Everyday Writing Museum

If I were to create an everyday writing museum it would consist of many displays and showcases of EW in chronological order from newest to oldest. Everything from notes, postcards, journals, lists and letters will line the walls, and the halls would be littered with graffiti. Each piece displayed will be important in the grand scheme and show how everyday writing and modern language was built upon it. Journals and diaries from the past will tell stories of ancient quarrels and strife and allow visitors to step into the author's shoes. Many artifacts will be have grown delicate through time so visitors will not be allowed to touch.The museum would consist of not only public EW, but very personal EW revealing thoughts and secrets. Museum-goers will be able to realize how important EW is in our everyday lives and to the extent of how often it is used.

Everyday Writing

If I were making a museum of everyday writing I would use examples from all different things we have talked about in class. I would make it shaped like a circle and as you walked around the examples will be in a chronological order, going from oldest to newest forms. For example, starting with letters and postcards and moving to emails, texts and social media posts. I would organize it this way to mirror how everyday writing is a broad, constantly evolving category.

Museum for writing

If I were to make a museum for everyday writing I would separate the museum into two sections. One being public endorsement of everyday writing and the other being personal endorsement for everyday writing. I say this because all writing falls under those two categories. After splitting these the museum in these two groups I would then create subgroups to make up each section. My main focus would consists of letters, notes, postcards, blogs, and Facebook posts. Also following each subgroup would be the option of using technology or non-technology.In each category their would be a display of the historical aspect of the piece of writing that is shown. This could involve a brief background of the piece, pictures, or even a biography of the author.
For the technology aspect of the museum visitors will be able to access a virtual world of everyday writing. It would be arranged almost like a website contributed just to everyday writing. Authors would be able to post from their pieces and can answer questions about why the write what they wrote. Although it won't be handwritten it is sti considered everyday day writing because they can express their emotion and thought process behind what they're writing.As far as the non- technological side their will be pictures, journals, and postcards.

Museum of Everyday Writing

Robert Castle

3.24.15

ENC 1145

Journal #5

            A museum is a collection of items and information to represent an event, time period, place, and even people. A museum is a carefully organized maze filled to the top with memories, artifacts, testimonials, and pictures. A museum to everyday writing should be no different. The museum needs to contain relevant and prudent information on everyday writing, and it all needs to be displayed in a way that makes the visitors feel as thought they have learned from their day at the museum. Obviously there would be included in the museums texts and artifacts of everyday writing, but people don’t always just want to read about or look at exactly what the museum they are in is about. They also want to know background knowledge of how something has come to exist and they may also be interested in reading prose that analyzes and explains what they are seeing. With all this in mind, I would include, not only everyday writing texts, but also sections dedicated to the people who contribute to what everyday writing is. I would include different rooms that portray what everyday writing was in different time periods and show how it has changed over time. Rooms would be designed in a way that shows where it is that everyday writing is done. Meaning, there would be kitchen tables, park benches, bedroom desks, and coffee tables. Anything that was used to write in a non-formal, and unstructured way would be included into the design of the rooms. The final piece of the museum would be a room with paper and pens so that people can contribute to the artifacts in the museum, and this would also show what was popular in everyday writing at the time. People might write about a recent scandal, or a celebrity break up.

Everyday Writing Museum

If I were to create a museum of everyday writing, I would mainly focus my exhibits around letters and notes. I would vary these letters and notes from anything having to do with love, friendship, family and all things in between. These forms of everyday writing could be from any age, whether it is 5 years to 95 years, and could even feature exhibits of notes and letters from different parts of the world.

     I chose letters and notes over the various forms of everyday writing because I feel that they are raw. By this, I mean they reveal the most about people and about life. Notes and letters show our thoughts and are a form of writing that allows us to speak our mind with the ability to control the formality of them.

     My museum would show a look inside people and their lives by displaying the content of letters and notes. 

