Hi Will and other readers: The little smileyface and other symbols are called
emoticons, and I devoted a bit of space in the third edition of the St.
Martin's Handbook to a discussion/descsription of them. They are much more
fully explored in a little book on electronic literacy, which I cite in the
instructor's annotated edition, p. 518 or thereabouts. Unfortunately, I don't
have a copy of this instructor edition at hand--but perhaps another reader will
give you this source. If not, let me know and I'll dig it out. All best -
Andrea Lunsford
|