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'Let me heare … if thou canst say': The Utility of the Prayer Book Catechism (1549–1604)
- Source :
- Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 52:19-56
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2020.
-
Abstract
- This article explores the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer, shedding light on the emergence of instructional writing from oral instruction. The 1549 text evinces qualities of preliterate oral communication identified by Ong. By contrast, the 1604 addendum reveals a trend toward modern plain style, which is even more pronounced in the 1647 Westminster Shorter Catechism. The evidence indicates the oral features were useful to the text’s technical aims. What Ramist plain style gains in precision and objectivity comes at the cost of other useful features, such as reiteration, contextualization, and agonism, which (in Tannen's phrase) involve a greater relative focus on interpersonal involvement between speaker and auditor/ reader.
- Subjects :
- Literature
Technical writing
business.industry
Communication
Orality
media_common.quotation_subject
06 humanities and the arts
Art
060202 literary studies
language.human_language
Prayer
Education
060104 history
Catechism
0602 languages and literature
Thou
language
0601 history and archaeology
business
Early Modern English
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15413780 and 00472816
- Volume :
- 52
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........a42102b3deec6b7b73adb758f08c65d2