A Summary of David Abram’s Animism and the Alphabet
Isaiah Graham
Farmer
ENG 11-940
9/13/2013
A Summary of David Abram’s Animism and the Alphabet
David Abram’s selection, “Animism and the Alphabet” conveys that human’s disconnection from the natural world is partially at fault with the alphabet, it also asserts that alphabet originates from the natural world. Abrams supports his ideas by mentioning several great thinkers throughout history including Plato, Socrates and others. Abram’s also compares modern ways to the customs of indigenous people. The main purpose of Abram’s paper is to convey the idea that people have disconnected from the natural world, and one of the main reasons for this is the alphabet. The alphabet is not portrayed as a bad thing, but as a tool that has both good and bad qualities. The language used in this piece is not for the simple minded; the audience should be intelligent and able to grasp the ideas hidden throughout the selection.
Abram’s selection covers a wide variety of different ideas and the opinions based on historical and natural evidence. The first section of the selection discusses how the human race has neglected the Earth as compared to the indigenous tribes of the Earth. Abram’s then continues to mention that some researchers believe that the Christian and Hebraic cultures are responsible for this lack of caring (pg.29). This then leads into the origins of the modern alphabet. The alphabet originated in nature as tracks and clues left behind from animals. Hunters picked up on these bits of evidence left on a trail. They then used this information to ‘read’ where the animal had gone. By doing this they were able to track the animal down and kill it. This was the first writing system theoretically, but the first actual writings or markings were early pictographs. These pictographs did nothing but convey what they were; because of this some researchers debate whether or not they can be considered a legitimate form of writing. In reality they were just pictures, so could
Farmer
ENG 11-940
9/13/2013
A Summary of David Abram’s Animism and the Alphabet
David Abram’s selection, “Animism and the Alphabet” conveys that human’s disconnection from the natural world is partially at fault with the alphabet, it also asserts that alphabet originates from the natural world. Abrams supports his ideas by mentioning several great thinkers throughout history including Plato, Socrates and others. Abram’s also compares modern ways to the customs of indigenous people. The main purpose of Abram’s paper is to convey the idea that people have disconnected from the natural world, and one of the main reasons for this is the alphabet. The alphabet is not portrayed as a bad thing, but as a tool that has both good and bad qualities. The language used in this piece is not for the simple minded; the audience should be intelligent and able to grasp the ideas hidden throughout the selection.
Abram’s selection covers a wide variety of different ideas and the opinions based on historical and natural evidence. The first section of the selection discusses how the human race has neglected the Earth as compared to the indigenous tribes of the Earth. Abram’s then continues to mention that some researchers believe that the Christian and Hebraic cultures are responsible for this lack of caring (pg.29). This then leads into the origins of the modern alphabet. The alphabet originated in nature as tracks and clues left behind from animals. Hunters picked up on these bits of evidence left on a trail. They then used this information to ‘read’ where the animal had gone. By doing this they were able to track the animal down and kill it. This was the first writing system theoretically, but the first actual writings or markings were early pictographs. These pictographs did nothing but convey what they were; because of this some researchers debate whether or not they can be considered a legitimate form of writing. In reality they were just pictures, so could
Citations: Bartholomae, David, and Tony Petrosky. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.