Syllabus
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course explores hypertext and electronic literature. Students consider the nature and form of major literary archive projects and experiment with hypertext writing and design for new media. In a recent article on Inside Higher Ed., Steve Kolowich defines “digital humanities” as “a branch of scholarship that takes the computational rigor that has long undergirded the sciences and applies it to the study of history, language, art and culture.” To this (and other definitions of digital humanities), I would add that the digital humanities must also consider the interface between digital and analog culture, between the pixels of our computer screens and the printed text of bound books. What we do online has little meaning if it isn’t linked (literally or figuratively) to embodied practice.
A printed book has weight, odor, a certain texture in our hands. Roland Barthes writes in The Pleasure of the Text, “Text means Tissue” (64), a nod to the literal substances from which books are made (pulp, rag, and animal hide), while also alluding to the materiality of language. When we read, we engage the physical object of the book in an intimate way, and the words themselves have physical character through the typographical choices that govern how they appear on the page. Further, each word has shape as we say it, a part of our mouths, lungs, throat, or gut it tickles into action. Digital texts command even more deliberate physical attention by being increasingly interactive. They invite us to (or even demand that we) do multiple things with our eyes, brains, and bodies as we (and in order to) experience them.
This course looks back even as it looks forward, considering conventional media like printed texts and film, in addition to examining more revolutionary digital media. Throughout the course, we will ask the following sorts of questions: What influence does the container for a text have on its content? To what degree does immersion in a text depend upon the physicality of its interface? How are evolving technologies (like the iPad or Kinect) helping to enliven (or disengage us from) the materiality of digital texts? We will engage our subjects through discussion of primary and secondary texts but also through our own experiments in multimodal composition. We will work in unfamiliar media, coming to an understanding of varied interfaces by creating with and for them.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Garth Risk Hallberg, A Field Guide to the North American Family(2007)
Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close(2006)
N. Katherine Hayles, Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary(2008)
Online Links and PDFs (see schedule for links)
REQUIRED FILMS:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close(2011)
Inception(2010)
Helvetica(2007)
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: Since this is a collaborative course, focusing heavily on discussion and work in groups, you have a responsibility to yourself and your classmates to show up for class on time and prepared. The class will be a cooperative learning experience, a true intellectual community. And so, you and your work are, in a very real sense, the primary texts for this course. Because of this, participation will be a very large component of your final grade. In order for the class to work together as a community, it is important that you complete all assigned work before each class session. If you are going to miss class or can’t finish the assigned work for any reason, your best strategy is to discuss this with me in advance either in person or via e-mail.
OFFICE HOURS: I’m frequently in my office and also available by appointment. If you’d like to meet in person, I’d recommend setting up a time in advance. I’m always happy to meet with you (to discuss the course or just to chat). This is the most effective way for me to give you individual attention and get to know you better. I encourage you to meet with me as early in the semester as possible, especially if you have any particular questions or concerns. I’m also very easy to reach by e-mail. In fact, e-mail is (by far) the best and quickest way to contact me.
E-MAIL: I will be sending regular announcements to you via e-mail, so if you do not check your e-mail regularly, you will miss important information.
ONLINE COURSE CONTENT: There are numerous links on this webpage that take you to various assignments and readings we will be doing throughout the term. You can access e-texts of some of the readings via this web page--just click on the title in the schedule. My advice: if you make this web site your friend, you’ll have no trouble completing all the reading and assignments for the course. As we proceed, I will be uploading additional content, including course notes, activities, and assignments, so keep checking for updates.
COLLABORATION: I encourage collaboration on many of the assignments you’ll complete this quarter, especially the final project. If you have questions about the various ways collaboration can work, feel free to chat with me at any point.
THE WORK OF THE COURSE: Specific details for major assignments forthcoming as the semester proceeds.
• Participation. This includes your attendance, involvement in class discussion, in-class assignments, and small-group work. As mentioned above, this is (by far) the most important component of the course.
• Leading Class Discussion. You will be asked to help lead discussion at least one time throughout the term. This is, by no means, a formal presentation. Rather, on the day you sign up for, be prepared to come to class with a few questions or topics related to the reading/film for the day, and bring at least one or two passages/clips which you’d like the group to look at in detail. You are also encouraged to engage the group in writing or other activities related to the text you’re discussing. As you are leading class discussion, I will be mostly silent, moderating the discussions to some degree but primarily acting as a member of the group w/ my own questions, comments, etc. This activity will generally help shape the direction our discussion takes for the rest of the class period.
