Voyant
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 rest of the page, however, just seems totally confusing. This is how I currently feel:
With that said, I am trying my best to stay positive. I have tinkered around on the website quite a bit. I am going to presume that Terry probably talks the most, but with the least amount of substance. It is encouraging to see how much more women are spoken about in the book than men. One thing I do appreciate about the Voyant website is that you can see how many times certain words are used.
I think the graph area of the website is where I truly get lost. I kind of understand what it’s supposed to do, but it still doesn’t mean much to me. Perhaps, it is because it looks like something a used in algebra. No matter the reason, it feels me with dread whenever I try to tinker with it.
One thing that excited me a little bit was when I realized that Charlotte Perkins Gilman was also the author of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. I loved that story and it’s interesting to see how different “Herland” is.
On the other hand, with as much as I seem to despise Voyant, I am excited to tinker with the Annotation Studio. I love making little notes when I read, and I look forward to seeing the opinions and thoughts of others!
Overall, I think I just hate to feel like I am failing and I feel like that is something I am going to be doing a lot of in this class. I guess that is just something that I will have to get used to. Hopefully, as time goes on I will become more familiar not only with Voyant, but with all of the programs that we have to work with. I am looking forward to at least trying in everything that I do!
5 Comments
wschmid
The first time I saw the Corpus View of Voyant I was slightly intimidated. Like you, the cloud word was the only thing that looked familiar. Having to jump headfirst into the shallow-end of the pool is nerve-racking. Help files are handy for specific topics you’re trying to learn, but in this situation, I suggest looking to YouTube. Anything brand new, I look for tutorials and reviews. I’ve found the review videos better in finding out how useful a piece of software is, and what it is capable of. If you have spare time, try loading Herland and The Yellow Wallpaper into Voyant together. Play around and see how the results differ when using multiple texts. This may also give some insight into Gilman’s writing.
Prof. DeSpain
A text comparison of those two is a great idea, Bill, and it might contain the seeds of a final project too.
laujack
Hopefully you realize this in reading the other blogs that you are not alone in getting frustrated. When using Voyant, I thought I had a grip on understanding the tools and in class on Wednesday Dr. DeSpain showed me a whole new feature of viewing each tool individually. It seems there is a lot of trial and error, but I do agree YouTube can be a life saver for information/tutorials.
kcookso
I think this class will be a whole lot of tinkering and failing over and over again until we can officially feel confident with a tricky site like Voyant. As long as we keep attempting I think it will start to become easier throughout the semester, this will also help to gain confidence in our technology knowledge. I’m excited to start feeling more comfortable and confident with technology as we move throughout the semester.
cmorone
The fact that you are at least somewhat familiar with the cirrus view is impressive! I was quite overwhelmed when first looking at Voyant we well. While I do find all of Voyant’s features to be helpful in their own way, I do agree that the graphing regions could use some descriptions or “Help” section. I’m sure that, throughout the semester, tinkering around with different types of technology will be something you will become more comfortable with.