Semester+Project

=Lesson Plans for Digital Literature Pieces:=

v To Read closely, with attention to the detailed use of diction, syntax, metaphor, and style. v To Examine the social constructs of identity, and different activities that fall into deviant or normative categories. v To Learn to disrupt and subvert the normal tendencies of order, and categories of orientation. v To Interact with texts of various genres, time periods, written by authors of various races, genders, and nationalities; and also to be able to //distinguish// between these genres. v To Think creatively about problems by using the texts they have explored as a broadening of one’s own experience and practical knowledge. =//Public Secrets// by Sharon Daniels= // Public Secrets // is essentially a fully textual/auditory piece that is unlike much of what we have “read” experienced so far this semester. Part of the reason that I chose this piece is to have a conversation about the ways in which this might now seem like an unusual digital literature to us this late in the semester. There is nothing flashy about this piece in any visual way. The text all comes from actual interviews with prison inmates (all women) who are serving time in California’s State Prison System. Sharon Daniels was able to interview the women inside the prison by being part of a non-profit organization where she was labeled as “legal assistance” so she was able to record the interviews. The laws had changed over the years to prohibit the women having any contact with computers and by allowing family members recording anything, as well as restrictions on //who// is allowed to visit inmates. There are a few ways in which to navigate the piece, you can read a whole page of excerpts form one individual or a page that has pieces that are connected with each other. For this week’s readings, I was happy to read about the issue of what is included in the cannon and the reasons that critics think that some texts are excluded from the cannon. I often wonder why it is that there are some texts that used to be included in the cannon fall away over time. In the introduction to the chapter Richter discusses the problem with the Romantic texts that are included in the cannon. It seems like, to Richter that there are only a certain number of texts that are allowed to be included within certain sections of the cannon and if a new text enters into the cannon for any number of reasons, that then another text has to fall by the wayside. That is one of my problems with the cannon as a model for what we should read; who chooses what is included and why are there texts that are left out? Shouldn’t be allowed to include anything for our classrooms that we feel would benefit our students and enrich their understanding and learning? I struggle with knowing that I might work for an institution that has a set list of texts to teach in an undergraduate entry level course one day. Students might learn more from reading a graphic novel than reading Beowulf. Who chooses what is in the cannon is also a topic that most of the author’s in this section speak about. What we read is just as important a question as how or why we read. Jane Tompkins is interested in why certain texts are included in the cannon when others are not that were very once very popular. The example she uses is //The Wide, Wide World//. This book used to be extremely popular when it first came out. It would have graced the top of the //New York Times// best seller list had it came out in our time. How is it that a book as popular as this is not included in the cannon? When this book first came out, people used to day that everyone owned two books; The Bible and //Wide, Wide World//. The type of literature that was in fashion during this time was sentimental fiction such as this inclusion from Susan Warner.
 * Course Goals **

