In 1992; the University of Texas Press published Before Writing; Volume I: From Counting to Cuneiform and Before Writing; Volume II: A Catalog of Near Eastern Tokens. In these two volumes; Denise Schmandt-Besserat set forth her groundbreaking theory that the cuneiform script invented in the Near East in the late fourth millennium B.C.mdash;the worlds oldest known system of writingmdash;derived from an archaic counting device.How Writing Came About draws material from both volumes to present Schmandt-Besserats theory for a wide public and classroom audience. Based on the analysis and interpretation of a selection of 8;000 tokens or counters from 116 sites in Iran; Iraq; the Levant; and Turkey; it documents the immediate precursor of the cuneiform script.
#1372883 in eBooks 2012-08-06 2012-08-06File Name: B008VSWYUC
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. This is a great help and it helps me understand a lot better ...By CustomerSo informational! This is a great help and it helps me understand a lot better how to construct and deconstruct a play. The instructions are clear and answers several questions I had been pondering. Examples are everywhere and provides you with a lot of readings that should be done and people to look up and study. So helpful!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An excellent book for the amateur playwrightBy R. BurfordAn excellent book for the amateur playwright. This was recommended to me from a former director of mine and was written by his former professor. I am glad I bought it and I highly recommend to anyone starting out. This is better than the book I just had to use for my college playwrighting course.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Excellent Road Map for the BeginnerBy Rachel Smith ManriqueThis is a good college textbook on playwriting for the beginner. The chapters cover action. conflict. character. dialogue. writing from life. writing from a source. special exercises to expand ones skills. writing a one-act play and marketing plays.The feature that sets it apart from other books on the subject are the many excerpts from plays. most of which were written by Halls own students. The quality of these excerpts speaks highly of his teaching gifts. One of them. an entire one-act play by Jerome Hairston titled "Cable Man". deserves special mention.The appendix. titled "Classroom Procedures." is written for the instructor. It provides. for example. the relative merits of having authors read their own plays vs. assigning parts to classmates.
