Reading and Writing

Lesson 2
The History of Reading and Writing

Lets prepare to learn

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books history is silent, literature dumb, science
crippled.
----Barbara Trishman

As modern man you are surrounded by reading materials from mass media (such as
newspapers, magazines, advertising, etc.) as well as other forms of modern communication
including the mobile phone and the Internet. But have you wondered how reading originated?
Everything in the Universe including man has a beginning and so lets cull on what history can tell
us about reading.

Lets look at the distant past

According to palaeontologists who study fossils and other evidences of life on earth, the
first man was a latecomer on earth and appeared on the planet only about one hundred thousand
years ago. But even during those primitive days, man walked upright, had adaptable hands and a
brain which enabled him to devise ways to show superior strength and cunning. And as he lived in
communities, he was a social being who communicated with his kind.

In the beginning however, he employed grunts and body language using gestures and
postures to convey his ideas and needs to others. Slowly, he developed oral language which
enabled him to express more clearly the message he wanted to convey. In time, various
circumstances such as the need to communicate to others who are in distant place caused man
to devise symbols corresponding to his oral messages. We have evidence of this in the Old
Stone Age rock painting and in the cuneiform or picture writing. From these we have knowledge
of the earliest human act of picture writing and reading.

Picture-writings during the Sumerian civilization between 3000 to 400 B.C. were incised
on baked tablets. They served to communicate and preserve private letters, business contracts,
accounts, tax receipts, royal orders and state records. Meanwhile, the Egyptian civilization
along the river Nile carved their pictorial symbols known as hieroglyphics on the stone wall of
the temples and tombs, or carefully painted them on wooden coffins. The Egyptians also
invented paper derived from the papyrus plant on which they wrote their signs with reed pen
and ink made by mixing water, gum and soot. Other civilizations such as those in Syria, Phoenicia
and Palestine used more permanent writing materials such as leather rolled in scrolls. But the
greatest contribution to the progress of ancient civilization came from the Phoenicians who
adopted and spread the use of letter-symbols or the alphabet. Due to its simplicity, it was
developed by other peoples such as by the Greek and Romans. The Roman system of writing in
turn became the basis for all the systems of writing being read by modern people today.

Group Activity 1

By way of graph figures (squares, arrows etc.) illustrate reading as it began and
developed in human history.

Group Activity 2

Even during our modern days, we too can read nonverbal or the silent language system
as was done by primitive man. Researchers estimate that conveying messages through body
language (finger symbols, gestures, postures, etc.) expresses 50 percent of our meanings.
Needless to say, you can improve your communication skills by developing awareness of silent
language.

1. For learning and fun, see how the class can read these messages, as one member
from your group was assigned to communicate them using grunts, sign language or
gestures (but no words): (The teacher will give the word/s).

Assignment:

Research and submit brief descriptions of (a) Old Stone Age rock painting, (b) Cuneiform
writing, (c) Egyptian Hieroglyphics, (d) Greek Alphabet and (e) Roman Alphabet.
Im hot. Please forgive me.
Im tired. Help me!
Im thirsty. Im shy.
Im sleepy. I cant breathe.
Look! Im sick.
Come here. I want to pee/poop.
Im happy. Im scared.
Keep quiet. I think Im in love.
Im mad. I wonder why..
I love you.