DD’s Weblog

Un-Shuffled: The Evolution and Order of Playing Cards

Devin Dadigan

Madeline Yonker WRT 205

Syracuse University

Let’s face it; most of us enjoy reminiscing about our childhood. What better way is there to relive our memories than to remember nursery rhymes—Mother Goose’s in particular. Who does not lament the disastrous ending of “Humpty Dumpty” or continue to wonder how many pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? What we have failed to realize however, is that these puerile nursery rhymes have meaning behind them. One nursery rhyme that has been ingrained in my mind is from the book Alice in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll:

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, all on a summer’s day;

The Knave of Hearts, he stole the tarts, and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts, called for the tarts, and beat the Knave full sore;

The Knave of Hearts, brought back the tarts, and vowed he’d steal no more. (Carroll, 1805)

When looking further into the “Queen of Hearts” nursery rhyme, a meaning and distinct system of order become apparent. The social order of King, Queen, then Knave from the late 14^th century has ultimately carried over to the world of playing cards. Even in 1805, when Carroll first published Alice in Wonderland, he referred to that order by showing the King literally “beating” the Knave in the world of playing cards. And today in the year 2008, when everything is being modernized or modified, the same order of playing cards still exists from the 14^th century.

Playing cards are used for education, divination, illusion, and mainly for plain old fun and games. The cards are not, in and of themselves, “a game” but equipment used for playing different types of games, and have therefore become widely popular because they appeal to all ages, genders, and social classes (Parlett, 1990). The only thing that has actually changed since the beginning of card playing is the method of play. The method of playing has evolved from the second order “gathering in a group and playing with physical cards” to a third order digitalization of card playing. Two things that have not changed however are the racist and sexist undertones of cards that were developed at the time cards were fashioned. In this essay, I plan to deconstruct the systematic order of cards, delve into the possible racist and sexist themes, and explore the transformation from the second order to third order of card playing, as David Weinberger does in his book Everything is Miscellaneous.

Before we are able to jump down the rabbit hole and enter the fantastic realm of playing cards, we must understand a bit of history. The exact date that playing cards were established is questionable, so researchers have had to estimate a time period for their first use. Since cards are flat, flexible objects made from layers of pasteboard pressed together and printed on both sides, they could not have originated before the 13^th century, when Europe dates the economic production of paper (Parlett, 2005). And since 15^th century English players spoke of a “pair” of cards and Shakespeare used “deck” of cards in one of his compilations, we know that the creation of cards was somewhere in the late 14^th century (Parlett, 1990). One side is marked in such a way as to give each card an individual identity; the other is either blank or carries a design common to every card, so that none can be identified from the back. So, in a sense, cards stress randomness from the front and secrecy from the back—a unique trait shared by Chinese dominoes and Mah-jong tiles, which were said to be early predecessors (Massa, 2002). The randomness will get the majority of my focus, as it is the front of the card that determines why one card has more importance than another.

Around the 14^th century, different countries began to design their own nationalistic versions of playing cards. The Spanish, as early as 1370, came up with a version of cards that was ceremonial in nature and introduced swords, cups, clubs (weapon with knob), and coins as its four main suits (Parlett, 1990). The Italians created their version and made their court (top three cards) based on Italy’s military power: king, knight, and foot soldier. The Germans, who also had a strong military prowess at the time, followed suit and had an all-male court of King, ober (over-officer), and unter (under-officer); and had a rustic flavor for its suits of leaves, acorns, hearts, and bells (Parlett 1995). Conspicuously missing is the presence of a female figure, in particular the Queen. For some unknown reason, these all male versions did not last for long, as the French cards became the international standard of playing cards.

The standard French version is much courtlier; the four suits are Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. They stand for power, love, materiality, and spirituality respectively (Arcana, 1991).

The French court is King, Queen, and the menial male called Knave (or as we know it, Jack). This is the first deck of cards to include a female figure and offer real representations for each court card. For example the King of Spades represents King David from the Bible, the King of Hearts is Charlemagne, the King of Diamonds is Julius Caesar, and the King of Clubs was Alexander the Great (Massa, 2002). By viewing the connections between each renowned individual and their suit, we are able to see what the French valued in society: hard work, manual labor, military strength, love, money, and religion. These values ultimately helped create a social hierarchy in regards to the suits and show how one suit (Diamonds = coins) can be more valued or more important than another suit (Spades = manual labor) in different types of play.

