Kenley's Blog: Writing on the Third Floor Cutler

Writing on the Third Floor Cutler

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As I sat in the third floor common room of Cutler one evening reading an incredibly boring article entitled “Why Don’t You Say What You Mean?” for my anthropology class, I was surprised to come across something worth elaborating on. In the article, the author Deborah Tannen asserts “Indirectness is a fundamental element in human communication.” After reading this line, I happened to look up at our floor’s whiteboard. My eyes landed on the words, “I love 3rd Floor so much I wanna stay in this common room 4eva!” I happened to know these words were written by someone when he was trying to encourage people to hurry up and leave the common room so they could all go down to dinner. In this context, the words had a completely different, and somewhat sarcastic, meaning. I began to wonder if indirectness is a fundamental element of the writing that takes place in residential halls.

I decided to launch a formal investigation of the writing that takes place on the third floor of Cutler, beginning with an analysis of the whiteboard hanging in our common room. According to several people I interviewed, the writing on the whiteboard is inspired by a combination of sleep deprivation, caffeine, and a desire to laugh. While there are a few practical messages on the board listing the locations and times of various meetings, the majority of the writing is completely absurd. I did not come across a single person who claimed to having ever written something vaguely serious or important on the board. On the contrary, most of the comments are geared to make people wonder, “What in the world are they talking about?” The board even includes special sections for “Random Tangents of the Week” and “Random Quotes from 3rd Floor Cutler.”

A significant portion of student writing responds to official messages posted by the residential hall staff. After a lengthy discussion about the “how to deal with rape” posters hanging in the bathrooms, someone decided to add a message regarding the posters to the board. The new message said, “The best way to avoid rape is to say yes.” Essentially the student was saying, “I think the rape posters in the bathroom are stupid,” but he conveyed this message indirectly. Indirect writing lends itself very well to inappropriate humor; therefore it is extremely popular in a dorm room setting.

Although the board is crowded with apparently meaningless words, we should not underestimate the significant role it plays in our daily lives. The fact that most of the writing on the board is indirect (if not incoherent) helps launch conversations. People want to know the stories behind the words inscribed on the board. By utilizing indirect writing, we unconsciously created a forum where we can learn more about one another.

Acknowledgements:
Thank you to all the people who helped inspire this entry by contributing to the third floor cutler whiteboard!