Week 6 (February 7-13)

Bolter chapter 6

Bolter starts out in chapter 6 talking about how writing and reading is like reading music and having it come to life. When a musician reads music they have the ability to bring it through life through their instrument. When a reader brings a book to life they do it through speaking. 

The dialogues that are created to the written word are much different through printed word because they are written rather than spoken. Bolter said that the biggest fail in literature was when people didn't have the ability to read and write. Plato provided us with a dialogue through his writing there was a compromise between written and spoken language. 

Conversation written on a page is a much more skillful task than flat linear writing like an instruction manual. On the web users who are interested in a topic click to different links on the page rather than just clicking next, next, next. There is more than just a linear way of getting to the end. The way in which we arrive at the end is much more fun, or I find when you get to click around about a subject you can learn a lot more. 

Price and Price chapter 11-16

In order for me to deconstruct the text from P&P this week I am going to use the article below and the Toronto Star website as an example. P&P first say that when writing on the web you have to make the subject line mean something. There is no clearer way to announce an article than to tell the reader exactly what is going on "York bus strike possible at midnight" clearly states that there could be a bus strike in the York region at midnight. On page 360 they say to put the subject into the title, which is exactly what the Toronto Star writer did. 

On page 346 P&P state that you should provide more information not less. While, in this article there isn't much extensive information in this article the way it is set up is to give less more direct information. All of the information however, is still in the article. 

There is also a hypertext link to the York Region Transit website for people who want more information about the pending strike. 

Online Article 

The Toronto Star printed this article in their online paper (contradiction I know but I still feel that even though it is online it is still a news paper) 

York bus strike possible at midnight 

Alexandra MacAulay Abdelwahab

Staff Reporter

The deadline to avert a transit strike in Vaughan on Monday is close and so far no deal has been reached.

The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113, which provides service for the southwest YRT area, may go on strike at 12:01 a.m. if they can’t reach a contract agreement with private contractor Veolia Transportation Services.

This means 28,000 Vaughan transit riders might have to make other arrangements to get to work Monday morning, as 24 YRT bus routes that operate mainly in Vaughan, but also Richmond Hill, Newmarket, Aurora and Markham would be affected.

As of 6 p.m., Bob Kinnear, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, said the union and management were no closer to reaching a deal.

The strike would affect the 214 drivers and mechanics that maintain the 131 buses managed by Veolia.

If there is a strike, YRT Transit Inspectors and Customer Information Representatives will be at busy transit stops to help riders with their trip planning, according to a release issued by the Municipality of York.

A full list of buses that would be affected by the strike is available on the YRT website.

My Thoughts

The above is a hard news story; its purpose is to inform the audience of the hard facts. The writing is done in a pyramid style with the most important information at the top of the article moving to less important information near the end. There is also a hypertext link to another website to allow people to find further information on the topic. The lead gives the information that everyone who would read the article is looking for. There is a strike deadline Monday and still no agreement. Straight to the point with no dancing around the details. The paragraphs are short because this article is strictly informative and about the facts. The article is telling the facts rather than showing them however, it is important for articles such as this to tell the strict facts.