Initially cards started off one, two, three, four…ten, Jack, Queen, King—where the King was always the highest card in each suit. However, as early as the late 14^th century, special significance began to be placed on the nominally lowest card, now called the Ace. For divination purposes, the lower cards have an enhanced more powerful meaning. The Ace of each suit is given the strongest meaning, while the ten of each suit represents bad things to come in many versions (Arcana, 1991). Each Jack, Queen, and King, has a separate meaning which I will discuss later. As a result, the Ace was given the highest rank, making the king the second best card and the two, or deuce, the lowest. This concept was hastened in the late 18^th century by the French Revolution, where games began being played “Ace high” as a symbol of lower classes rising in power above the royalty (Parlett, 1990). Even though the lower classes increased their influence in society, the royal courts remained (King, Queen, Jack) and still were the second, third, and fourth strongest cards in the deck respectively.

One particular order of rank that has not changed is the King is still ranked higher than the Queen. Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary, Queen Victoria, and even Queen Cleopatra all reigned without a king’s rule. They were all considered at their time to be more powerful than any man, yet playing cards illustrate otherwise. The lower classes were showcased by the “Ace” to show their increased power, while women were not represented in the same way. Does this mean that the only important women in the world were ones from a royal bloodline? And still, those few important ones were ranked below the noble male figures. This act of blatant sexism truly shows how the French felt about women in power. Seriously, how many King Charles’, Louis’, Phillip’s or Henry’s can a country have?

Through these sexist undertones, playing cards have given our society certain manifestations we as a culture ordinarily believe in and have let shape our minds. The Women’s Equality Movement, as we know, took a long time to evolve and continues to be a predominant issue today. Tom Lester, a writer of a London newspaper, notes that, “There is no sign of the “glass ceiling” shattering anytime soon” (Lester, 1993). Men either didn’t want to relinquish power to women, or didn’t recognize the power differential, thus explaining why the Queen is not equally as powerful as the King. At the time period when playing cards were established, the role of the women in society was to act as companions for the men and live in the house doing domestic chores. In the Alice in Wonderland nursery rhyme, we see sexist undertones where the Queen of Hearts was in fact making some tarts—thus carrying out a domestic chore. Yet even more sexist undertones show up in numerous card games.

 In Solitaire, only a King is powerful enough to be able to be moved into an empty location. In the childhood favorite pastime, Old Maid, the goal of the game is to pair up all of your cards with identical cards. The loser of the game is the individual who is left with the “old maid” the (Queen of Spades). The game of Pinochle further exemplifies the worthlessness and impotence of the Queen. In tallying tricks taken at the end of a round, queens are not counted as a point. In fact, Tens, Aces, and Kings are worth more than Queens. The game of Hearts however has a different strategy which is not to acquire points. Each heart card collected is worth a point. And whoever gets the Queen of Spades receives a whopping unlucky thirteen points. This is a noticeably high amount compared to the other cards in the deck, which are either worth nothing or a single point. So, why in so many popular games, does the queen get the short end of the stick? Even the suicide King (the King of Hearts who is portrayed as stabbing himself) is worth more than any queen. So this implies that a King who commits suicide has more significance than a woman. This seems paradoxical, since most nations’ value life over self-inflicted death.

In divination aspects, the Queen is also poorly portrayed, unless it’s the Queen of Hearts, which stands for true love in every case I’ve seen. Madam M.lle Marie-Anne-Adelaide LeNormand, an extremely popular cartomancer (a fortune teller), developed her own divination system in the 19^th century that was based on 36 special cards (LeNormand, 2004). And even in her system the Queens were not the most favorable cards. The Queen of Diamonds symbolized the choice between right and wrong. Even worse was the representation of the Queen of Clubs as a snake or enemy (LeNormand, 2004). In the Arcana divination system, which was developed in 1990 by Arcana the Prophet, the Queen of Diamonds represents vanity, while the Queen of Spades signifies vulnerability (Arcana, 1991). Another cartomancy web site, titled Café Astrology, depicts the Queen of Spades as a widowed or divorced woman (Banks & Heese, 2002). The Queen of Spades is in most cases the most unfavorable card in the deck.

After delving into the meaning and order of playing cards a bit further, I started to notice that there is a large difference between the black and red cards. It became obvious to me that red and black cards had different meaning. As noted above, diamonds and hearts represented money and love, while spades and clubs represented manual labor and fighting. So this assumed hierarchy began to take shape. It was noticeable in several occurrences that the red cards were more favorable and had a stronger meaning than the black cards. Maybe this is because the color red is vibrant and represents stimulation, while the color black often represents death and mourning. But then again, there could be multiple meanings behind why red cards tend to be more favored than black ones. So, I wondered if there was a racist undertone beneath all of this, since there was a sexist one, too.

