While I realize that Voyant is something that we are required to access and use for the class, my first impression would have to be that I am not a fan.  I am feeling even less confident about the use of technology in this class than I was before, unfortunately.  Maybe I’m being too negative, but I just don’t really get it.  I can see the use in the cirrus, as I used something similar back when I used to think I was a !~professional writer~ and kept a blog with all of my “poetry”.  So, the cirrus aspect of the webpage at least looked slightly familiar to me.  The…

  Voyant was tricky and just all around confusing when I first started using it. It has so many complex tools that made it seem very overwhelming. And every time I thought I was getting the hang of it this would pop up:   But after some tinkering, I was able to learn a few things before even reading the first four chapters. This first image above showed me the main words of the book, some words that we have not even gotten to yet. I really enjoyed being able to tinker and maneuver my way around this website. Trial and error while working on something is actually really rewarding.…

The word voyant felt uncannily familiar, although I couldn’t place it precisely. A little digging, and it turns out voyant, in French, is the present participle of voir (to see). It’s been two years since my last French class, and I’ve already forgotten most of it. So, Voyant is supposed to help you see hidden aspects of the text you’re researching. The name is appropriate to be sure. As discussed in class, Voyant is a very analytical and statistical tool. As with statistical surveys, it takes some experience to properly interpret the data for it to be useful. Having just been introduced to it, we cannot use Voyant to its…

In beginning my tinkering with on Voyant, I entered the full text of Herland in the search, as entering the URL of the e-text did not at all give accurate results regarding the contents of the text. Once being navigated to the Corpus, it became clear that the novel at least has something to do with women and men named Terry and Jeff, as these were among the most frequently used words. The word “country” also popped up quite a bit (137 times, compared to “Jeff” being mentioned 152 times); this caused me to assume the women and these men had something to do with a country. Looking back after…

In using Voyant, I learned about commonly used words in the text and their frequency throughout the text. The most popular word is Terry (used 247 times). Also with the book being named Herland and reading the back of the book I guessed woman or women would be a popular word. Sure enough women is the second most popular word (used 209 times). The next two words were said (170) and like (155). Finally, the fifth highest word was Jeff (used 152 times). Not only did Voyant show the most popular words, it also charted how much they were used throughout the book (relative frequencies). While there are some variants, the…

Hi, my name is Kate Cookson. I am recently changing my major and am looking at the integrative studies program. This program allows you to choose two focus areas, so as of now I have decided the focuses to be English, and Communication Studies. I do not have a complete set plan on what I want to do for a career yet but hopefully soon I can be more confident and set in what I want to do. I am due to graduate in spring 2019 so I better figure it out quick! I currently work as a preschool Teacher when I am not in school.   Honestly technology and…

Hey everyone! My name is Gabby Ellis and I’m excited to be in class with you all this semester. In all honesty, I am taking this class because it fulfills the last requirement for my minor. This seems like an intriguing course and is definitely not what I expected it to be when I initially signed up. I consider myself to be a beginner it terms of my relationship to technology. Beyond using my phone and different apps, I really have no technological knowledge. There are still times where I accidentally discover some new feature on my phone after 2 years of having the device. When it comes to computers,…

NOTE: All views are my own, and should not be taken seriously. At least that is what the voices tell me. All characters, perspectives and seriousness are purely unintentional and will not stand up in a court of law (just like this disclaimer). We’ve had two classes, so I’m not sure I’d call this a real introduction. Perhaps a warning of the potential peril that sits betwixt you and the door? My name is Bill Schmidt. I earned my A.A.S in Drafting/CAD Technology from Lewis & Clark Community College a couple years ago. Worked for quite a while for an engineering company in the energy industry. I left there and…

My name is Colleen Moroney, and I am a senior here at SIUE with a double major in Psychology and English. With this, I am aiming to go to graduate school for either School Psychology or Environmental Psychology (I have yet to decide). In the Fall of 2017, I actually transferred here from Missouri State University, where I completed my first two years. I decided to come to SIUE because it is closer to home (St. Louis), as I was feeling extremely homesick. That is odd for me to say, as I originally chose a college far from home to get away. Besides getting to see my family more, another…

My name is Molly Wilson and I transferred in as a senior to SIUE in the fall of 2016.  I am 26 years old.  I earned both my A.A. Degree in Fine Arts and my A.A.S. Degree in Early Childhood Education from Rend Lake College. I worked as a substitute teacher at Rend Lake College Foundation Children’s Center in 2015 after my father passed away from cancer in 2014, before starting to pursue my Bachelor’s Degree.  I loved working with the infants and toddlers and would do it again in a heartbeat if I had the time.  I have also worked as a service clerk at Walgreens for the past…