Museum of Everyday Writing

If I were to create a museum of everyday writing, I would definitely create an "All Around the World", or a global/international theme. The museum would include post cards, letters, graffiti, and notes written in different languages and originated from different parts of the world. The walls of the museum would be covered in postcards, organized based on year and country. In this way, visitors can see how a particular area of society has changed over time. Although the post cards may be written in another language, I would make sure to include a translation underneath each postcard so that the visitors can understand what they are reading. Apart from postcards, I would like to incorporate any types of letters and notes to put on display. Above each exhibit, I would attach the flag of the country in which the letter or note was originated. If the country of origin, cannot be determined I would group the letters or notes of the same languages together. Last but not least, I would like to include examples of different graffiti from different parts of the world. These graffiti pictures would be enlarged and attached to the ceiling. Because my museum revolves around the world, I would make sure to build my museum in the shape of a circle, resembling a globe. Everyday writing is seen in all parts of the world, and should be displayed in a similar way.

Everyday Writing

If I were to have a museum of Everyday Writing, I think the biggest focus would be on examples of Everyday Writing that relate to love. My museum would begin with love letters that are most likely the product of what was exchanged through younger kids in elementary and middle school. Next it would progress to a more serious type of letter that could have been written by someone a bit older, and the letters would contain a more mature feel. The next area in my museum would contain breakup letters: this would include dramatic, shorter letters that explain why he/she is breaking up with him/her, and other letters that are long detailed accounts of why they cannot be together any more. To end the love fest, I would include more happy letters, such as a cute note written from one spouse to another.

While the majority of the museum would be dedicated to love letters (because I find them the most interesting), I would also include exhibits which showcase to-lists, journals/diaries, and graffiti, because those are the forms of everyday writing which I find to be the most interesting. I would probably only have one large room filled with many examples of these kinds of everyday writing. I would want the room to be set up like how the radio station had tons of papers plastered all over the walls, and just showcase all the different things people write on sticky notes, scraps of paper, and other places that they think are private.

Everyday Writing Museum

   Everyday writing can be displayed in many ways. If I were to turn it into a museum, it would have all different kinds of everyday writing. We discussed this in class, but I would display all of my items on two-way mirrors and have them in plain view. It would be shaped in an "H" shape and it would be self controlled. You could look, admire, and take pictures as you please, just can not touch. The only reason that you would not be able to touch them is because you do not want to damage the pieces on accident. Everything would be separated into categories; handwritten, written, private, public etc. It would also be displayed in a chronological order, so the farther you get to the end, the more modern the artifacts become.

Writing About Everyday Writing Museum

If we were making a museum of everyday writing, I would include posts from online such as Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr because I feel that these are some of the truest forms of everyday writing.  Many people might disagree with this decision because these forms of recording ones thoughts are not handwritten, but I believe that because these posts can be quickly typed, they are a truer representation of what the person who wrote them is thinking at the time.  They are also even more informative about the person who wrote them than most writing because now Facebook allows people to include their emotions along with their thoughts when they post something online, giving even more back-story to what this person is going through.  The comments that people leave will also allow us to see the person’s relationships with their friends and family and where they stand with them on their thoughts and opinions.  I believe that posts on social media are forms of everyday writing worthy of being put in a museum because of the great amount of information they provide about the personal life of the person who wrote it.  

Museum Journal

If I were to create a museum of artifacts of everyday writing, it would be filled with love letters hung on the wall from floor to ceiling. I believe this would be a prime showcase of everyday writing because love is what consumes our lives. Anything spontaneously written should be accounted for. It is so vital our lives that we find love, so why not express it in a museum? People care about love, thats why they watch romantic movies. People want to feel something, people would come to my museum and be so emotionally touched by what I have displayed. I would find my artifacts from older family members, other peoples family members, online, in books etc. There are so many different ways I could accumulate a thriving museum of emotional pieces of everyday writing.

Journal Five

Digital technology has had a tremendous effect on writing and peoples’ understandings of it.  It has become a means of easily recording ones thoughts and communicating with others, and consequently has allowed for writing to become less formal.  In the past writing was more formal due to the time required to write down information and one’s thoughts and ideas.  Now though, with digital means such as texting, e-mailing, and instant messaging, writing and communicating has become easier, quicker, and as a result-less formal.  Through those means of communication, people abbreviate their words to write quickly and keep up with the quick speed with which this technology allows people to communicate.  Unfortunately, this is leading to widespread lack of understanding of grammar and has decreased peoples’ abilities to spell words properly, especially with new advances like spell check and auto-correct.  Digital technology has drastically impacted peoples’ understandings of writing by making it easier to communicate and record ones thoughts and ideas.  