Many people have posted online blogs attempting to show how the game of Chess crosses racial boundaries, since there is a white and black army about to go to war and the white player always makes the first move. This may very well be a racial undertone; however these racial themes in the game of Chess are undermined by the amount racism in playing cards. With playing cards, specific suits or cards get singled out as the worst cards for a particular game. As I mentioned earlier, the Queen of Spades is typically that card. It is the Old Maid, counts for 13 points in Hearts where points are bad, and doesn’t count for points in Pinochle where trick points are good. So I believe that there is some sort of correlation between the Queen of Spades being connected to a black female figure ultimately making it one of the worst cards in the deck. In divination, the Ace of Spades, is often considered the most powerful card of the deck and hence said to be the death card. Even though it is one of the best cards, it’s supposed to bring unfortunate omens (Partlett, 2005). In another version of LeNormand’s system, the red cards represent the degree in which a wish will come true, while the black cards show how certain it is that the wish will not come true (LeNormand, 2004). In other instances, professional poker players have noted that in some instances they will fold a black pair or two clubs, because they tend to be very superstitious.

During the 14^th century when the French created playing cards, racism was a prevalent issue in society. The French had slaves and contributed greatly to the slave trade in America. So it is quite possible that black cards developed this sort of negative connotation, because it wasn’t until 1848, when France finally abolished slavery (Smith, 1994). I believe that as more playing card games were invented, a hierarchy began to evolve where black cards were of lower value than red cards. Ultimately, I think this hierarchy directly translates back to French society and the issue of slavery which was going on at that time. Once again, this is another way that cards have manifested the poor cultural values of society.

This paper has mainly discussed some of the major cultural concerns of playing cards to this point. Now I want to touch on the digitalization aspect of card playing. The second order of card playing is when individuals gather around a table and play. In earlier centuries, it was more of a social game where women would play Bridge, Pinochle, and Rummy, and men would play Cribbage, Poker, and Gin (Parlett, 1990). I distinctly remember my Grandmother holding card club at her house every other Sunday night. My Grandmother and her friends would play multiplayer social games, such as Bridge, which became associated with women. Men, on the other hand gather in pubs to drink and gamble away their coins. That is why Poker became so popular among men. I understand that the second order of cards is extremely stereotypical, but it’s true. But now, people aren’t gathering in pubs or clubs to socialize and play cards—instead they are playing cards digitally.

Only recently has the third order of cards begun to evolve by way of the computer. No longer are cards manually shuffled and ordered. They are randomly digitalized and the order is miscellaneous. The third order of card playing is quite paradoxical, because the computer is ordering something that is already miscellaneous. Every Solitaire game on the computer is randomized, meaning every possible combination is already in the system. This is not how regular shuffling works. Playing cards are supposed to be miscellaneous, and the third order is changing that.

However, that sense of getting together with other individuals is lost as the second order of cards becomes a thing of the past. Online Poker is one of the biggest new trends in the third order of cards. Sites like Full Tilt, Poker Stars, and Top Poker have become more popular than ever. Even I have downloaded the software, paid the $50 minimum, and played online Poker. It’s flat out addicting! But when you think about it, what are you paying for? I paid for a computer to randomly deal cards as I bluffed against people I’m not even sitting at a table with. But Full Tilt tells me I’m sitting at a table—look at the screenshot courtesy of Google Images:

Table 1. – Online Poker Table

Note. This table represents what the third order of cards has become – nine players and a dealer using different avatars to play a card game.

 To me, I’m sitting alone at my desk fulfilling an unforgiving, addictive habit. This isn’t what playing cards were established for. I might as well be playing with Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Even my Grandmother now plays Hearts and other games online with random individuals. Yes it’s quicker and easier, but is she truly playing cards for what it’s worth? The third order of cards does not allow for verbal communication and doesn’t allow for me or anyone to read opposing players actions like one could do in a casino setting. Although online card playing is becoming more and more popular, I think some people are beginning to realize that the third order is not true to the order of cards. Cards are supposed to be miscellaneous for a reason. And actually as David Weinberger puts it, “Everything is Miscellaneous.”

Despite this, the third order of online cards has become quite customizable. Users get to create specific avatars which may or may not look anything like the individual. They can also choose where the event will take place i.e. the beach, a casino, or a typical dining room etc. Players have the ability to change the look of their decks online to ameliorate the racial or sexual undertones discussed earlier. One of the ways to do this is to choose specific colors for each suit. Why wouldn’t you choose to have clubs show up in a dazzling, yellow color—instead of being the dismal, plain black? Sites like Full Tilt are changing the way we as a society view the system and order of playing cards. The third order and digitalization of playing cards is bucking the previously established system for something less structured and more egalitarian.

