Writing as Art and the Way Writing Campaign Has Used to Protest Social Problems - Essay Example

Introduction Most people do not see writing as an art; they view art as something which is auditory, visual, a song, a painting, a sculpture, or a dance. However, they have never considered writing as an art. According to Mills (1), a writer develops words, makes them true, emphasize, and illuminate the words through images. He further argues that there are characteristics that identify writing as an art, and they have a significant impact on the readers and the writers; these features include world, story, image, and voice. Writing campaigns is one of methods through which writers, activists, and lobbyists protest social problems. Writing campaigns have been in use for many years. Some have been effective while others have not. However, they serve the same purpose of educating and spreading the message, they want done. The paper will discuss writing as art, and the way writing campaign has used to protest social problems. Writing as Art Writers develop words, make them true, emphasize, and illuminate the words through images. Through the voices, they hold the reader’s attention and remind them of the changing tones of speech. Through the stories heard and told, they indicate the way the writer’s thoughts are molded by the narrative, how the writer shapes the lives and thoughts of others and their lives. There are features that are used to identify writing as a form of art, and they have a strong impact on the readers and writers. These features include world, story, image, and voice. Without these elements or components, the practice of writing would become disadvantaged (Mills 1). Story entails structure, and meaning of the structure. Stories are narrated by voices developing images; voices also create and inhabit worlds. A writer who stays close to the character voices has more opportunities of going into the rhythm of living, of engaging the readers in that rhythm, for readers to feel that they know it by themselves. The utilization of thinking and speaking voices in writing seems to be the main quality, perhaps the most significant skill for the writer to learn. However, if the writers think about it, the voices that capture our attention are those that generate images, tell stories, and make the world real to the readers as their own (Mills 1). Writing as art assists us to determine the images, stories, worlds, and voices individuals inhibit and which inhabit writers, in other words, the acquired culture (Mills 2). Writing in its creative form is not limited to the voice of one principal authority, or to a type of address by a single speaker, for instance, a middle-class white educated British-American. Currently, individuals from various ethnic and racial backgrounds, representing differences of sexuality, gender, and age, practice writing as an art. The readers and the audiences actively look for all these voices whose numbers indicate the same range of experience and culture (Mills 4). The idea of the writer’s voice finding a voice indicates the writer’s position towards all the creative characteristics of writing as art including those of the voice. The voice is generated by the recurrent places, qualities and aspects of the world being represented, images chosen to highlight, what the writer writes about, and the story-like events or story that hold a special fascination to the writer. The choice of words relies more on what the writer thinks on the undercurrents and currents of speech. Creative language entails what individuals say, and the manner they speak with themselves and to each other, and this creates a rich supply of spoken rhythms. From each single voice are many voices, some are calm and angry, some perverse and moral, others overheard and native. An important skill to the writer is learning the virtue of listening to the voices, those within them and those that surround them, and those of the characters in the play or the story (Mills 7). It is important to note that all the writing is affected by the conditions in which it was produced. The conditions might be personal or political, far in the background or close at hand, unknowable, almost invisible, invasive, or very much in the foreground (Mills 8). Whenever writers develop credible worlds, “each of these imagined spaces holds the attention of readers and audiences by making us share, care about, and appreciate the actions and events that happen within its borders” (Mills 10). The borders might be adjacent or close the actual world or far away from it. The distance is not much relevant like the convincing representation of the space as believable, authentic, consistent; so that the writer feels, his or her interest will be recognized. All types of creative writing require the readers to be persuaded to keep attending because their invention world has a distinct truth. A basic component of persuading the reader is the verbal skill realization (Mills 10). A story happens when there is some importance attached to the events in time. This phenomenon occurs very often such that it seems important to how individuals communicate. The events might have occurred to somebody else and not to the writer or the speaker. Whatever the speaking, reading, or listening situation, one can assume that when any type of storytelling happens, it has a role of instructing, enlightening, informing, and entertaining. Writing campaigns, as it will be discussed in the paper is one of the ways, which clearly show how writing has been used by writers and other people as an art to protest social problems. Writing Campaigns A letter writing campaign is extremely effective for spreading the word about someone’s cause and having things done in the right way. Individuals who lack information about the issue have the chance of learning more once the letter is printed in the newspaper. Perhaps one can even start a debate within the community and give individuals a forum to air their views. If one sends a letter to the local elected officials and convinces the rest to do the same thing, the elected official might actually take action. Worth noting is that a majority of the elected officials take their time to read the letters gotten from their constituents (www.dosomething.org 1). Letter-writing campaigns possess a very rich social movement tradition. Among the most prominent campaigns was the one on behalf of a group called Scottsboro Boys in the early 1930s. In 1931, eight African American boys were convicted of rape, and they were sentenced to death in Alabama; this occurred two weeks after they were found with two white women on a train. The boys’ fate instigated a wave of action around