Society in 64 Colors... (Sponsored by Crayola)

Question 1: "first thoughts" response

While I performed the writing assignment for "Tell All the Truth" by Emily Dickinson I found myself sort of constricted. I did not have a crayon, a variety of colors in my marker choice, and an unlimited amount of space. I certainly did not respond well/overtly constructively to the assignment presented. I felt as though I had to keep within a limit, especially without a variety of materials with which to write. I absolutely found myself trying to conserve space by cutting out thoughts and picking and choosing. Also, On a separate and equally stifling note, I am relatively uncomfortable with the quality of my handwriting, which makes my handwritten work tend to be more shy and simplified.

Question 2: Adjectives describing work of peers

The adjectives I used to describe several of the works of my peers are: organized, full, simple, plain, bright, manic, unique, divided, radial, fun, interesting, complete, peaceful, slant, colored, free, ornamental.

First of all, I'm having a debate as to whether I should call these essays or artworks, so I think I'll stick to "works" and call the author/artists "creators" for good measure. Now, on to the adjectives. The qualities that each of the works have seemed to justify the words that I associated with each. For example, I said that one was organized because the color scheme of blue, purple, and green, all cool colors, seemed preplanned to be calming and not to draw attention from the message of her piece. slant was an adjective I used for one that was written in three boxes that descended in diagonal order. The slant of the writing was symbolic of the slanted truth that Emily Dickinson advocates. Some of these works were clearly freeing for the creators, especially one which was written from three start points all toward the center, which I describe as radial. One which I had a more physical reaction to I had described as "manic". While the formatting itself was organized, there was a neon orange marker used which made for difficult reading and focusing. I believe that the choices that each of the creators made for their works are to serve a purpose. The goals of aiding comprehension, adding whimsy, grabbing attention, and others were achieved by the creators through the collective creativity of this collection of work.

Question 3: Imagine a culture with only crayons as writing implements. How would that culture differ from ours? What would that culture be most proud of, or would consider to be signs of intellectual prowess?

To start, I feel it is only fair to say that my hands are already trembling at this prospect. Don't get me wrong, I understand and associate with the consummate feel-good colors and textures of the almighty crayon as much as the next kid, but even while I was growing up I would get exhausted from writing with the things. Maybe in this hypothetical society the citizens won’t as weak-wristed as I am, but I just wanted to get my digit's fears out into the open air before going on to answer the question. Now, obviously, some drastic changes would occur in society if this were the case. The key words to these changes would be: concision. There would absolutely be no more daily newspapers, J.K. Rowling would have much more time on her hands (albeit, less wizards) and hand massages would be at a premium price. Not to mention the inevitable change in the standards of beauty. The new “dumb model” archetype would be hand models (“Did you see her relaxed hand with no tension?! Has she ever written a blog in her life?!”) Clearly the way that writing would achieve a more concise goal would be to eliminate flowery language, useless plot twists, and excess adjectives, shortening the average romance novel to roughly 3-4 sentences total. Sequels would cease to exist, as well. Realistically, these are all positive changes. Learning to wane unnecessary language is a skill that good writers possess, so we might have more precise writers and less fluff. Clearly, another change would be the creative aspect of writing. Long seen as an medium focused on hearing and seeing, authors would have liberties to make books a more visual experience. Picture books are one thing, but what if the colors, shapes and orientation of the words could illustrate the points of the author? Not only in grade school, but picture books with colored text in college would be a norm. The standard of intelligence would change from “who can write to longest book” to “who can say the things they want to say, in a beautiful way, while taking up the least amount of space. This would simply be because there is nothing intelligent about cranking your wrist for the slow process of crayon writing. The geniuses of this society wouldn’t waste their time on fluff. Rather, they would make the few words that they use beautiful and colorful, while explaining their point.

What general observations about writing implements and bodies do you want to venture, based on your experience of this crayon exercise? What general observations about writing implements and thinking do you want to venture?

This makes me want to look into the physical aspect of writing a lot more. This is something I really have not thought much about. While I talk jokingly about how difficult I find it to write in crayon, there are writers with handicaps that make it much harder to write and probably impossible to do comfortable. I would like to think more about writers with Parkinson’s disease or arthritis who fight for their write. As for though, I might like to explore further the idea of different mediums producing different patterns of thought. While we are still the same people with the same mind regardless of what’s in hand, different utensils bring out different results. If I write with a smooth pen, as opposed to a crayon, I become a different author. If I dictate into a microphone, as opposed to typing, I become a different author. these observations and ideas are intriguing to me and thoughts to keep in mind as I move forward with this class and this blog.

Signed, Cassandra Rose Blaise DeMarco