When you think of alphabetical order there is a variety of sources that come to mind. A few of these examples are, the dictionary, class listings, thesaurus, glossary, index, contacts, library, encyclopedia, and for English 203 the Bedford. It provides order to things that are disorder. When most people think of alphabetical order they associate it with the way the dictionary is organized. However, you can not categorize the way the dictionary is for alphabetical order, it is just one way it can work. As we see in the Bedford on page 262, when you look up a word in some cases it may refer you to go look up a completely different word for the definition. This shows how alphabetical order links common similarities.
As you look in Percival Everett’s poem titled, re: f(gesture) the first section of the poem deals with a way of showing alphabetical order. After first looking at the poem I noticed that not all the letters were related to words that started with the same letter. Many would expect it to be like a dictionary when you see letters of the alphabet. For example, on page 34, “T is for what the hedgehog knows”. He says the letter is for, but then did not relate that letter to a word with the same letter, instead Everett related it to what he thought of when he thought of the that specific letter. How Everett wrote his poem can relate back to the Bedford. In this case, him referring the letter to a sentence that represented what he thought of when thinking of a specific letter, can compare to the Bedford having a certain word and its definition be having you go look up another word. It is bringing together two separate words or ideas and creating a common similarity.
This can link to this courses learning outcome on the way we should read. You shouldn’t read texts like how you are familiar with previously, you should read them in a way the author intended. For example when I saw the first letter of each page go in alphabetical order, I should not have assumed the words following were going to relate to it by association of the same letter.
Alphabetical order can be thought as just the process used by the dictionary. There are variations in all aspects in life when alphabetical order can be placed and interpreted. Overall, alphabetical order deals with bringing order to disorder, and bringing this about with common similarities.