Test day in English class usually means writing an essay, and today was no exception. The essay was to be graded by how well it achieved the goals outlined in the rubric – a sheet that seemed clear in what it described and yet lengthy enough that studying the rubric itself was necessary. While the objectives were numerous, the time was short—and the pressure made it challenging to remember all of the requirements. Racking my brain, I remembered that one objective was to write an analogy.
I’ll admit that I didn’t try to be completely original. How could I? The clock kept ticking, encroaching on the final minute when the teacher would call “Time!” and I’d be forced to turn in my incomplete paper because I wasted 15 minutes trying to come up with a perfect idea.
So, to avoid that, I settled on the common analogy of writing being like music. Sure, I bet the first person who thought of that concept was really proud of him or herself. But I’m just guy #236421 using it to push for additional content on the page. A paper has words, and a song has words! They’re so similar!
In truth, many different media relate to each other. Why? They’re all made by humans, for humans. I’m sure that in 200 years, when aliens invade, the way they will “kill time” (if they even have such a concept) will vary from the way we do now. But until that point, what we are left with is media created by the human brain, for the sole purpose of human enjoyment.