Who would have thought that something as simple and miscellaneous as playing cards could carry such negative cultural values? As we gaze back through the looking glass, we remember that cards were initially developed for fun, divination, and education—not for gambling and carrying racial and sexist themes. But looking forward, our society has started to overcome these issues and is constantly working toward equality in every measure. Just as the Knave was changed into the Jack to avoid confusion with the King, the female and African American stereotypes have changed as these groups are now equally accepted in our society. Card playing has definitely impacted our culture in more ways than we can think of. It is up to us as a society to understand that a Queen is equally as important as a King, even though cards may suggest otherwise. Tom Lester shows how the first generation of women in the workplace had to play by the men’s rules, but now females are making it to top levels of management by using their own skills and climbing the corporate ladder that way (Lester, 1993). Perhaps playing cards should be changed and evolve over time to reflect these cultural changes. There are no racial barriers in society, so cards need to catch up with the movement. If we don’t realize this, then we are ultimately at fault. And for those individuals who don’t comprehend this, the Queen of Hearts puts it perfectly when she cries out, “Off with their heads” (Carroll 1805)!

References

Arcana the Prophet. (1990). Arcana arcanorum. The Playing Card Oracle. Retrieved March 14,

2008, from http://www.alcyone.com/arcana/oracle.html

Banks, A., & Heese, A. (2002). Fortune telling playing cards. Café Astrology. Retrieved March

30, 2008, from http://www.cafeastrology.com/fortunetellingcards.html

LeNormand, M. (2004). Online Divination. Retrieved March 21, 2008, from

http://www.foreshowing.com/playing-cards.html

Lester, T. (1993, April). A woman’s place… Management Today, 46. Retrieved April 22, 2008,

from ABI/INFORM Global database.

Massa, M. (2002). A Brief History of Playing Cards. United States Playing Card Company.

Retrieved March 14, 2008, from http://www.usplayingcard.com

Parlett, D. (2005). Playing cards. Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 15, 2008,

from http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9060380/playing-card

Parlett, D. (1990). The Oxford Guide to Card Games. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Smith, J. (1994). France abolishes slavery. The African American Registry. Retrieved April 7,

2008, from http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history

I want to start over and choose the first option for this unit, because there is no obvious system of order in cell phone culture. I want to examine the system of order in playing cards. This may seem as a very small topic with little available research; however the more I think about the order of playing cards there more ideas come to me. Why are there four suits and what do they signify? Why do the numbers go from two to ten? Why is a king more powerful than a queen? This seems rather sexist, almost the same way the Dewey Decimal System is religiously biased toward Buddhists and Hindus. Why can an ace be used as a low of high card? These are some of the questions I want to examine. I also want to research particular cards games, because in hearts, the queen of spades is the worst card in the game. Who makes these rules and what do they signify?

            When I think about these questions, I start to wonder about the history of playing cards and its system of order. There is a definite hierarchy that exists within playing cards and I want to examine, as Weinberger does, that system of order. I feel like Weinberger may not have thought of playing cards, because I could definitely see this as one of his mini chapters. The third order of order could be online card games, where the computer shuffles and everything is random. The internet has revolutionized cards, as people are connected and play poker, bridge, gin, go fish, and everything game imaginable. So in a sense there has been a transformation from second order card clubs, where people used to meet up and play to the third order of internet gaming. I am excited to research to order and hierarchy of playing cards because this order is one that will not be changed and will probably exist forever.

Devin Dadigan

WRT 205

Professor Yonker

19 February 2008

The Intrinsic Value of Text Messaging on Society

              Buzz…Ring…Beep… at the dinner table, during class, on the public bus, near the bustling grocery store checkout, in the car. The cell phone is distracting not just to the holder but to everybody else around. For example, I was giving a speech and contemplating how to conclude my presentation when my cell phone vibrated. This small diversion caused me to completely draw a blank and I had trouble finishing the speech. Another time, my family was sitting down for Christmas dinner and my sister’s cell phone gave a faint beep every two minutes. She would quickly respond under the table as if she were unnoticed and continued normally with the family discussion. I really became upset when I was walking down the street and a girl bumped into me, because she was typing into her phone instead of watching where she was walking. In a way, I think the cell phone has become just as much of an addiction as nicotine. Yet in all of these examples the cell phone is not being used for its number one purpose—talking. Instead, it is being used for text messaging, the newest and most innovative kind of communication. When we consider current discussions on text messaging using content analysis, the following patterns emerge. First, there is concern among scholars who, with a negative point of view, believe that we as a culture have become too reliant on text messaging. In fact, the common theme that stems from this is the theory that text messaging might be causing social problems such as weak personal skills, a lack of expressing feelings, and public speaking difficulties. Another pattern is how the use of acronyms and emoticons has devalued the context of the English language. Finally, the discussions on text messaging also give insight to why “texting” has become so popular.

