“Let me heare … if thou canst say”

The Utility of the Prayer Book Catechism (1549–1604)

Bibliographic Data

ID21411068
AuthorsDrew N Keane (0000-0003-4737-5443, Georgia Southern University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume52
Issue1
Pages19-56
Publication date2022-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Technical Writing and Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2816 • E-ISSN: 1541-3780
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0047281620946307
OpenAlexW3049751589
LanguageEN
References cited25

This article explores the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer, shedding light on the emergence of instructional writing from oral instruction. The 1549 text evinces qualities of preliterate oral communication identified by Ong. By contrast, the 1604 addendum reveals a trend toward modern plain style, which is even more pronounced in the 1647 Westminster Shorter Catechism. The evidence indicates the oral features were useful to the text’s technical aims. What Ramist plain style gains in precision and objectivity comes at the cost of other useful features, such as reiteration, contextualization, and agonism, which (in Tannen's phrase) involve a greater relative focus on interpersonal involvement between speaker and auditor/ reader

Contextualization · Epistemology · Interpersonal communication · Linguistics · Prayer · Theology · Thou · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy · Psychology · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity · Social Psychology

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