Week+1+Discussion+5366

Prompt 1

The artistry of the Lisbon Bible is unparalleled to anything I have ever seen. The most interesting thing to me is how each and every page of the Bible conveys a different message. Although some of the pages may look similar, such as the first two, it is evident that the borders were done by different artists. I like how the artists use the written words and language to create a pattern (such as on pages 5 and 6). Even a minutely detailed drawing in between the columns displays an amazing attention to detail. My favorite page is 28, with the micrographic design of the rosette using tiny, minute lettering for many of its details. This carpet design is simply indescribable to anyone who has not witnessed its beauty first-hand.

Prompt 2

The two words on pages 25-26 are similar in that they both look generally the same. It looks like the same letters are being used. The shape of the first “q” like letter and the subsequent “u” like and “l” shaped letters are almost identical. The differences come in the detachment of the “q” shaped letter and extra “l” shaped pattern attached to the “u”s. Also, the accent marks around the lettering is different. These are obviously the same word and phonetically similar, but used in different contexts or words of speech as denoted by the subtle differences and accent markings. In Arabic writing, as in English, the same word may be used in a variety of different ways (adjective, verb, noun). The context clues (or accent markings) and way it is used in a sentence (or written) will convey its actual meaning to the reader.

Prompt 3

I think it does make a difference if one is reading from left to right or right to left, especially if the alignment is justified. In the books that read right to left, you can tell some of the words go slightly past the left "edge" of where most of the other words stop. All the words on the right hand line up exactly because that is where the line begins. All of the letters do appear to have about the same height, which is amazing because the letters are so different.

Prompt 4 

Page 10 of the __Lindisfarne Gospel__ is filled with brilliant colors and contrasts. The artists use different styles of texts, different cases of texts, color, white space, and patterns to emphasize the contrasts which make this page a remarkable work. Some examples of the use of contrast are the black lettering in the capitalized text, the red, green, and golden colors inside the lettering, the red diamond pattern between the letters on the white paper in the center of the page, the red lower-case text in the upper right-hand corner, the rust and blue colored patterns in the border, the black outline of the “e” and the “r” that remain the color of the page, the golden border surrounded by the black solid border surrounded by a red border made out of dots around the “lib”, the use of white space alongside the “i” in liber and surrounding the last row of capitalized text.

Prompt 5

I am a math teacher and really have never liked history as much as others. One of the quotes from the lectures we read this week really struck a chord with me. Students are always wondering why we have to learn about history--it's in the past!! I used to be one of those people. The quote that really stuck out to me was the answer to why we are learning about all of this past stuff: "Simply because it show us the history of our need to communicate. The kinds of things we have always talked about are the kinds of things we will continue to talk about. Therefore, we can predict what will be important tomorrow because we know what has been important in the past. You cannot have a culture without a past. We evolve, we change, we grow. This is the reason this knowledge is important to our understanding of the foundations of communication" (Yearwood, Opening Lecture: Graphic Communication in Context, a brief overview of the history of writing). I read that quote several times as I finally realized why we do spend so much time teaching and trying to understand the past of our culture. I thought the readings and lectures were very interesting and revealing as to why humans need to communicate in various forms with each other, and to perhaps communicate with other "beings" as well.

I agree with the fact that the number of posts on the discussion board is a bit overwhelming. To have to respond to 5 prompts in itself is a lot, but to also make a total of 3 to each prompt is very time-consuming. It is important to read what others have posted, but I do think the quality of our responses might be less than we want because of the time it takes to make them.

I loved the British library site. I would love to look at Leonardo's Codex at some point as well. To be able to rotate, zoom in, and magnify the documents to really examine a lot of the detail was fantastic.