Walter Ong first Half

In chapter 3 of Ong's book the author discusses the psycho-dynamics of orality and how primarily oral cultures are able to retain conversations. Ong's idea is that since oral cultures don't have text to refer to about past occurrences the conversation must have certain qualities to aid in retention. His list of qualities makes a lot of sense and if you think about it we use the same techniques to this very day. His first and fourth qualities are very similar in that they group words and ideas together. His first quality discuses how we join ideas together with “and” so that when we recall one portion of the idea the second associated portion is recalled as well. This idea is very close to the fourth quality which says there is a tendency for orality to be conservative or traditionalist. He explains this as associating an adjective with a noun to aid in memorization. I use both of this ideas when preparing for a test. You attach a memorable adjective to a noun and it seems easier to remember. Previous teachers have also used the first quality of connecting ideas to help students by making songs or rhymes about the topic. Both of these strategies have been highly effective in my experience and it is interesting that the same strategies are used today with such effectiveness.