=//My Body a Wunderkammer// by Shelley Jackson= It is also the first time that Whitman places the poems into 52 groups corresponding with weeks in a year and numbered the lines 366 for days of the year. It was the most expensive of all the previous editions, selling for $3.00, whereas before it sold for $1.25 or $1.00. It was the first time that this book was published without a frontispiece or any illustrations marking the serious tone that Whitman had taken after the war. There were three different version of the book, all paid for by Whitman and published by William E. Chapin in New York. Since Whitman was involved in the printing and publishing of the edition there were discrepancies in the different versions. There was only one printing but there seem to be at least three versions of this edition that have been recovered. Some had copies of “Drum Taps” and other Civil War poems sewn into the back bindings. Some copies of the book had other poems like “Songs Before Parting.” It is the most chaotic of all six editions that seemed haphazardly thrown together and published with some of the spirit of the post Civil War era intact. Whitman was unsure of where to place these poems and how the Civil War itself fit into the spirit of //Leaves of Grass//. There are many other versions of this text, six other editions during Whitman’s lifetime. There will be mention of these other editions in the introduction, but no text to show how they differ since there are other editions, like the Norton Critical, that show differences between the original 1855 and the later 1891-92 editions, as well as unpublished/uncollected poems and manuscripts. What this means is that while they will be mentioned in the introduction, there will not be actual textual evidence of how earlier and later editions varied from the 1867 edition and what poems were taken out or added later on. There will just be mention of these others editions to serve as contextual background information, and also in a publishing history context. As of right now though, there are no other critical versions of the 1867 edition. I will account for these different versions in the introduction and mention the other six editions also in a chronology publishing history timeline. There will also be a brief mention of the differences in these other editions and what poems were excluded or added to this edition in the introduction. This will show how this edition differs drastically from the other six editions. There were six poems added to this edition and these will be marked to show that they were new to this edition and were not in the 1855, 1856, or 1860 editions. Those six poems were “Inscription,” “The Runner,” “Leaves of Grass 2,” Leaves of Grass 3,” “When I Read the Book,” and “The City Dead-House.” Also the Civil War poems like “Drum Taps” and “Sequel to Drum Taps” that Whitman added, will be marked to show that they were placed in the back of the new edition. There will be mention that some versions contained all poems, and some only a couple, while another just the new //Leaves// with the six added poems. I am proposing a critical edition of the 1867 //Leaves of Grass// for undergraduate purposes. It can be used in an American Lit survey class, a poetry class, or a specific seminar class in addition to other editions of the book. I think that since this scholarly edition I am proposing will have some criticism, but also a large focus on the publishing history and historical context that publishing houses like Longman would be appropriate for publishing this book. This edition will give a focus on the publishing history aspect of this and other editions of //Leaves// that Whitman was intrinsically involved in publishing. It will also give information that pertains to how Whitman was unsure of how to fit the Civil War poems into //Leaves// and struggled with how to contextualize this chaotic mess of a war into his poetry about unity and love for mankind. The publishing of the book that did take place is a direct representation of this uncertainty, and it is useful for students to see how history can affect publishing. There is little criticism and research done on the 1867 edition, which is why I think it is important that someone take the time to do a well researched and scholarly edition of the book. The main reason why this is important to do is because the publishing of this edition was affected by the history. This was the very first post-bellum edition of //Leaves//, and yet there is very little written about it. The later editions show Whitman incorporating the Civil War poems into other sections of //Leaves// and binding the whole thing together. This edition is drastically different from those later editions. There is evidence that Whitman almost didn’t think that there should be any more editions of //Leaves// because he was so unsure of how it would fit into this post-bellum world. Since there was this edition however, it is important to look at how the writing that he did after he served as a nurse for the soldiers tried to meet with the earlier writing of the 1855, 56, and 60 //Leaves of Grass//. By looking at the actual publishing of this edition and the variations of the printings, one can see the difficulty and uncertainty of how this history of the war was going to fit into this book. This was the first time that Whitman placed the poems into 52 groups making it the first edition to take on the calendar year shape of all the later editions, and marked the lines to 366 like the days of the year. There was one printing, three or four different versions, some containing all Civil War poems, some contained only a few. The actual binding and sewing of the poems into the back of the copies is also textual evidence to some of Whitman trying to help heal the nation as his “earlier editions” by accompanying it with what happened during the war and literally binding/sewing them together. Considering the publishing and historical context surrounding this edition, a scholarly edition of the 1867 //Leaves of Grass// will be useful in contrast and in discourse with, the already existing Whitman scholarship and other critical editions.

=//88 Constellations for Wittgenstein// by David Clark= =//Game, Game, Game, and again game// by Jason Nelson=

