ABSTRACT
We use words to represent our innermost thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and what we know about the world. They represent our private thoughts and what we choose to make public. Our choice of words, how we put them together, and the intonations we use to express them create images allowing others to interpret our messages and come to know us. We learn and derive pleasure from reading, listening to, and using words. As a literacy educator, I believe in the power and beauty of words. I talked with my cousin Caroline Peyton, who is a songwriter, singer, and guitarist about how she views words and the images she creates with words and melodies when she writes songs.