So, what is this concern among scholars about? If you just look at the titles of some of the texts: “Technology Leaves Teens Speechless” and “Has txt kild the ritn wrd?” you start to notice some of the negative point of views that the authors have in regards to text messaging. In general, scholars are concerned with the idea that teens are shying away from face to face conversation and instead relying on text messaging as their primary communication device. As a dialect, text is emotionless and unimaginative. Crispin Thurlow, a professor at Washington University criticizes text as being, “bleak, bald, sad shorthand.” Thurlow ventures even further by remarking, “Texting is penmanship for illiterates” (sect. 1.3). I interpret this illiteracy to be communication illiteracy, noticing that the corpus of my texts discuss how individuals are having trouble communicating face to face.

By scanning the choice of words in my researched texts (illiterate, killing, problematic, annoying), I realized the negative connotations that these scholarly authors were trying to stress. The title, “Has txt kild the ritn wrd?” works as a metaphor for Geoff Strong, who writes for the Australian newspaper, The Age. Strong is able to depict text messaging killing English language in a battle scene. In a larger sense, he is suggesting that text is devaluing our language and our ways of verbally communicating. Another newspaper writer, Olivia Barker uses the simile, “the oral kinds of conversation are becoming as uncomfortable as braces” (Barker, 2006). This simile works quite well, since the word “braces” is indicative of the teenage crowd, which is the generation in question. In addition, most people know from personal experience, or have heard, how uncomfortable braces are. This discomfort helps show Barker’s point of view as it effectively casts a negative shadow over her entire text. The negative point of views of the authors combined with their intense choice of words are consistent throughout my texts—making me aware of the realization that most scholars are concerned with our society’s reliance on text messaging.

As mentioned above, the common theme that emerges from this concern is that the teenagers and the youth of our society will have social problems. Scholars are noticing that personal communication skills are decreasing, more teens are having public speaking difficulties, and younger individuals are having trouble expressing emotion. They believe that all of this is linked to text messaging. One argument that is made regarding this is that teens will not be able to spontaneously answer questions in interview situations, because they are unable to think on the spot (Thurlow 2003). Text messaging allows for the individual to reread conversations and rethink their choice of words—thus not being able to respond instinctively. As you are obviously aware, this is not how the world operates and text messaging gives a false sense of confidence to the text messenger. In fact, a 2005 report, from USA Today, states that employers were dissatisfied with 45% of college graduates, since these recent graduates struggled with personal skills and had trouble communicating with fellow employees (Barker 2006). This only adds to the correlation between text messaging and a decrease in social skills that these scholars are worried about.

Some scholars are also annoyed with the fact that text messages are interrupting the daily lives of college and high school students. Many students receive texts in class which interrupt their concentration, however; they admit that they feel an obligation to respond to the text message. In some cases, students in the same class will carry on a text message conversation from across the classroom. In addition, some highly recruited, high school student athletes such as Kosta Koufos, a basketball player from Ohio, are plagued with text messages (receiving dozens everyday). Thousands of college coaches across the country are using text messaging as a routine part of the recruiting process, because it is an efficient way of getting in touch with the student athlete very quickly (Barr & Rovengo, 2006). Scholars believe that this is an invasion of the high school student’s privacy. In no way does the bombardment of text messages contribute to the student’s overall well being. Simply put, text messages are distractions, annoyances, and interruptions to an individual’s daily life.

There is also an overwhelming concern among scholars that teens will have trouble expressing emotion in the future, because we as a society are learning to express our emotions in other forms of text such as acronyms or emoticons (text pictures). That’s why Thurlow complains that “webspeak” is having a negative impact on the standard/traditional way of communicating (sect. 1.3). Devoted text messengers have manipulated the rules of the English language to configure to text messages, which he sees as an enormous problem. For example, texting uses the minimal use of capitalization and standard, grammatical punctuation. It also uses abbreviations of certain words using number/letter combinations to form homophones i.e. (h8, i<3u2). Yet the most striking feature of text messaging is how it uses acronyms and emoticons to convey emotion. Most scholars are quite disturbed with the aforementioned, because they strongly believe that emotion is natural and is much more than an acronym or emoticon. In fact, Yuki Noguchi, a writer for the Washington Post, argues that these false expressions of emotion lead to individuals misunderstanding the intentions of another. And, since we have become so comfortable with smileys and LOL’s, teenagers are struggling to both show their own emotion and interpret the emotions of others (Noguchi, 2005).