• Blog. This is an offshoot of class participation. You will create and maintain a blog where you respond to issues that are raised in our reading and during class discussion. Unlike journaling or response papers you’d submit only to me, this will give you a chance to practice your writing in a more social forum. Like journaling, though, this is meant to be an informal outlet, so you shouldn’t worry about this writing being scrutinized or evaluated. Just make sure your ideas can be understood and that you engage your audience to comment. I will occasionally ask you to post a blog entry in response to questions I give to you; however, the majority of your entries will be flexible, allowing you to respond to any aspect of what we are studying. You will post a new entry (of about 500 words) to your blog prior to each class session. You should also comment (twice each week) on a blog entry from at least one of your peers. These comments should be as collaborative as possible. In other words, don’t just throw your ideas into a vacuum. Instead, ask questions of each other and use the other comments as a jumping off point by answering questions, amplifying or complicating ideas, etc. Make sure to go back and respond to comments made on your own blog. This will help keep your readers happy.
• Worksheets. As a tool to help us focus our discussion, there will be a number of short worksheets due during the term. These will consist of a single question or a set of questions designed to get you thinking about various themes, conflicts, and issues at play in the works we’ll be discussing. Refer to the schedule for more info.
• Media Interface Analysis. For this assignment, you will create a visual essay that engages in an analytic or argumentative way with one of the media interfaces we're discussing this term. You can address the content of a specific text but should especially consider how that content is influenced by its container.
1. You can choose to analyze any of the media interfaces we're studying: printed book, pop-up book, web-based text, Kindle, Kinect, iPad, etc. You can also compare two media interfaces, such as theatrical film and the iPhone as a film-viewer.
2. While you can use images or figures in your analysis, the primary medium for this work should be text.
3. You are encouraged to rethink text as a medium, considering innovative ways that typography can be used to convey your argument and to illustrate the effects of the interface you examine.
4. Maintain strict attention to detail in both the form and content of your own work.
5. Focus on using images, layout, and graphic design to convey your central points. While you don’t need a thesis statement, you do need a thesis, an argument that you explore in a focused way throughout your analysis.
6. Think in terms of volume not number of words, both literally and figuratively. In other words, it matters less how many words you produce and matters more how much you communicate with them.
7. Post this assignment on your blog and include a description of the work and what it accomplishes.
• Final Project. For this assignment, you’ll compose for a digital or interactive medium.
1. The parameters are fairly wide open, so feel free to creatively interpret any of the following rules.
2. You can choose to work with any of the digital or interactive media we’ve discussed throughout the term, including but not limited to artist’s book, pop-up, comic, video game, web-based media, installation, film, hypertext, etc. The idea is for you to do a bit of creative work yourself, investigating one or more of the subjects of the course, using whatever style/form/medium you find best suited to the task.
3. As with the other assignments, you should have a clear argument. Even if your work is primarily creative in nature, you should still think carefully about what you are trying to convey.
4. Include a 500 - 750 word artist’s statement along with (or as part of) your work.
5. You are encouraged to collaborate on this project in a group of 2-3.
6. Archive this project on your blog in whatever way feels appropriate to you.
GRADING: While I will be assigning final grades, you will also be evaluating your own work. At the middle of the term, you will write a midterm self-evaluation that reflects on your work and contributions throughout the course. You will complete a similar self-evaluation at the end of the term. Having your account of your own process is a very big part of how I assign grades. I will be giving feedback as necessary on major assignments, and you will definitely hear from me if I have concerns about your self-evaluations. The intention here is to help you focus on working in a more organic way, as opposed to working as you think you are expected to. If this process causes you anxiety, see me at any point to confer about your performance in the course to date.
Participation (including worksheets, leading discussion, etc.) -- 30%
Blog -- 20%
Media Interface Analysis -- 10%
Final Project -- 30%
Midterm and Final Self-evaluations -- 10%
GRADUATE STUDENTS: Graduate students enrolled in the course will also complete an annotated bibliography, which will be associated with the work they do for their final project. They will work on this bibliography throughout the term, and this work will be included in the 30% of the final grade that the final project constitutes. Additionally, the leading class discussion component required of all students in the class will be slightly modified for graduate students, who will be giving a slightly more formal presentation to the entire class.
