mcannon2 – textual media

Textual Media Experiment

I actually rather enjoyed the textual media experiment! I say “actually” because at first I was not sure how I felt about having to create one of the things that I had struggled so much with understanding. There was a lot of thought process and a lot of kicking around random ideas.

Things I would keep the same:

* Assigning several weeks in advanced to allow for time to wonder, get lost, formulate a plan, get lost and reformulate said plan (annnnddd… repeat.)

* Leaving the assignment open for interpretation.. after all, EL is all interpretation! Allowing students to do whatever topic through whatever media is a big plus to NOT becoming overwhelmed with the assignment. It allows for us to use any avenue of creation we want.

* Even though it obviously wont be done for the first time again, obviously, I like when a professor allows for input before assigning a big project.

Things I would possibly change:

* Maybe create some sort of checkpoint halfway through just to see where students stand, even if its just a blog explaining the brainstorming process thus far.

Good assignment!

Blog 3: Lost Pig and Shade

While I must admit, and agree with other like comments for blog #3, I found the idea and process of Interactive Fiction to be quite odd at first discussion. Pared with this, I was not really sure what the point of this genre of writing was. My opinion on this will be discussed at the end of this post, but for now I would like to discuss Lost Pig and Shade.

I personally found these two “games” harder to navigate than ones discussed in our last class (Aisle). Especially in Shade, it seemed as though the program did not recognize items that it should have. For example, the background and beginning scene describes the room: telling us there is a window, desk, bathroom and luggage by the door. Why, if these items are mentioned in the description, are they not recognized in commands? I find this very discouraging for the program.

I found Lost Pig slightly more entertaining. Perhaps this is because I found it easier to navigate and the commands more recognized (after a few annoyances) or perhaps its because I am from a small farm town and can relate to the farm life and way of speaking. Also, one of the reasons I think I found this more interesting is because we were given a point. In Lost Pig, we are to find the pig and bring it back to the farmer; in Shade we are simply bumming around the apartment waiting for our ride to come. What exactly are we supposed to be doing?

Finally, my opinion on the IF genre as a whole. Again, I did not understand the purpose and the reasoning. However, now I see (and remember) that the whole purpose of writing is self expression and creativity. IF def does just this. Not only are the authors able to write what they want, but they are able to do it in a way that is beyond just writing. They show their creativity and playful side. This is the purpose of Interactive Fiction.

Reflections

The main point that impressed me about the CYOA books was exactly how many options there were in such a short book. By mapping, we as readers can actually see on paper how many choices there are. My book, for example, only had one overlapping page (as in single, dead in page, not full path), but still managed to have several different paths and many different endings. Also, by mapping we could see which paths and ends were “positive”, “negative” and indifferent.

Mapping also made me see how graphic and morbid this (older) childrens’ book is!

Representational vs. Evocative Meaning: Firefly

The textual media example that stuck out to me the most in class was the Firefly example. While Orsen Whale’s piece had sound, and Jabber had an unknown and exciting mystique, Firefly was interactive. This involvement peaked my interest the most, and will be used in to explain the differing dynamic between the representational meaning and the evocative meaning.

Upon first click, the representational meaning draws us, as readers, into Firefly. We are given a poem with 6 different stanzas, each falling on a new page, with a different angled picture of the same memorial as a background. Within each stanza there are 5 lines, and each line is 6 options deep. This allows us to be interactive in that there are thousands and thousands of possible different line choices. Deena Larson has written (in an order that continuously makes sense! ) 180 lines (6 pages x 5 lines/page x 6 lines/line=180) that create so many different themes and endings to the poem. In playing with these line choice combinations, we are able to create a new meaning to Firefly.

The evocative meaning that catches our attention is that each line reads so full of meaning, yet is several words long, and leaves each stanza at one full sentence. Deena Larsen has created a poem that can bring its readers to differing thought process and memories in the simple, yet powerful lines she has written and created. I remember in class I thought Firefly had a lot of meaning even before Professor Sample told us “click on the lines”. Once we had discovered this, the poem had whole new meanings and brought out new feelings, emotions and memories.

I think that Firefly is a great learning example for a textual meaning class because is simple, yet thoughtful and indepth. With so many line choices, a poem that is about death can be read as a poem with hope and love.