Language and Creativity the Art of Everyday Talk - Assignment Example

Creativity in what would seem mundane The creation of the written word is an act that requires the writer to reach into his skills and produce a communication that clearly and fluidly relates his or her ideas. While there are many examples of expressive and beautiful writing that conveys emotions and the human condition, the texts that might seem mundane also require creativity in order to be successful. Writing is a practice that creates a social relationship between the writer and the reader, the intermediary being the perception of the writing by the receiver. Simply looking at the skills of rhetoric allows for an understanding of how the relationship within a sentence is created affects the way in which the communication is perceived. Texts such as instructional manuals, explanatory blurbs, and packaging labels, all require creativity in order to convey their information in a cohesive and clear manner. Without the use of creative writing within the most mundane projects, the reader would not be able to clearly follow the communication between the writer and the reader. Creativity in writing is an act that extends beyond the individual writer. Grainger, Goouch, and Lambirth (2005) quote Robinson as explaining the nature of creativity as being a social act. Creativity, as it is explained, is not something that is solely within the purview of the individual, but is a reaction to the interactions within the world. Through contact with others, ideas and inspiration is found, making the experience a cultural phenomenon. The act of creativity involves risk and experimentation, putting into whatever type of creation is involved the unique perception of the creator. The atmosphere, if only in the mind of the creator, must be conducive to taking those risks allowing for a systematic strategy in order to encourage creativity to erupt from within the writer (3). Creativity in writing is easily found in fiction. Books fill the shelves of libraries and stores in which the creativity of the writer bursts forward from the pages and clearly expresses the imagination of the writer. According to Phillips, Linington, and Penman (1998), “Writing is a means of evoking positive memories and of enabling the production of something valuable from the imagination, which can provoke appreciation from other group members” (p. 13). For many writers, the imaginative flow into created universes is how the creativity of the writing expresses what the writer needs to emote. In going through this process, the writer is able to communicate to his or her culture how the world creates an effect in their life, thus creating commentary on the human condition. The way in which communication is structured creates a natural need for creativity to be the mediator between the desired communication and the perception of what was communicated. Berlo created a paradigm which attempted to explain the communication process. In his paradigm, there is a four step process whereby the source encodes the message which is put through a channel and then decoded by the receiver. There are a series of elements in which communication is defined. The act of communication occurs as there is ideation, encoding, transmission, receiving, decoding, acting, acceptance, and feedback (Stacks & Salwen, 2008, p. 66). Understanding creativity within this model means that it can be defined as the connection between the way in which the message is encoded and the way it is then decoded by the receiver. In creating the message, the writer is exploring the ways in which the receiver is going to decode his work in regard to cultural, social, and psychological cues. In order to imagine this transfer, creativity must be utilized. The hypodermic needle model of communication suggests that media has a direct, powerful, and immediate effect on receivers. The theory suggests that change can be affected by injecting a group of people with a message in order to create a reaction (Stacks & Salwen, 2008, p. 66). The somewhat flawed concept suggests that a message is pushed onto passive receivers that then create an immediate influence. The model is somewhat flawed because it suggests that receivers are immediately influenced by a communication without any processing of that information, however the general idea can be considered in respect to a simplified understanding of the way in which shortened communicated ideas can affect the masses. This is relevant to advertising, an area of writing that takes a high level of creativity in order to communicate concise and clear messages with the highest level of overall impact. The deception of advertising is that while the product may seem to be so simple that it takes little creativity to create the message, the skills require the creation of the message to specifically be simple in order to quickly communicate the message to the receiver. This type of skill, when done well, can move cultures into action, inspiring and motivating change, and of course, generating high levels of sales. The consumer is now driven by associating with the ideologies of a brand as much as the need of the product. A good examples of this is ’Just do it’ from Nike, three words that express and connect to the receiver with such impact as to sweep away all the obstacles to the goals of a receiver, clearing the way for them to meet their own expectations of themselves. Another good example of this is ’Coke adds life’, suggesting that by drinking the soft drink the individual is suddenly part of a culture that has a higher level of life within their experience. Therefore, as shown, three words when written to associate a product with an ideology requires a great deal of creativity in injecting into the population a concept with the hope it will be embraced in order to inspire change - that includes the purchase of that product. The effect that the media will have on the masses is determined by the way in which the writing connects to the receiver. The receiver, in this case, is the more powerful factor in the relationships because he or she has the power to receive the information and use it in the way that it is perceived and experienced (Schorr & Schenk, 2003, p. 204). Therefore, the writer is at the mercy of his or her audience. However, the power that the writer will have in making that connection is founded in his or her ability to tap into creative inspiration. It is the creativity of the writer that determines the possibilities of the communication. In understanding the mundane in regard to creativity, it is good to first understand the Aristotelian discourse on rhetoric. Aristotle, according to Hughes (1994), can be viewed from three different aspects. The three aspects are vitalism, argument, and topics. Vitalism is at the center of the creativity of rhetoric. Vitalism is the life of the argument and the topic, the core that creates the need for the expression. Hughes (1994) states that “Rhetoric is one art of moving an idea from embryo to reality.” (p. 38). The life of the idea is at the center of any endeavor in writing, the need to convince the reader of the essential truth of what is being written. This is true in every form of writing and can be understood as easily within the instructional pamphlet that was written to accompany a toaster as it is in the expressive passions found in Shakespeare. In understanding the rhetoric of Aristotle, Hughes (1994) suggests that there has been a certain amount of misunderstanding. The four modes of discourse as defined by narration, description, exposition, and argument, actually all fall under the category of argument. Narration, description, and exposition are ways in which to formulate argument. Argument, as defined by Aristotle through Hughes, is discovered judgment. Rhetoric begins with the person who has discovered a judgment, and then is extended to others through the