In five pages this expository essay examines language and literacy as they are observed in the public space with a veterinary office being used in this example. There are no sources cited.
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as a general rule, most people do not seem to make the attempt to consider that what they are reading has been placed there, for the most part, for a
reason. Language and literacy in public spaces, often times, is a planned and choreographed strategy to motivate and educate the consumer or client. Do words have power? The Constitution
of the United States is a prime example of words having both power in their proclamation of human freedoms, and in their real power as granted by the citizens of
the country for which it stands a governing document. Consider the addition of the Bill of Rights, and the amendments in which individual freedoms were granted to women, and men
of all races. On a less grand scale, consider the power that a poem or a favorite song has on the very emotional core of the human spirit. This type
of power, emotional power, can incite a riot (as Stravinskys Rite of Spring did), or it can give courage to those who are going into battle, such as the Battle
Hymn of the Republic. The Star Spangled Banner, it can be said, would only be a mere tune without the words that declare that through the rockets red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that the flag was still there. A modern day example of this planned choreographed literacy is in the average veterinarians office.
As soon as one walks in the door, the sound of various animals barking, meowing, or chirping assails the senses. If one happens to enter the office with an animal
on the end of a leash, then the added distraction of maintaining control over the animal also comes into play. In the waiting area, there are a stack of magazines.