The representational meaning of Firefly is quite clear: A mere click of any line will seamlessly fit into an already established somber poem. The interactive process allows the audience to change the direction and tone of the poem. It is up to the viewer to decide the path that the poem takes. One interesting aspect of the representational meaning can be found by seeing how replacing one line with another alters the poem’s meaning. It is also a fun website- I found myself surprised that no matter how many times I clicked, the poem still flowed perfectly, and still amazingly managed to retain its morose qualities.
The evocative meaning of Firefly is more complex. One meaning that came to me was how the site showed how trivial the words we use seem to be, and how arbitrary a process it is when we pick certain words above others to express how we feel. A poem is seen by many as a mode of poetic expression- every word means something and contributes to a delicate message. Firefly brought to mind the idea that these words aren’t in reality so precious. They are, in fact, easily replaceable with another completely different phrase.
The dynamic between the evocative and representational meanings of Firefly is certainly interesting. While the representational meaning shows the viewer’s ability to be interactive and influence the progression of a poem to their heart’s content, the evocative meaning delves a bit deeper and shows how strange it is that we live in a community that values words and evaluates them based on their difficulty and sequence. Firefly‘s evocative meaning makes me consider how cynical and almost silly some facets of the English community have become. While some words compliment each other and flow nicely, there is always another combination that would likely work just as well. Both meanings allowed me to examine and appreciate what Firefly presents, as well as what it means.