User:DevonnRonning

=Analytical Writing=

Statement of Intent


Overview
During the course of this class, I would like to do research on the origins of some common typographic characters, and how they have changed and evolved over time. At the moment it is my plan that I would do this as a set of smaller individual pieces, each relating to a single character. I would start by identifying the character and its current usage. Then I would go back and explain when it was first used and how it has changed and evolved since then, I would also include if an older one inspired it, or if it’s a ligature of sorts. I would like to look into things like the ampersand, the dagger, currency symbols, asterisk, at, and quote. Because I’m not sure of the dept of these subjects, I may have to expand the range of the project; I would probably choose a pictorial symbol that has a longer history and cover that.

Rationale
I want to peruse this subject because I have a personal interest in it, and I think that a better understanding of how symbols evolve can help me with ideas on how to evolve them further.

Publication
The first form of publication I will use for this will be on wikiversity. If I am satisfied with what I come up with, I will also probably also post the final version on my personal website so that others who are interested in the subject can read it too.

Schedule

 * 1) Week 1: Finish statement of intent.
 * 2) Week 2: Beginning research gathering sources and decide what characters are the best candidates.
 * 3) Week 3: Continued research, write outlines for first draft.
 * 4) Week 4: Write first drafts and edit.
 * 5) Week 5: Pick one character to bring to final draft status. Midterm project assessment.
 * 6) Week 6: Continue finalizing all drafts.
 * 7) Week 7: Review project. Do I need to spend the rest of my time finalizing and polishing the current pieces (or) do I need to move on to research another symbol?
 * 8) Week 8: Continue finalizing papers, (or) outline and first draft on new symbol.
 * 9) Week 9: Final edits on papers, (or) finish next draft on new symbol.
 * 10) Week 10: Individual meeting, and final touches getting ready for the reading.

Anticipated Problems
I'm concerned that this subject may be difficult to get information on, or if these characters even have much of a history. I am very limited when it comes to time because I am a full time student, as well as a having a full time job. Most of my "down time" happens in the middle of the night so my research needs to be limited mostly to books and online sources, and its not very likely I can interview someone about this. Because I’m not sure how much information will be available on each of the characters, my schedule will most likely change quite a few times when I’m in the beginning research stage. When setting up the schedule I left the last four weeks open to two different paths, depending on how things look on week 7. I also expect to have a lot more work in my other classes during this time.

Week 6 Project Review


Before Or During Week 6

 * See Helvetica.
 * at sign
 * look at comments to decide on second symbol
 * design--large versions of symbols.
 * textism
 * each symbol 1,000 words? 4.5 pages double spaced.

Project
This is a result of both verbal and written interviews that I did, both formal and informal.

As a river runs on through a landscape it constantly changes. Its banks slowly erode in some places and build themselves back in others. Water runoff steadily joins the river adding its own influence. People build dams and levees to try and contain its flow, but sometimes-natural influences like too much rain at once, can cause it to spill over these structures and take a natural course. In ways, the English language can be like a river. It is always gradually evolving and constantly moving forward. We have set rules and restrictions to force it into the path that we want it to be. Even though we put so much effort into creating a proper structure, there are still outside influences that can be more powerful than the rules we set and can change the way we perceive it. Sometimes our languages natural evolution is unavoidable. The way that people react to these changes can vary greatly from person to person. Some people view these changes as a devolving, a bastardization of the proper English. Others see these changes as an improvement, preferring a language built on logic and phonetics over one ruled by conventional ideas. No matter what side of the river you’re standing on, one thing is for certain; there is no stopping the current. There are two interesting ideas that have emerged in punctuation. In an attempt to create a better way to communicate an idea or make their intentions clearer, some people have started enlisting the help of the interrobang and the irony mark. Both of these are meant to help the reader understand the emotional context of the preceding sentence. The interrobang glyph itself is a superimposition of the exclamation point and the question mark. It is meant to combine the emotions of both these. The interrobang, also sometimes referred to as an interabang or quesclamation mark, indicates that the sentence asks a question in an excited manner, expresses excitement or disbelief in the form of a question, or asks a rhetorical question. “American Martin K. Speckter invented the interrobang in 1962. As the head of an advertising agency, Speckter believed that advertisements would look better if copywriters conveyed surprised rhetorical questions using a single mark. He proposed the concept of a single punctuation mark in an article in the magazine TYPEtalks. Speckter solicited possible names for the new character from readers. Contenders included rhet, exclarotive, and exclamaquest, but he settled on interrobang. He chose the name to reference the punctuation marks that inspired it: interrogatio is Latin for "a rhetorical question" or "cross-examination";bang is printers' slang for the exclamation point. Graphic treatments for the new mark were also submitted in response to the article.” Some writers feel that its unnecessary to create a combined single glyph to represent this idea, because the same idea can be conveyed by simply ending the sentence with a question mark followed by an exclamation mark. Others feel that it would be beneficial to use it, because it can be quickly read and has a more unified visual impact. It could also be argued that it helps keep a consistent flow to the content, instead of breaking it with multiple marks. The irony mark is meant to be used to indicate that a sentence should be understood at a second level. Some writers reject it, with the opinion that if a special mark is needed to point out irony or sarcasm, then it’s simply a matter of rewriting it to be understood with contextual clues only. Using multiple punctuation marks at the end of a sentence is grammatically incorrect. If the interrobang became a standard part of the English language, people who were concerned with that, could get their idea across better without breaking the rule. It could also be argued that its unnecessary to properly include it in the English language because if people writing informally were going to use it, they would be less concerned with its correctness, and the average person will be able to infer the meaning of the mark without having to be taught what it is. To look forward into whether or not marks like these will catch on, it helps to take a step back and try and understand what other parts of English are changing. These are both good examples of a gradual relaxation of English. It is also very evident in other aspects of our language such as grammar and spelling. Our current standard of living, the use of technology and the amount of interactions we have all influence what we regard as important or necessary to communicate an idea. With text messages and emails, people often pay less time and attention to their spelling and grammar. Juliet B. Schor a Harvard professor commented on the subject, stating: “The rise of worktime was unexpected. For nearly a hundred years, hours had been declining […] In the last twenty years the amount of time Americans have spent at their jobs has risen steadily. Each year the change is small, amounting to about nine hours, or slightly more than one additional day of work. In any given year, such a small increment has probably been imperceptible. But the accumulated increase over two decades is substantial. When surveyed, Americans re port that they have only sixteen and a half hours of leisure a week, after the obligations of job and household are taken care of. Working hours are already longer than they were forty years ago. If present trends continue, by the end of the century Americans will be spending as much time at their jobs as they did back in the nineteen twenties.” I believe these are all indications that our language is on its way to becoming more informal and relaxed. Personally I don’t think that this is a bad thing. Legibility isn’t a major concern, because the human minds are always going to be able to pronounce things based on logic, and will usually be able to understand the meaning of a sentence whether we use special defining marks or not. English seems to be on its natural course.