            According to famous, cultural critic Umbro, “We live in an age where the diminutive, the brief and the simple are highly prized in communication” (Thurlow, 2003). That’s why we as a society try to simplify things by turning phrases into acronyms and by using a sad face instead of saying “I am unhappy.” But the societal problem arises when shorthand “texting” starts to creep into normal conversation. Geoff Strong argues that individuals can text message a certain emoticon, without unveiling their true tone of voice. This is normal since voice cannot even be expressed in a text message. In a sense, text messaging allows for the individual to be an actor. One can pretend to be extremely happy and send (:-) or J), yet be quite upset and disturbed. Yuki Noguchi adds that, “You don’t see the person’s upper lip tremble. You don’t hear their voice quiver. You don’t get to see those external, non textual cues” (Noguchi, 2005). You don’t get these cues in written words either, however written words are not meant to take the place of a conversation. Teenagers are using text messaging as a replacement for face-to-face conversations. This is a societal problem and individuals are learning how to hide their emotions behind phony emoticons, and at the same time others are unable to interpret that individual’s true feeling.

            Lastly, the corpus of texts I researched began to look at why text messaging has become so popular in recent years. First and foremost, mobile phone ownership is universal and people use cell phones constantly. One anonymous scholar, who Thurlow interviewed noted, “If you don’t have a cell phone, you’re effectively a non-person” (sect. 1.1). Cell phones exist everywhere—77% of 14-16 year olds have mobile phones (www.mobilesmsmarketing.com). But the phones are not being used as phones; instead they are being used for their short message service (SMS) devices. In 2006 alone, 1,200 billion text messages were sent throughout the world. This remarkable number shows how the human need for social intercourse can be fulfilled by the use of text messaging. Yet, text messaging really did not take off in the United States until 2002, when it coincided with the first season of American Idol. Viewers all over the country were voting for their favorite contestants and sending messages to the show (Noguchi 2005).

            Text messaging has become popular because of its ease and convenience. It is quite attractive to children and teenagers since the phone gives them constant access to their friends. Text messages are also beyond and outside the immediate reach of the teen’s parents and other authority figures, so there is a large sense of privacy. This explains why almost two-thirds of text messages are considered intimate. According to the research of Thurlow, most text messages are used to arrange social gatherings and maintain friendships (sect 3.3). There is also a high connection to text messages being romantic, flirtatious, and sexual, because people will type things that they would not typically say to another individual. This simple idea alludes to the main reason why I think people text message. Individuals have admitted that they prefer to text message because they can type a message and feel as if they didn’t directly say anything at all. This explains why some people propose marriage or even break up via text messaging. Our society has found the easy way out. No longer do you have to confront someone—you can just send a simple message. That is why face-to-face discussions are becoming less popular. As shown above, English scholars have noticed this and that is why much of the discussion on text messaging is quite negative.

Of course text messaging is innovative, great, and glamorous, but has it truly added to the value of our society and culture? In fact, what is evident from the content analysis is just how blurred the boundary between computer-mediated communication and face-to-face communication really is. We, as cultural critics, have recognized the problems with text messaging; however as a society, we do not want to discontinue using such a wonderful feature. Text messaging has become such an essential part of our daily lives, especially for teenagers, and it would be nearly impossible to live without texting. Therefore, we should reevaluate the need for text messaging in our culture, so it can still be used for its intended purpose (as a brief message). Text messaging has no place for conversational purposes and should not replace face-to-face communication. No longer do I want to walk down the street, be bumped into by someone who is text messaging, and have them look at me like it was my fault!

Works Cited

Barker, O. (2006, May 29). Technology leaves teens speechless. USA Today. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2006-05-29-teen-texting_x.htm Barr, J., & Rovegno, L. (2006, May 31). Text appeal. Outside the Lines. Retrieved January 27, 2008, from http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2461072 

Mobile SMS Marketing, Retrieved February 11, 2008, from

            http://www.mobilesmsmarketing.com/sms_history_facts_data.php Noguchi, Y. (2005, December 29). Life and romance in 160 characters or less. Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801430.html Strong, G. (2007, October 2). Has txt kild the ritn wd? The Age. Retrieved January 26, 2008, from LexisNexis database. 

Thurlow, C. (2003). Generation txt? The sociolinguistics of young people’s text-messaging.

