Five Forms of Text

1. Street signs

Most people might forget that street signs are a form of text because they are so very obvious. They are a mundane part of everyone's daily life, and therefore, are often taken for granted.  I think they are one of the most alive forms of text because they have the broadest audience and they can't be avoided; they are always being read or thought about, consciously or not.

2. Magazines

Magazines are a form of text that are not as portable as a cell phone but not as big of a time commitment as books, they are a nice medium for today's text-lover who may be busy but still likes to feel pages between their hands.  Magazines hold many different opinions, articles, advice, and advertisements all in one appealing booklet, which makes them appealing to many.

3. Instructions

Whether they might be printed on a box of macaroni or an entire manual for a new car, there's no doubt that instructions are another form of practical text that often get overlooked.  The extreme functionality of these seemingly simple diagrams or lists make this form of text very much alive, like #1, because they are so very useful and hard to avoid, if nothing else.

4. Subtitles

Subtitles are a good example of an everyday remediation.  Selecting the 'subtitle' option on a remote instantly transforms a viewing experience to an experience that engages the viewer by reading.  It takes speech and movement and puts it into words.  It's crazy to think that any idea can be condensed down into a few letters placed to make words.

5. Blogs

Finally, blogs are another form of text.  An online journal where others can easily access the daily thoughts you choose to share with the world is a very futuristic concept when you stop to think about it.  It makes sense that this form of text is so popular today that we're using it for this very class!