In Chapter Two, Ong predominantly discusses the findings of Milman Parry regarding the composition of Homeric poetry. Parry exposes the repetitive formulas, the recurring themes and the re-constituted "old set of expressions"(23) that inhabited the work of Homer, and in doing this proves that Homer was not literate but utilised a complex web of mnemonic devices to construct his creations. Ong links Parry's discoveries to primary orality in general and espouses that for knowledge to survive in oral cultures people had to employ structures to provide easier memorisation.

Additionally, in this chapter, Ong proposes that in moving from primary orality to literacy there is a definite restructuring of consciousness. He notes that early written pieces (and he cites poetry as an example), imitate their oral predecessors, thereby suggesting that the change in consciousness was a gradual process. Nevertheless, Ong clearly sees a divide between the thought processes engaged in by members of a primary oral culture and members of a literate culture.

In Chapter Three Ong expands his discussion on the structured pat

Step by step Halverson undermines a series of statements made by Kelber. For example Kelber's argument based on "oral synthesis", that is, the coming together of and interaction between the speaker and listener based pre-dominantly on non-linguistic exchanges, is queried by Halverson as he points out the rarity of such instances and additionally asserts that this type of relationship can exist in the reading of the book taken the author was talented,

Finally, Kelber's views that orality is life and "presence" whereas textuality is death, and his idea that Mark's gospel was meant to supersede an oral gospel is negated by Halverson. Halverson suggests that instead of "subverting"(195) the oral tradition "the gospel has every appearance of canonising it, to the extent that Mark knew it"(195)

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Approximate Word count = 1460
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)