Discourse Analysis Online. Retrieved January 26, 2008, from http://scholar.google.com/ scholar?hl=en&rls=DGUS,DGUS:2006-21,DGUS:en&q=text+messaging+digital+cultur

e&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ws

This is very rough — I mean, it will probably all be thrown out. I wasn’t pleased with the body paragraph I wrote in class, so I quickly wrote this up to have something. Please understand that my next copy will be much more organized and will be more of a complete draft than a rough draft on Thursday.

- Devin

So, what is this concern among scholars about? If you just look at the titles of some of the texts: “Technology Leaves Teens Speechless” and “Has txt kild the ritn wrd?” you start to notice some of the negative point of views that the authors have regarding text messaging. Crispin Thurlow, a professor at Washington University, complains that “webspeak” is having a negative impact on standard way of communicating. In addition, he mentions how teens are able to rethink and reread what they wish to say – thus not being able to respond spontaneously. Scholars are also annoyed with the fact that text messages are interrupting the daily lives of college and high school students. There is also an overwhelming concern that teens will have trouble expressing emotion in the future, because we as a society are learning to express our emotions in other forms of text such as emoticons or acronyms.

Buzz…Ring…Beep… at the dinner table, during class, on the public bus, near the bustling checkout, in the car. The cell phone is distracting not just to the holder but to everybody else around. For example, I was taking a test and was contemplating the final point for my essay when my cell phone vibrated, and I completed blanked and had trouble finishing the essay. Another time, my family was sitting down for Christmas dinner and my sister’s cell phone gave a faint beep every two minutes and she would quickly respond under the table as if she were unnoticed. And I finally became upset when I was walking down the street and a girl walked into me, because she was typing into her phone instead of watching where she was walking. In a way, I think the cell phone has become just as much of an addition as nicotine. Yet in all of these examples the cell phone is not being used for its number one purpose—talking. Instead, it is being used for text messaging, the newest and most innovative kind of short messaging service (SMS) communication. When we consider current discussions on text messaging using content analysis, the following patterns emerge. First, there is concern among scholars who, with a negative point of view, believe that we as a culture have become too reliant on text messaging. In fact, the common theme that stems from this is the theory that text messaging might be causing social problems such as weak personal skills, a lack of expressing feelings, and public speaking difficulties. Another pattern is how the use of acronyms and emoticons has sort of devalued the context of the English language. Finally, the discussions on text messaging also give insight to why “texting” has become so popular.

In the beginning, communication existed because of the landline telephone. Soon after, the computer came along featuring the World Wide Web and instant messenger. Who would have thought that we could communicate instantly by typing to each other? And then, the cellular phone was invented. Today, cell phones are the preferred method of communication since nearly every individual carries one at all times. But now, text messaging has become one of the most common ways we converse as a society.  In fact billions of text messages are sent every day throughout the world. Text messaging uses the same short messaging service (SMS) as instant messenger, except texting only allows for 160 characters. When we consider current discussions on text messaging using content analysis, the following patterns emerge: [X, Y, and Z].

Devin Dadigan

WRT 205

Professor Yonker

5 February 2008

 Noguchi, Y. (2005, December 29). Life and romance in 160 characters or less. Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801430.html Noguchi argues that there is a whole new meaning to brevity with the newest electronic written culture called text messaging. In fact, since text messaging only allows for 160 characters, users are learning how to be more concise and using more abbreviations and shortcuts of the English language than they did in the days of instant messenger. Some individuals like text messaging, because it helps them express emotions that they normally would not be able to articulate in person. However, Noguchi suggests that this reliance on text messaging could cause social problems such as, lack of expressing feelings, weak personal skills, and public speaking difficulties. Barker, O. (2006, May 29). Technology leaves teens speechless. USA Today. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2006-05-29-teen-texting_x.htm This generation of teenagers has shown a poor ability to speak in public and will not likely be able to conduct professional discussions, because they are too reliant on communication devices such as text messaging, email, and instant messaging. A 2005 report states that employers were dissatisfied with 45% of college graduates, since these recent graduates struggled with personal skills and had trouble communicating with fellow employees. The argument is made that teens will not be able to spontaneously answer questions in interview situations, because they are unable to think on the spot. Instead, teens are text messaging and instant messaging non-stop, thus enabling them to reread conversations and rethink their choice of words before speaking (sending the message). As the author puts it, “The oral kinds of conversations are becoming as uncomfortable as braces.” 

Thurlow, C. (2003). Generation txt? The sociolinguistics of young people’s text-messaging.

