ direction of career. The same number of respondents agrees that non-fiction writing had contributed in changing their viewpoints about subject matters and helping them in situations, proving that a writer can be persuasive and help others through words. It is surprising that only three respondents have not been influenced at all. It can mean that the reading materials they have read did not contain sufficient powerful words to have an impact on them.
The above chart illustrates respondents’ perception of past writing. 65% of males and females deem it the history of events and individuals, which might have been the reason for 35% of females and 30% of males to select their main source of helping them to write assignments and research papers. These two are interrelated. Because of the history provided, the respondents are able to gather information for writing. 20% of females and only 10% of males view past writing as a guide for learning customs and morals. This is true of spiritual books, which have been passed down from generations to generations to teach people religion. One male represents 5% of the chart in his view for stating that the language is not understandable. His view could be based on the books that use the old English language. As for the female respondent who views past writing as outdated information is accurate in believing so if the subject revolves around technology, science and medical terms.
The above chart is a representation of the respondents’ perception of writing nowadays. 70% of the females believe that past thinking has been modernized positively because of the present writing. Their basis of choice has to be on their personal experience of reading materials that positively influenced them in their lives. 40% of males also have the same belief as the females. 40% of the males also perceive the present writing containing information as more accurate and reliable. This is true because technology and medical terms need to be updated regularly. Business news have to be reported on a regular basis as well. 70% of females do not think the present writing contains accurate and reliable information. In a world of technology advancement, where books, research papers, blogs are read online, information can be easily altered. In addition, citations are not provided to support the written works. 10 to 20% of the respondents believe that the present writing is generating unnecessary disputes. Writing can be shared over different platforms. One of the most popular ones is forums. Many people attack the person who does not agree with the view and vice-versa.
The followings graph displays the number of respondents who still believe writing is still popular. As shown, 22 respondents i.e. 55% of the respondents believe that writing is still popular. However, the perceptions vary for both genders which will be illustrated in the next two graphs:
As can be seen in the above chart, there is enthusiastic responses from females regarding the popularity of writing even today. There are three shared opinions of the female respondents to provide the reason as to why writing is still popular. Firstly, there are different platforms to share views. This can be evidenced by Internet inventions such as social network sites, forums and blogs. However, this is not the only tool. Very few realize that TV shows are also written by scriptwriters. Their ideas have been contributed into a sheet or sheets of paper, which had been converted to dialogues said by actors, who would not have been able to come up with the emotions to portray the dialogues if they did not understand the profound meaning behind the views. Secondly, the development of civilization. Men have started to give women respect and vice versa. Parents are learning the importance of studies in life and hence sending their children to school. Thirdly, the encouragement of new ideas that are benefitting people. To some extent, this is true. People are benefitting from discoveries of new methods to cure diseases, to save the environment, to get the best grades at school etc. However, these ideas can also be harmful. People may deem some ideas to be “new” but they are in fact recycled ideas present in a new way to a reader who will mock the writer for not coming up with anything “original.” 35% and 25% of males believe that writing has agreed that writing is still popular because of the various platforms and the new ideas of writers. They do however seem skeptical that it has developed civilization. In a world where fighting for the rights is vocalized, it is surprising that only 10% of the female respondents believe that writing has alerted them regarding causes. It can certainly be due to because from where the respondents have been alerted about the cause.
Technology is the new power. 45% of the males and 25% of the females gave this for their reasoning of why writing is still not as popular as yesteryear. This is a debatable topic because it can mean that the respondents do not believe that the technology powers such as social network sites, forums and blogs are a means of communication between a reader and the writer. This should actually be the reason why the works of various writers still remains popular. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo give users immense, albeit brief, knowledge regarding subject matters, people, organization etc. In that way, technology is able to influence readers. A good reasoning for writing still not being popular can be the lack of influence that emits from present writer’s work, which 10% of the females agree upon. Due to writing becoming repetitive and not having the same essence as original writing, a reader is not influenced much in their lives.
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH FINDINGS There were some research questions that I have not elaborated on, however, the other main points have been covered. As shown in the data representation of the answers given by people, females seem to have a stronger belief that writing has had an impact on their lives with their selection of options. Males do not show much response may because they do not think writing is influential or the options were not fitting or because they want to get over with responding to the questionnaire. My hypothesis regarding whether a person’s life can be altered by writing. It has matched with the respondents who have selected that writing had shaped their career paths. Fiction book readers even believe that writing has taught them how to face consequences and thereby implement the character’s way of dealing with situation that is troublesome. Many believe that fiction has broadened their imaginations, so I can assume that this falls under thinking outside the norm. I was surprised by the little response regarding selections on whether writing spread awareness regarding issues such as environment or diseases. Either the respondents have interpreted the choices wrongly or they genuinely have not been influenced every now and then to take preventative actions. Lastly, I expected people to give credit to writing for technology coming to rise. However, 45% of females and males believed that technology was replacing writing in power when the two are interrelated.
RECOMMENDATIONS I would recommend that the importance of writing be known amongst youth from the starting of kindergarten because the respondents who are aged between 18-28 are still indifferent to the tool that has contributed in developing them into becoming the person they are. People should also acknowledge that they would not know of history of events or individuals if someone in the past did not think they should do so. The world is mysterious. There are so many topics that people find debatable because there is no record of the subjects. Writing would have eased the debate.
CONCLUSION I believe that writing is one of the tools that have helped us develop into the modern society that we are. We are more open to new ideas because of writing. We do not think that the possibilities end with one idea. We think the world is a mysterious box, which can sprout with all kinds of possibilities. Yes, there is a range of illiteracy rates around the globe, but people who are literates, they are trying their best to spread their knowledge amongst them so that they can benefit. This shows the strength of writing. They would not have accomplished this if they did not read the books by other writers. Speaking has more power because it is vocalized. Yet its disadvantages lie in the fact that not everything can be covered. Writing is more subtle and shows signs of progression in a person’s mentality. As Rowley said, writing is a self-reflective tool and when we write, it influences us to see what we try not to see and therefore helps us by accepting the facts.
REFERENCES
Boyd, D., Casko, C., Cavallaro, M., Linton, S., Mao, S., Morgan, J.,…Hinrnan, M. (1992). Student voices on writing at Plymouth State College. Journal on Writing Across the Curriculum, 3 (2), 28-32. Retrieved from http://wac.colostate.edu/journal/vol3/vol3.2.pdf
Carboni, G. (2008). The history of writing (K. Loscocco, Trans.). Retrieved from http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/writing/writing.htm (Original work published 2006)
Farrell, W. J. (1992) The power of writing. Journal on Writing Across the Curriculum, 3 (2), 2-3. Retrieved from http://wac.colostate.edu/journal/vol3/vol3.2.pdf
Pennebaker, J. W. (2005). Writing to heal. Retrieved from University of Texas at Austin website: http://www.utexas.edu/features/2005/writing/
Rowley, C. (n. d.). Articles. The Power of Writing: Generating Profound Insights and Solving Everyday Problems. Retrieved from http://www.metavoice.org/articles/article2/
Searle, J. (n. d.). Dr Searle – Language, writing, mind, and consciousness [Interview by D. Boulton]. Retrieved from http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/searle.htm
Wilford, J. N. (1999, April 6). When No One Read, Who Started to Write? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Writing style. (2011, August 3). In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 6, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_style
APPENDIX 