Oral Reading

 

Oral reading was largely mandated by the technology of the writing system. Visible texts at one time were rendered in all-capital letters with no spaces between words and no punctuation. They were best read orally.This reading was physically exhausting and reading for meaning a constant challenge. Below you can get a sense of the challenge the reader faced when all lower case letters, word spaces and punctuation are stripped away from a text.

 

GINNYWASTHEPERKIESTGIRLTOCOMEBYINMONTHSHERSHORTPIXIEHAIRPLAIDPLEATEDSKIRTANDPENNY

LOAFERSROUSEDMYCURIOSITYANDSENSEOFADVENTURESHELOOKEDGOODANDHADALLTHENECES

SARYPREREQUISITESFORMYSUMMERGIRLPROGRAMSPARKLINGEYESWELLPROPORTIONEDSTATSA

NDANITELLINGENCEITWASAPRILOFSOMEYEARINTHE60SANDIHADBEGUNSWITCHINGFROM

THEWINTERGIRLPROGRAMTOTHEUPCOMINGSEASONRARELYWEREWINTWEGIRLSABLETOMUTATEIN

TOTHESUMMERCATEGORYTHEYHADPUTONWINTERWEIGHTWEREFREQUENTLYFAIRSKINNEDANDMO

REOFTENTHANNOTHADLOSTTHEBATTLETOCELLULITESUMMERGIRLSHADTOTANWELLLOOKGOODIN

ABATHINGSUITANDBEATHLETICALLYINCLINEDSWIMLAPSINUNDERTHIRTYSECONDSANDSURFTHEO

CEANSWAVESWITHOUTSQUEALINGINITIALLYMYTHOUGHTSWERETHATHISWASSOMEONEICOULDSH

OWOFFONABEACHWEWEREREALSEXISTBACKTHENINTHEEARLY60SYOUWENTWITHAGIRLINPARTBECAUSE

OFHOWSHEREFLECTEDONYOUYOUNEVERTOOKADOGOUTPUBLICALLYITWOULDNOTBEGOODFORYOUR

IMAGEIMAGEMATTEREDGINNYWASDIFFERENTANDBECAUSEOFHERILEARNEDTHEREALMEANINGOFLOV

EANDTHEPAINOFREJECTION

Did you read the passage silently, or did you read it quietly to yourself pronouncing the text syllable by syllable, sacrificing meaning to make sound-letter correlations? Do you remember what you read, or does your head ache and your eyes hurt?

To see the above passage in more a contemporary style go to Silent Reading.