Museum of Everyday Writing

If I were creating a museum that showcased everyday writing, I would fit as many examples as I could into a timeline of a person's life. The exhibit would lead you through winding hallways filled with countless examples of EW from all aspects of life. It would start with those letters that little kids write, you know those ones with all the spelling errors and wild ambitions. I like kids' imaginitive minds and the odd scenarios they can come up with. Moving through adolescence, the middle school and high school love letters are next. The overly dramatic "I will love you forever!'" notes that usually get thrown away after the breakup the week later. I think we still hold onto our naive ideas that a relationship that starts so young can last forever. I'm not bashing the ones that do, but they are uncommon. As college approaches, letter sent home to friends and family are bound to happen, whether they be handwritten or electronic. After meeting the love of your life at school, they go back home after graduation. So the young couple decide to send postcards and letters back and forth to keep their relationship alive and well. I feel like when you are able to have both sides of the story, you are able to make personal connections to the "characters." Years later, after marriage and kids and a long, happy life together, the couple passes away. The loving words engraved on their headstones would be the end of the exhibit. The museum was designed to make you feel like a part of the person's (or people's) life. It would give you insight from their point of view, rather than someone elses.

Everyday Writing Museum

Everyday Writing should be honored holistically from individual writings in a museum. There would be postcards, photos of graffitti, love letters, old napkins with notes on them to the waitress. There would be everything and anything that would be unique, handwritten and from the heart. I would build the museum in the shape of a human heart- not the cartoonish heart. My reasoning for this architecture is to exhibit how human these writings are and how essential they are to their owners' lives. Visitors will follow the path from the entrance through the Vena Cava, to the right atrium and right ventricle. This side of the museum would have old napkins, lists, and photos of graffiti. Then, the path leads through the pulmonary artery, where postcards from throughout history are located. Then, the path leads to the left atrium to reveal the beginnings of love letters- be it to a significant other or to a loved one. From there, the path leads to the left ventricle, where there are letters of fall outs, arguments, real life issues of the heart. But it gets better, the path passes through the Aorta, out towards the exit where there are postcards, writing on napkins, notes where the topic is of forgiveness and reconciliation. Through this museum, the museum goers will see and experience the constant shifts in life and leave knowing that life will get better and we will get through this.

If I was a curator for a museum of everyday writing, I would want to include to do lists. I've grown to use to do lists a lot more than in previous years, and I've noticed how much my chores have changed over the course of my first year in college. Also, my father writes down his priorities on scratch papers trying to plan years in advance, and I really find it interesting what order he decides to put his projects in-- for example, he wrote "build tiki hut for vw bus" above "terracing??" on a particular list for house project ideas and both options seemed comical because the house seems fine already. If I ran a museum full of peoples' prioritized lists of things to do, I feel that it would provide a lot of insight as to what our culture finds important today.

Museum of Everyday Writing

If I were to have a museum of everyday writing it would include things like postcards, handwritten journals, letters, and one of a kind signs or posters. Things that are more personal and not easily repeated. I would have specific rooms dedicated to each type of sentiment. My museum would have a very antique feel and theme to it and it wouldn't have anything on display from decades beyond the 60's. One room would have old post cards within clear displayed covers and on a digital screen the guests would be able to touch it and it would flip a digital image of the card to show you the back. In the other rooms the posters and letters would be displayed on the walls enclosed within clear display cases. Each artifact would have a description under it stating the dates when written, who (if known) wrote it, and a copied quote of the writing. My museum would be several stories. The first being the most recent with writing or posters from the 60’s and each floor above would be from the previous decade. It would also get darker as you go up the building with the displays being lit and your pathway as well making for a very calm and peaceful walk through the museum. This is specifically so that you could solely focus on the sentimental and historical pieces in front of you. At the beginning of each section of writing there will be a plaque describing the importance to everyday writing that each type of display has on us, how it has affected how we see everyday writing and also how it has influenced us.

Museum of Everyday Writing:

            A museum of everyday writing curated by myself would include all types of letters, postcards, and little notes and lyrics written even on napkins in a bar. Everyday writing to me is all about the writing where you had no idea it was even everyday writing. The little slips of paper at the bottom of your bag or love notes some kid in middle school passed in class to his crush. I would have love letters and letters to long lost friends that they have not talked to since college. Everyday writing is meant to be ordinary and almost routine at times and those little slips of paper or that postcard from someone’s Great Aunt Bell is what everyday writing is about; it creates a simplistic bliss.

