Technology and Literature

I found TimelineJS to be an extremely helpful tool. Though it was intimidating for me to use Google Sheets in such a way for the first time, I quickly got the hang of it and actually enjoyed the experience. In addition to that, the home page on TimelineJS had a tutorial video, which I ended up watching since I did not want to risk messing up a visual tool for learning which I know others would be looking at. I love creating things such as PowerPoints and Prezis, so this tool seemed to be no different to me. Furthermore, I enjoy learning through visualizations such as timelines, so this was…

In constructing and/or viewing digital visualizations of context, I find that I am able to learn more through researching contextual moments and individuals. For example, in researching for my group’s timeline, I gained insight about historical moments that impacted the women’s rights movement during the time Herland was published. Through this I could better understand how Gilman formulated this ideal society to complement the one she was living in. My research process for this timeline was relatively simple. The main source I used to gather information was Google. In the beginning, I searched “women’s suffrage movement” and found a few websites that had created timelines to highlight key moments leading up to…

Success! For future endeavors, this was accomplished by inserting the link provided in the “Share Link” box on TimelineJS directly into the “Visual” tab of WordPress. https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=10irwkCZnrxi0W6jejJB28Ss55JQ36FjRdojBfnKcxlw&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1AkmHqZj0Ujb8-ji-FpFpFcM00Vrws9Hxfr8Se1dmjZ8&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650

https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1API_cN4tccGSFFOFkJyYeBhaslNe8YyO1n3kEcaBOvI&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650

When I read chapters five through seven of Herland, I found it to be beneficial to use the annotation studio. I have used Google Docs in the past for group annotations of passages. For me I gain a fuller reading experience in reading other people’s observations. For example, reading others’ comments on the cats’ section made me think more thoroughly about it. And the comment about Eleanor Abernathy from the Simpsons made me smile. Also we all made annotations about Terry being annoying and close-minded. Another thing I found interesting was the annotations concerning what may happen as the story progresses. As I read, I noticed hints of darkness within…

Annotation Studio is a tool much more to my liking than Voyant. It was easy to highlight passages and add comments. I did find that I was being selective in the comments I posted. Normally, I would make any comment that came to mind and add it to my e-book. Having my comments open to the class, there were several that I decided not to post. These were, more often than not, abusive, disgruntled, cuss-filled exclamations about Terry. I did find that having access to classmates’ comments aided in my close reading of Herland. Quite often, I misinterpret a passage or completely miss subtle subtexts. Being able to see what…

In terms of my own reading, with Herland specifically, I find that my mind tries to find common themes throughout the text. Primarily with our current text, I look for the sociological concepts that are sprinkled throughout our reading. While doing this, I try to apply the social commentary given off by the reading to today’s society/ current ideals we have in modern culture. After our class discussion last Wednesday and hearing what everyone had annotated, I observed that we all seemed to take notice of the same situations and themes. There was a strong theme of male vs. female throughout our reading, which we all seemed to agree upon.…

The Annotation studios was a very basic website, there was not much too it. It was pretty neat how you could post your input as you read and read my classmates comments about the text but it did not add any other cool features. It was very bare minimum, the crowd reading was very helpful and added insight from classmates that I had not thought of. I learned that annotating as I read allows me to remember and mark important details of the text. I enjoy being able to look back and recall what exactly I was thinking at that part of the text. By reading my classmates annotations I…