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Charles McGrath, The Pleasures of the Text

Charles McGrath, The Pleasures of the Text

Read The Pleasures of the Text and check your comprehension by answering the following questions. Then “submit” your work.

1. McGrath believes that text-messaging is universally attractive because

it requires little technological or compositional talent.

it preserves the feeling of communication while eliminating the burden of intimacy.

it eliminates the potential misunderstandings of face-to-face encounters.

it is abbreviated, thereby saving valuable time.

2. McGrath finds that, ultimately, the most depressing reality of text-messaging is that

it is a kind of foolishness, a fad that has been taken too seriously.

it forces us to respond to people we don’t really care about.

it is filled with the possibility for misunderstanding.

we really don’t have much to say to each other.

3. In China, the practice of leaving voice mail is considered

funny.

a status symbol for the receiver.

unnecessary.

rude.

4. What does “performative” mean?

language that is innately fictitious

language that is inherently limited by what it cannot do

writing that is not speech but aspires to the conditions of speech

speech that is created purely for entertainment

5. In scholarly jargon, text-messaging is “lateral” rather than

“intuitive.”

“horizontal.”

“penetrative.”

“three-dimensional.”