Morgan Arnold (Class Reading Blog) Orality and Literacy

Our society is so dependent on text- be that through technology, books, instructions, scripture, etc. Ong brings up this crazy awesome point that is very perplexing. He says, “we have all heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Yet, if this statement is true, why does it have to be a saying?” (p. 7). We, as written culture, use words to describe everything. Our world is shaped and determined by the words in which use to describe it. Thus, we are limited by words. Ong’s answer to this question is as follows, “Because a picture is worth a thousand words only under special conditions- which commonly include a context of words in which the picture is set” (p. 7). Isn’t this so true?