PLAGIARISM: First, I will say that if you are unable to complete an assignment for any reason, it is in your best interest to discuss the situation with me. Authorship is a hotly contested topic in the academy. At what point do we own the words we say and write or the images we create? Among authors and filmmakers, creative influence, collaboration, and a certain amount of borrowing are acceptable (even encouraged). So, what sort of statement or warning about plagiarism would be appropriate in this class? Let me go out on a limb and say: in this class, I encourage you to borrow ideas (from me, from the authors we read, from the films we watch, from your classmates). However, even more, I encourage you to really make them your own—by playing with, manipulating, applying, and otherwise turning them on their head. In the end, it’s just downright boring to rest on the laurels of others. It’s altogether more daring (and, frankly, more fun) to invent something new yourself—a new idea, a new way of thinking, a new claim, a new image. This doesn’t give you license to copy something in its entirety and slap your name on it. That’s just stealing. Instead, think very consciously about how you are influenced by your sources—by the way knowledge and creativity depend on a sort of inheritance. And think also about the real responsibility you have to those sources.
UNIVERSITY POLICIES: Click here for important Marylhurst University policies.
Schedule
Format: Most class sessions will be 1/2 discussion, then 1/2 lab (during which we will experiment with various new media tools).
April 4: Introduction, "A Vision of Students Today"
LAB: Setting Up a Wordpress Blog
April 11: What is Hypertext? What is Electronic Literature?
Hayles, Electronic Literature (Ch. 1 and 2)
Electronic Literature Collection, v. 1 (not the whole thing, cause that would be crazy, just peruse works mentioned by Hayles, also on CD-Rom that comes with book)
LAB: Twitter
April 18: The Materiality of Text
Film: Helvetica(or on Netflix)
Hayles, Electronic Literature (Ch. 3)
Kinetic Typography (will look at examples in class)
LAB: Literary Data Visualization w/ Wordle
April 25: Interactive Fiction
A Field Guide to the North American Family
LAB: Attend Maps Presentation In Place of Lab
May 2: Literary Interfaces
Matthew Kirschenbaum, "What is Digital Humanities…?"
Kenneth M. Price, "Electronic Scholarly Editions"
Mark McDayter, "Are We There Yet? … 'The Waste Land' for iPad"
T.S. Eliot, "The Waste Land" as Hypertext
Recommended (if you have an iPad): The Waste Land iPad App
LAB: Open for Work on Media Interface Analysis
May 6: Media Interface Analysis Due
May 9: E-poetry
Heavy Industries, Spawn, ABCDEFG...
Hayles, Electronic Literature (Ch. 4)
Electronic Literature Collection, v. 1 (peruse more)
The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed (takes time to load)
Midterm Self-Evaluation Letter Due (e-mail anytime prior to class)
LAB: Coding (For tonight's lab we'll work through "Getting Started with Programming" on Codecademy)
May 16: Post-print Novel
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (first half)
Hayles, Electronic Literature (Ch. 5)
LAB: Code as Poetry
May 23: Post-print Novel
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (second half)
Craig Mod, "Books in the Age of the iPad"
"Is Print Dead?" Infographic
Film (optional): Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
LAB: The Machine is Us/ing Us
May 30: Film: Inception
LAB: Video Editing
June 6: Video Game: Limbo
LAB: Open for Work on Final Project
June 13: Final Project Colloquium (online via blogs)
Self-reflections
Mid-term Self-evaluation. Write a short letter to me (the equivalent of about 1 page), an informal letter that responds to, discusses or questions your experience so far in the class. This is also a chance for you to write specifically about your work on the media interface analysis, how you feel about your process, what you think of the final results, what is working, what still needs work, etc. You are welcome, though, to speak your mind about anything going on in class. You have creative license in the letter, as well, and may respond in any style, voice, or genre that you find best suited to the task. The letter is your chance to make the course content personal. I will frame comments to you as a response to this letter, so if there are particular things you’d like me to address about your work thus far, your writing, your blog, etc., this is the place to let me know.
Finally, what letter grade would you give yourself for the first half of this course and why? Consider attendance, preparedness for class, the strength of your work and other assignments, and your participation in the large group, small groups, and on the blogs. (Ideally, I would give everyone the grade they give themselves, but I reserve the right to raise or lower grades as appropriate.)
You should send the letter to me by e-mail (jstommel@marylhurst.edu) anytime after you've published your midterm project to your blog. Include a link to your midterm project in the letter.Final Project. For this assignment, you’ll compose for a digital or interactive medium.