the world and within the United States. Organizations and leaders in the civil rights movement disputed or protested the decision, basically “through rallies, while members of the international Communist movement, unable to participate in actions requiring physical presence and not recognized as political constituents with access to traditional political channels, protested from nations far and wide in a coordinated letter-writing campaign” (Earl and Kimport 45). Specifically, the Russian Communists entered the dispute, sending telegrams and letters pressuring the Alabama Supreme Court to take heed of the case appeal. Eventually, the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court and the convictions were overturned. The impact of telegrams and the letters cannot be underestimated, and this can be ascertained by the fact that the mother of the two of the eight boys credited the Russians for salvaging her sons. However, it is imperative to note that not all letter-writing campaigns have been successful despite the fact that nearly all social movement actors use them as protest action. For instance, the importance of letter writing as a means to effect social change can be illustrated by the efforts of the Amnesty International to persuade and pressure abusers of human rights to free specific individuals and reform their policies. Research indicates that the prochoice movement in the United States during the 1970s has used congressional letter-writing campaigns as a way to air their views (Earl and Kimport 46). It is worth noting that letter writing is distinct from the traditional non-protest actions like the federal and state lobbying campaigns. With the subjective familiarity and successes of letter-writing campaigns, it is obvious that they would flourish on the Web, and there is a significant amount of letter-writing campaigns on the web. A considerable number of these campaigns have transformed to email campaigns from the standard paper letters, changing and extending the tradition of letter writing as a form of protest. Apart from email campaigns, letter-writing campaigns have evolved into online fax campaigns (Earl and Kimport 46). In Amnesty International, most of its volunteers circulate and sign petitions, and they get involved in letter-writing activities. Generally, these volunteers go to the website of Amnesty International or their respective website section, and electronically download materials or sign petitions that can be utilized to write a letter to various government agencies. Letter-writing campaigns have played a significant role in the liberation of prisoners such as Alpha Conde of Guinea and Jose Gallardo of Mexico. In the local level network, letter writing campaigns and petition drives rest as Communicative Resistance usually observed in relation to the activists linked with chapters of Amnesty International. Usually, the local chapters are used as sites where the activists coordinate various letter writing campaigns, come together, and discuss their group’s position on issues concerning the petitions described and discussed on the website of Amnesty International. Then the activists begin writing letters and posting them to different government agencies and working to obtain signatures for the petitions, they have decided within their chapters (Atkinson 99). There are many reasons why citizens decide to become activists for a particular cause. However, it is evident that letter writing campaign is a common element of most political lobbying efforts. In a study conducted by Lester Milbarth on lobbying in Congress, it was found that huge letter writing campaigns could not be ignored due to the fact that the Congress members see it as a hurricane warning. However, Milbrath concluded that letter campaigns could be successful when they are very huge and appear to be unstructured. He also reported “lobbyists and members of Congress generally rated letter writing as low as a form of political communication, largely because politicians are aware that the letter writers do not always reflect the views of the public at large” (Pritchard 113). Letter writing campaigns serve the roles of attempting to influence the stand of a policymaker. They also provide justification for the politician’s stand (Pritchard 113). The letters also serve other purposes for the benefit of the organization supporting the letter writing campaign. Writing may motivate membership interest and thus, leading to more active member participation. Furthermore, because the writer will generally get a response, it may influence further involvement. Although most of the studies on letter writing campaigns focus on the Congress, activists, or protesters also write to regulatory agencies like the Federal Communications Commission, generally because of the organized campaign. In 1975, the commission got more than 24,000 complaints concerning indecent and obscene broadcast programming. Twenty thousand of the complaints were letter distributed by the Morality in Media. In 1987, the commission answered at least 27,000 informal complaints, and the majority of them dealt with indecency (Pritchard 113). Conclusion It is evident that writing is a form of art, which has a strong impact on the writer and the reader. World, story, image, and voice are the elements that make writing a form of art. Writing campaign is a method that has been employed by activists, writers, and lobbyists to protest social problems. Writing campaign has been used to pass the intended message to individuals, politicians, organizations, and even government agencies. It is vital to note that not all writing campaigns have been successful, however. For instance, some have been disregarded as not reflecting the view of the entire public. Writing campaigns have served the role of attempting to influence the position of a policymaker. They also have been used to motivate membership interest and, therefore, leading to more active participation of the members. Works Cited Atkinson, Joshua D. Alternative Media And Politics Of Resistance: A Communication Perspective. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, 2010. Print. Earl, Jeniffer & Kimport Katrina. Digitally Enabled Social Change: Activism In The Internet Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011. Print. Mills, Paul. The Routledge Creative Writing Coursebook. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. Print. Pritchard, David Hemmings. Holding the Media Accountable: Citizens, Ethics, and the Law. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2000. Print. www.dosomething.org. Action Tips: Organize A Letter Writing Campaign. www.dosomething.org, 2012. Web. 19 April 2012. Read More