sharing of that judgment. Hughes states that “The essential items in Aristotle’s concept of argument are the gradual evolution of a judgment in the rhetor’s own mind, and the propagating of that realized judgment in whatever structures will lead to a duplication of his discovery in the mind of his audience” (p. 38). In other words, rhetoric is the action of revealing a discovered judgment to others in such a way as to convince them of the truth of that judgment. According to Carter (2004), discourse is part of the social interaction within a culture, a connection that is made through the capacity of one to express his or her ideas to another. Creativity, as suggested throughout this work, is the core of how the meaning of the idea is passed from one to another (108). Even the most common discourse that has little to no real meaning to the receiver will have had a writer who laboured to find the way in which to express the concepts through the creativity that is required to create the underlying intent of the communication. Examples of writing that might not seem creative, but fits within the criteria of creativity as understood through the confirmations of rhetoric, might be seen through the examples of instruction manuals that have the intent of communicating to the reader the ways in which a piece of equipment can be used. The following example will reveal an average instruction Black & Decker - Infrawave Speed Toaster | Model ST2000 (Personalfile, 2010) manual. The piece is designed with an economy of words, the structure of the writing as important as the words themselves. The work has the same type of importance as poetry that is designed to have impact through the way in which the words are positioned as much as the meaning of the words. The spatial relationship that helps to create easily organized thoughts and processes takes creativity in making that sort of visual impact as important as the impact of the discourse. While the information is dull and seemingly pedantic, the legalities of creating products provide for explicit instructions in order to avoid liability. Therefore, in creating instruction manuals for a mundane item, it is necessary to create easily read instructions that are visually organized so that the reader can readily access the information. It takes a creative mind to see the spatial relationships that conform to what is organized and easy for the reader. The Berlo paradigm, as well, can be associated to the manual. The manual is created by the encoder, the person who has the information, encoded into a message that conveys the idea behind that information, and then imagines how it will be decoded by the receiver in order to know that the message is effective. In the act of imagining how it will be decoded, the writer must create the end of the paradigm within his construction of the message. The information must be uniform and not subject to interpretation that will cause deviation in the user will use the equipment. From the standpoint of the discourse on rhetoric made by Aristotle the piece can also be examined. The lines “Unpack the unit and remove any packing materials or labels” can be dissected in order to attach the concept of rhetoric. From the onset, the purpose of the instruction is to help the user in creating a usable product. The meaning of the statement might be interpreted to mean that in order to safely use the product the packing material and the labels must be removed once it has been taken from the box. The discovered judgment of the writer might be considered that without removing the labels and the packing, the unit might get so hot as to become dangerous with those items still attached. The labels and packing serve as a threat, therefore the user needs to be made aware that those items should be taken off of the toaster. The argument is made through description. While all of the implications of leaving the labels and packing on the toaster are omitted, the writer implies that this is necessary, creating extended thought processes that he hopes will be understood through the cultural understanding of the user about the use of a toaster. The argument is made through describing what the user must do, a demand that suggests that not doing this will have consequences. The description of what must done implies that it is a necessary step in preparing the toaster for use. While there is room for the user to read beyond the statement, to add his or her own understanding of the use of the toaster and the consequences of not following the direction, the statement that it must be done is sufficient to cover the company from any problems should they arise from packing or labels being left on the unit. Therefore, the concise nature of the statement creates an argument that can also be used in defense of the manufacturer. Therefore, the simplest of statements within the confines of writing that is considered ordinary and mundane will carry with it an extension of creativity. Without the creativity to imagine the consequences of the work, the writer would not be able to invent a proper structure and format in which to convey the importance of how to use or build an item. The simplicity and economy that is required creates the need for inspiration, the form of the instruction being imperative in reaching the understanding of the widest possible audience. If the writer, in the case of the user manual for the toaster, were to create a long sentence in which his or her interpretation of all the possible reasons why the user must remove the packing was contained, the effect of the instruction would be subject to whatever the user could think of, but the writer had not. In this way, the relationship between the writer and the user becomes weighted in favor of the reader, his or her own thoughts becoming a part of the communication with the ability to challenge the direction. In just giving the direction, the reader encompasses all challenges to that direction and silences any argument the reader may have against his instruction. That requires creativity. The act of writing is to convey an idea to a reader in such a way as to give that idea the best chance of being perceived as it was intended. The most mundane writing will require creativity as those messages are created and sent to the receiver with purposeful and important intent. The ways in which communication happens is through the imaginative process of how the writer envisions that his work will be received. In order to encode the message, the writer must be able to imagine how the receiver will decode the message. Through looking at Aristotelian rhetoric, an understanding of the creativity that is needed to create from the vitalism of the thought the argument under which it will convey its judgment supports the creativity of writers of what might be perceived as mundane work. References Carter, R. (2004). Language and Creativity: the Art of Everyday Talk. London: Routledge. Grainger, T., Goouch, K, & Lambirth, A. (2005). Creativity and writing: Developing voice and verve in the classroom. Abington: Routledge. Hughes, R. E. The contemporaneity of classical rhetoric. Found in Young, R. E. & Liu, Y. ed. (1994). Landmark essays on rhetorical invention in writing. Davis, CA: Hermogoras Press. Personalfile. (2010). Black & Decker - Infrawave Speed Toaster | Model ST2000. Personalfile, your product database. Found at Philips, D., Linington, L., & Penman, D. (1998). Writing well: Creative writing and mental health. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Schorr, A., Campbell, W., & Schenk, M. (2003). Communication research and media science in Europe: Perspectives for research and academic training in Europe's changing media reality. Berlin [u.a.: deGruyter. Stacks, D. W.,& Salwen, M.B. (2008). An integrated approach to communication theory and research. London: Taylor and Francis, Inc. 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