Writing

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/writing

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the origin of alphabetic systems?Phoenician alphabet, influencing Greek and Latin scripts, significantly simplified writing
2. What is the impact of printing press?Enabled mass production of texts, accelerating knowledge dissemination and societal change
3. What is writing and why did it start?Writing is a way to put pictures and letters on paper or other surfaces so we can tell stories and keep records. It began because people needed to write down complex information that could not be remembered only by talking.
4. How did writing change from pictures to letters?Early writing used pictures that looked like the things they meant. Later, people made symbols that sounded like words, which made writing easier and faster.

Pictographic/Ideographic: Writing systems where symbols represent objects or concepts directly.
Phonemes: The smallest units of sound in a language that distinguish one word from another.
Semiotics: The study of signs and symbols and their interpretation.