Discourse Analysis Online. Retrieved January 26, 2008, from http://scholar.google.com/ scholar?hl=en&rls=DGUS,DGUS:2006-21,DGUS:en&q=text+messaging+digital+cultur

e&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ws

 Cultural critics agree that we live in an age where the diminutive, brief, and simple are prized in communication. These critics looked at various aspects of text messaging to find social patterns in our culture. This study, examining what people are using text messaging for and to what extent they are using the convention English language, shows that people text mainly to maintain friendships and arrange social activities. The study also found that text messaging is quite intimate, and people are more likely to express their feelings in a message as opposed to face to face communication.  Barr, J., & Rovegno, L. (2006, May 31). Text appeal. Outside the Lines. Retrieved January 27, 2008, from http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2461072  Text messaging is becoming one of the most popular ways to recruit high school athletes. Under NCAA regulations, text messaging is not considered a phone call; so many collegiate coaches are taking advantage of this loophole. Some highly recruited high school athletes are receiving up to 20 messages a day, which some think is an invasion of their privacy—not to mention a disruption in their daily activities. Text messaging has completely changed the college recruiting process and is now a set standard in our culture.  Strong, G. (2007, October 2). Has txt kild the ritn wd? The Age. Retrieved January 26, 2008, from LexisNexis database. Strong argues that English has always been a language that has sponged up other linguistic and cultural influences. Now our society is expressing its feelings in text pictures called emoticons. Since we live in an age of short attention spans and text messaging allows us to avoid uncomfortable confrontations, people text their feelings using emoticons—without unveiling their true tone of voice. Accepted IM words such as LOL are being used to convey emotion, and now some teens have added these acronyms to their everyday English vocabulary. English experts strongly resent the idea that people are expressing emotions in text messages with these little pictures and phony words, because emotion is much more than LMAO or (:-S).

Devin Dadigan

WRT 205

Professor Yonker

30 January 2008

 Noguchi, Y. (2005, December 29). Life and Romance in 160 Characters or Less. Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801430.html Noguchi argues that there is a whole new meaning to brevity with the newest electronic written culture called text messaging. In fact, since text messaging only allows for 160 characters, users are learning how to be more concise and using more abbreviations and shortcuts of the English language than they did in the days of instant messenger. However, some individuals like text messaging, because they claim that they can express their emotions without even feeling like they said it. Noguchi also suggests that this reliance on text messaging could cause social problems such as, lack of expressing feelings, weak personal skills, and public speaking difficulties. Barker, O. (2006, May 29). Technology Leaves Teens Speechless. USA Today. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2006-05-29-teen-texting_x.htm This generation of teenagers will not likely be able to have professional discussions, because they are losing very natural, human, instinctive speaking skills. A 2005 report states that employers were dissatisfied with 45% of college graduates, since these recent graduates struggled with personal skills and had trouble communicating with fellow employees. The argument is made that teens will not be able to spontaneously answer questions in interview situations, because they can’t think on the spot. Teens are text messaging and instant messaging non-stop, which enables them to reread conversations and rethink their choice of words. As the author puts it, the oral kinds of conversations are becoming as uncomfortable as braces. 

Thurlow, C. (2003). Generation Txt? The sociolinguistics of young people’s text-messaging.

Discourse Analysis Online. Retrieved January 26, 2008, from http://scholar.google.com/ scholar?hl=en&rls=DGUS,DGUS:2006-21,DGUS:en&q=text+messaging+digital+cultur

e&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ws

 Cultural critics agree that we live in an age where the diminutive, brief, and simple are prized in communication. These critics looked at various aspects of text messaging to find social patterns in our culture. This study, examining what people are using text messaging for and to what extent they are using the convention English language, shows that people text mainly to maintain friendships and arrange social activities. The study also found that texting is quite intimate, meaning people are not as afraid to express their feelings over a message.     Barr, J., & Rovegno, L. (2006, May 31). Text Appeal. Outside the Lines. Retrieved January 27, 2008, from http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2461072  Text messaging is becoming one of the most popular ways to recruit high school athletes. Under NCAA regulations, text messaging is not considered a phone call; so many collegiate coaches are taking advantage of this loophole. However, high school athletes are receiving up to 20 messages a day, which some think is an invasion of their privacy. Texting has completely changed the recruiting process and is now almost concrete in our culture. Strong, G. (2007, October 2). Has txt kild the ritn wd? The Age. Retrieved January 26, 2008, from LexisNexis database. Strong argues that English has always been a language that has sponged up other linguistic and cultural influences. Now we are expressing our feelings in text pictures called emoticons. Since we live in an age of short attention spans and texting allows us to avoid uncomfortable confrontations, people text their feelings with an emoticon—without unveiling their true tone of voice. English experts strongly resent the idea that people are expressing emotions in text messages with these little pictures, because emotion is much more than (:-S).