=In-class/Out-of-class scope for the course:= Digital Literature Unit =Semester Project for the course:=
 * **IN-CLASS** || **OUT-OF-CLASS** ||
 * || Wiki post on the reading for Tuesday, "Public Secrets" by Sharon Daniels. Discussions Questions provided. ||
 * T, 11/15 Start of Digital Literature Unit, viewing of the piece during class, excericse and Introduction into Digital Lit. ||  ||
 * || Read Act II of Othello, paying close attention to the language, and the plot of the story, are there themes emerging yet? ||
 * Th, 11/17: Act II of Othello, what are the emerging themes we see so far, jealousy, ect. *CAT* ||  ||
 * || Read Act III of Othello, start to look for any character or scene you may want to play later on for an in class exercise ||
 * F, 4/8: More Othello, Act III. Themes we are tracing throughout the play, classic elements from the intro we see here *IN CLASS WRITING EXERCISE* Hand out- Rubric for Close Reading Paper 2 ||  ||
 * || Read Act IV of Othello, make sure your Close Reading Paper 2 is done and proofread. Do Moodle post by 6:00 pm on Sunday ||
 * M, 4/11: Go over Moodle posts, and any questions we have with the play so far. **Close Reading Paper 2 Due** ||  ||
 * || Read Act V of Othello; start to think more about any scene you may want to perform. Write down any lingering questions you have about the play. ||
 * W, 4/13: Wrap up the classic section of the drama unit, assign groups to perform different scene in class Friday, go over any questions about the play *COLT* ||  ||
 * || Go over the character’s lines you are assigned to get the timing and words down correctly to perform in class on Friday ||
 * F, 4/15: IN CLASS PERFORMANCE OF VARIOUS SCENES FROM OTHELLO *QUIZ* ||  ||
 * || Read the Riders to the Sea and notice any changes to language and writing style that you see in Synge post on Moodle by 6:00 pm on Sunday ||
 * M, 4/18: Go over Moodle posts, point out the differences we see from the first play we read to this one. Can it be considered modern yet? ||  ||
 * || Read Trifles and think about what is considered in the play to be a small “trifle” How are the men and women viewed differently in the play? ||
 * W, 4/20: Break up into groups to discuss if they think the wife is guilty or not, group discussion, listing of characteristics of gender and “trifles” *CAT* (announcement of A Raisin in the Sun on e-reserve at the library to watch the first half of the movie by 4/29) ||  ||
 * || Start reading A Raisin in the Sun Act I, Scene I and look for time period and racial issues surrounding the play ||
 * F, 4/22: Go over Act I, Scene I from A Raisin in the Sun and talk about the racial issues and the issues of the time period seen in the play *IN CLASS WRITING EXERCISE* ||  ||
 * || Read the rest of Act I and all of Act II from a Raisin in the Sun and start to think about the importance of family dynamics, post on Moodle by 6:00 pm on Sunday ||
 * M, 4/25: Discussion of the rest of Act I and all of Act II paying close attention to the family dynamics in the play and the pressure of the matriarch/woman authors of plays ||  ||
 * || Read Act III from a Raisin in the Sun write down any final questions from this okay or the unit in general to bring to class Wednesday ||
 * W, 4/27: Finish with the play and Act III. Any questions about the play or the Drama Unit before we close the semester, do we see “melting” or branching out in drama? *COLT* ||  ||
 * || Watch the first half of A Raisin in the Sun movie from 2008, either rented, on YouTube, or at the library on e-reserve, go in groups of two to save time ||
 * F, 4/29: IN-CLASS viewing of the 2008 movie edition of the play, look for differences from the play we see. *QUIZ* ||  ||
 * || Write down any questions students may have about the final, and start to prepare for what will be covered on the exam ||
 * M, 5/2: *REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAM* Handout of Rubric for Final Exam *Surprise FONDUE party * ||  ||
 * || Review and Study for Final Exam ||
 * M, 5/6: **Final Exam/Last Day of Class** ||  ||

=//Pottermore// by J.K. Rowling= ====The semester project for this course will involve the students engaging in the reading/exploring of this website as a piece of digital literature. Since this piece was designed to be a supplementary text to the books/films, there is acutal text to be read that further explains certain events and characters that may already be familiar to the readers. It has been created in a digital fashion so that the "readers" can interact in a way with the texts in a way that was not possible with just the books or the films. Students will sign up as a user on the first day of class and will try to engage the piece all semester long. Since there is an interactive element to this piece, students will also be able to also engage with other student sin the course to further their own story. The opening page asks the question "Are You Magical?" This will be a question asked all semester as students explore the wide variety of magical realist texts that are inlfuenced with a Queer Theory background.====