1. The parameters are fairly wide open, so feel free to creatively interpret any of the following rules.
2. You can choose to work with any of the digital or interactive media we’ve discussed throughout the term, including but not limited to artist’s book, pop-up, comic, video game, web-based media, installation, film, hypertext, etc. The idea is for you to do a bit of creative work yourself, investigating one or more of the subjects of the course, using whatever style/form/medium you find best suited to the task.
3. As with the other assignments, you should have a clear argument. Even if your work is primarily creative in nature, you should still think carefully about what you are trying to convey.
4. Include a 500 - 750 word artist’s statement along with (or as part of) your work.
5. You are encouraged to collaborate on this project in a group of 2-3.
6. Archive this project on your blog in whatever way feels appropriate to you.
Final Self-evaluation: Write a letter to me (jstommel@marylhurst.edu) with answers to each of the following questions. No need to use an attachment. Just write or cut and paste your answers directly into the e-mail. Again, you have creative license in the letter, and may respond in any style, voice, or genre that you find best suited to the task. Please include a link to your final project somewhere in your letter.
1. Write a short evaluation of your work in this class (, addressing the following sorts of questions: How many absences did you have? How many blog entries/comments did you produce? Were you prepared for each class? Did you do all of the required assignments? How would you characterize your overall effort, interest, commitment to the midterm and final projects? Did your engagement increase or decrease as the semester went along? How did you meet the goals for the course?
2. What letter grade would you give yourself for the term and why? Consider attendance, preparedness for class, the strength of your written work and other assignments, and your participation in group discussions and on the blog. (Ideally, I would give everyone the grade they give themselves, but I reserve the right to raise or lower grades as appropriate.)
Labs
Textual Analysis with Wordle, or, literary data visualization
1. In your group of 2-3, choose a written literary text you'd like to analyze, something you can find online. This can be one of your favorite works of fiction or poetry, something you've written, something you're studying for another class, etc. If you'd like to work with poetry, make sure you have enough data -- the more words you have for this activity, the better your results will be. So, don't just use a single poem. Instead, try using the text from every poem written by a particular poet.
2. Cut and paste your raw textual data into Wordle. Play around with the various formatting options until your word cloud looks just how you want it to. Make careful choices so that both the words in the text and your engagement with the text is highlighted by the finished product. Since we're also discussing the film Helveticathis week, make sure to choose your typeface very carefully.
3. Now discuss. Look carefully at what you've created. What do you see? What does the word cloud you've created suggest about the original text? What does it tell you about the words, the themes, the character of the language, etc? What personality does the typeface you chose bring to the text? What questions does your Wordle raise for you as a reader? Take some notes as you're talking and be prepared to present your creation and your analysis of it to the rest of the class.
4. Capture a screen image of your Wordle. See these instructions from the Wordle FAQ. Then, E-mail the image to me, so I can bring it up on the large screen for discussion.
5. Think further about textual analysis. We will be experimenting more with this sort of textual analysis later in the term. If you find yourself fascinated by this kind of work, a good next step would be to read Geoffrey Rockwell’s “What is Textual Analysis”.
Here's the Wordle I created from the text of the description for this class:
And here's some of the ones we created in class, starting with the Dr. Bronner's soap label:
The entire text of every Emily Dickinson poem:
The text of an MSN article about American Bandstand:
And the poetry of Mary Oliver:
Code as Poetry.
1. In preparation for this lab, you should have already worked through all (or most of) "Getting Started with Programming" and/or "HTML Fundamentals" on Codecademy.
2. In this lab, we will be moving from thinking abstractly about how computers and digital technology have altered the evolution of print literature to experimenting more directly with the relationship between writing code and writing literature.
3. Write a poem or microfiction in code using JavaScript and/or HTML. Your code should be both human readable and machine readable. It doesn't have to accomplish much when compiled (i.e. read by a computer), but it must accomplish something.
4. For reference, here is a page with sample JavaScript, showing some code and what results from that code: http://www.w3schools.com/js/js_examples.asp. Here is a page with sample HTML, showing some code and what results from that code: http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_examples.asp.
5. Test your code. If you're coding in JavaScript, you can test your code here: http://writecodeonline.com/javascript/. If you're coding in HTML, you can test your code here: http://www.jmarshall.com/easy/html/testbed.html.
6. Consider polishing and submitting your work. If you create something you're especially proud of, you could continue to work on this for your final project and then submit it to this: http://code-poems.com/project.html or this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vwUPQO8zgXdLqfNnEOE7eUfaT4dw-0GTmltDJFYKG9k/edit.