Blog Post 4

Richard is drawing on the individual usage of each word and how each word has a different meaning and that because these meanings are different then they cant be judged as correct or incorrect. The concept of correctness or incorrectness is only perceived as valuable when talking about literary virtue but the whole point that Richards is trying to make is that because words are based on the concept of context it can never be right or wrong even when talking about literary virtue. Context is the whole basis of what makes a word “special”. Richards says “that a word is always a cooperative member of an organism where the organism would be the sentence or paragraph and beyond.

The idea of a word being a part of an organism plays into our discussion of a remix. As individual we copy words and phrases, within their context, and combine them, therefore transforming the idea of this organism or assemblage of words into any idea that it is trying to take on. For example the idea of “swag” amongst celebrities was referred to as “swag bags” or goody bags that would be given at function but now swag is used as the way someone acts or dresses. So like Richards said depending on the time period or the crowd swag can be used as in a different way changing the organism.