Everything has a voice...

Hm...now let's see... I've been thinking about all the posts I have done thus far and wonder...what's my voice? Do I even have one? Do my posts represent who I am? Well, I don't know yet, but I thought I would do some research on personal voice. So I stumbled upon another blogger who had an interesting take on educational television for children. Publisher dscdscd sdcds tone of voice in his posts is very converstational. He understands his audience is mostly middle class. He uses very basic english and simple sentences to relate to his audience. The publisher adds different punctuations to each sentence but his favorite is the exclamation mark(!) After reading all his postings, I realize that this choice says to me, "If you didn't get how important this statement was, here's an exclamation mark!" One of my favorite examples is when he talks about the children's program, Reading Rainbow, where he says:

"This one really is because it introduced kids to all sorts of books! Your child will beg for you to take them to the library after they have seen this show!"

This is just a small taste of how often he uses his favorite (!). In another post that relates to television and children, he can't get enough of them. I figure that since this was an early posting, he has toned it down a bit since then. I was really entertained by his posts about children and children's programming. I think he draws in his crowd by following each statement with a question and then answering that question right away; usually ending with an exclamation mark. He also is very strong in his opinions, but you aren't annoyed by his attitude because you can hear the actual concern he has for what he is writing about. Here is another example of his interesting writing style:

"TV is very appealing to children. This is one reason that TV can be a problem for them. Young children can even be attracted to TV because of the colors and noises on children's shows. Also, children are used to TV. Many times, parents will turn on the TV so that it can preoccupy their child instead of them. Should this always be the solution? No, it should not. There are other things that your children can do quietly that do not involve TV. What kinds of things are there? Playing outside is one of the best things!"

After reading both posts, I realized that this is his own personal style. When I read his words, I feel like I hear him giving a lecture but trying hard to make sure his students stay interested by adding questions and funny one-liners:

"There is even an entire channel devoted to infants to "enhance" their learning."

The use of quotation marks around the word "enhance" involves the reader in his inside jokes. He is stating that this might not be the most appropriate word choice but it is what the television show critics use to describe it. So what have I learned from all this? I have learned that I need to write from my point of view. If I have a strong opinion about something, I shouldn't be worried or anxious about posting it as long as I state my fact and possibly follow it up with something a little more light-hearted and easy-going. The more blogs I read, the more excited I get about embarking on my own blog. I think I want to tackle the true benefit of some of these kid shows next...