EW Museum

  If I were to make a museum for everyday writing I would include all the different means it can come in such as letters, scrapbooks, postcards, and etc., as I feel all the different ways everyday writing can come in are all important and each one gives a little something different.
  Then, to organize the many different types of everyday writing I would split it up into four main categories: public, private, digital, and non-digital.
  I feel the public versus private categories are necessary because the two are written very differently. I love note to one person varies greatly compared to a Facebook post everyone sees. Most postcards, letters, and texts of that nature would fit into the private category, whereas most blogs, tweets, and similar writings would go into the public category.
  Then to break down the public and private categories even further, I would separate each into writing used with digital technology and writing used without it. I feel like this separation is necessary because it divides the new writing from the old in a sense. Some people are interested in older antiquated writing, however some only enjoy the new age of writing, with Facebook posts and that sort of stuff. And some enjoy both types, so they can visit both sides of the exhibit. Also, this may be just me but I'd like the museum to include mostly random and interesting pieces of everyday writing, but still have a portion of the artifacts as everyday writing from celebrities/athletes, historical pieces, or just famous writings. I think that would be cool and different.
  Finally, I like the idea that some other students had in which you leave an empty room where visitors can leave personally interesting pieces of everyday writing or their own definition of what everyday writing is.

Museum of Everyday Writing

When it comes to describing everyday writing, we all have our different opinions. To make a museum of everyday writing based on what I thought it should be would be wrong. If I were making a museum of everyday writing, I would leave all the walls as they were and have the guests come in and place items they thought were every day. Underneath each item would be a note card detailing why they thought it was everyday writing. By doing so, I feel like we can all learn from each other and come up with great ideas when talking about everyday writing. There will be no categories as to where an item can be placed. The guest can place it where he/she pleases. This idea stems from our radio station field trip. Museums are seen as respectable places. I want people to feel open and not restrained from putting up their pieces. Just like the radio station, if President Obama walked through my museum, I would want a reaction of disbelief or shock. By this reaction, it would let me know that my museum is showcasing everyday writing because different emotions will arise.  

Museum of Writing

If there were a museum dedicated to everyday writing, there would have to be multiple sections for the different categories of writing. In class, we have seen everyday writing in many different ways. We have seen love notes, to-do lists, secret notes, postcards, etc. The authors of these writings used everyday writing in different ways in order to achieve a goal. If I were to make a museum of writing, it would have sections that were divided by the purpose of the writings.

            Notes such as to-do lists and reminders serve to help the author achieve a personal goal. When we stick a note on the refrigerator that says, “buy milk,” we don’t intend for anyone to see or even give this reminder a second thought. The same goes for a list of things to do on any given day. While these forms of everyday writing seem pointless and unimportant, these simple notes show us just how important writing is to us. We depend on it in order to remember things, no matter how mundane they are.

            Another goal of everyday writing is communication. We communicate through writing everyday. Today, we utilize text messages for simple and immediate conversations. However, hand writing letters was also an important means of communication. This section would be broken up into these two categories: hand-written and digital writing. The hand-written section would emphasize how important letters were to our culture. The digital section would shoe us how out culture has changed, and how the writing has changed. The whole point of this section would be to show us how writing as evolved over the years, yet it still continues to be a large part of our lives.

Everyday Writing Museum

If I were to make a museum of everyday writing I would include anything and everything about love. A child’s first love note, a letter written after an awful breakup, or even a letter written by a mother to her daughter before she goes of f to college. To me love is a very beautiful and complicated thing. Everyone experiences it and it’s different for every person. That is why I find so intriguing. When you read someone’s love note you have no idea where it is going to go. Everything about love is a mystery. In my museum, people would have a chance to think about how these two people work together. They could come up with a story, much like we did for our first case study. Who doesn’t like love stories anyway? Being able to read someone’s love note from the 50s would give people insight into how relationships were done as opposed to now. My museum would be like a relationship time capsule. There would be a room on young love where all love letters would be stored. There would be a room for messy breakups, because everyone loves a little drama, even if they say they don’t. And, of course, I want to add a room on family relationships. A lot of the times when people hear the word “love” they automatically think about a romantic relationship. My museum would also put letters, notes, and journals about family relationships on display, particularly those that depict unconditional love from a parent to a child.