image v. alphabet
rhetoric and the graphic novel
english 4810/6810
rifenburg
Dominance of IMages
spiritual
agricultural
communal
clerical
(all images from Wikipedia)
(Lowenmensch, c. 40,000 BP)
(Venus of Laussel, c. 25,000 BP)
Lascaux (c. 17,000 BP)
(Bison licking insect bite, c. 15,000 BP)
Slow Slide into writing
Widespread use of geometric tokens in Near East, 8500 BP
(see "The Envelopes that Bear the First Writing"; see her website)
Writing, cont'd
Disappearance of tokens, c. 3000 BP
Egyptian hieroglyphics, c. 3250 BP (image / alphabet mix; pictograph)
Linear Elamite writing, c. 2150 BP
Ten Commandments (all written)
Greek alphabet, c. 800 BP
& More Writing
Images leading to writing
More Than Stories: The Range of Children's Writing Thomas Newkirk, 1989
Why? Hmm....
is it a male / female thing....?
The Alphabet Vs. the Goddess, Leonard Shlain
We'll think about this a bit together
and a little bit in ENGL 3120
The Dominance of Writing
Why the rise of writing?
Why does the rise of writing mean the fall of images?
Do smart people draw pictures? Or do smart people write essays?
Can you turn in an essay with just images?
Do your for-fun-books have pictures?
Return to the visual
visual rhetoric
visual literacy
particularly connected with the rise in visual entertainment (i.e., TV) and visual advertising
& now
social media--a visually-driven digital platform