Hi Geoff,

What an interesting e-mail you have written (spoken?). I think that if I were to go for a PhD in composition (Rhetoric?), this would interest me as a possible subject for my dissertation: the middle ground of e-mail, chat rooms, etc., between conversation and formal writing. I wonder if anyone has done (is doing) this.

Paul E. Doniger
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Geoff Layton 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 10:46 AM
  Subject: The Visible Voice


  Bob Yates recently posted a response to a thread, and I sent him a note recalling our wonderful ATEG meeting.

  My quandry in beginning my note to him was to describe my feelings upon seeing his note - "Great to see your e-mail!" didn't seem to convey how his note brought back the fun we had at the meeting and how important he was to its success.

  I solved the problem with "It's nice to see your voice again." And after writing that, I thought I'd see if anyone else on the list - particularly Pam Dykstra - has had similar thoughts about e-mail messages. They seem to be a delightful mix of both formal writing and casual conversation.

  On this list, for example, we aren't writing formal papers in our e-mail messages, yet there is disciplined thought behind the messages; we aren't truly engaged in conversation, yet there is almost immediate audience response.

  Has anyone written anything formally about the power of e-mail to evoke a "visible voice" - in other words, the voice of an e-mail author can be a powerful mix of both oral and written presentation?

  Geoff Layton
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