Blogs

Early on in the class we utilized blogs to supplement our class discussion about the novels we were reading. Blogs provided current, contemporary information about centuries old material, while using a new technology to digest this information. We also started work on our own class blog, where we posted weekly discussions about the week’s readings. Part of the class blog also involved searching the internet for related material that could be tied into our blog posts and class activities.

We also experimented with unique modern styles of reading like close reading, distant reading, and machine reading. In these experiments we attempted to read novels in a non-traditional way and compare our understanding of themes and topics in relation to classic reading styles. During this, we also had an opportunity to use various web applications and iPad applications to continue to merge this idea of the old and the new. This was all part of a section of the class called “How To Not Read”, which outlined basic principles of essentially digesting information from a book without actually reading every word.

For some of the reading we also visited Project Gutenberg, a website dedicated to archiving digital versions of classical books, and Librivox, a similar website that hosts uploads of homemade audiobooks of novels in the public domain. While the material being presented to us in these formats was from the 19th century, the ways in which we interacted with them was all through 21st century technology, which was exactly what the class attempted to explore.

Our final project involved assembling some of the best work from throughout the semester written by students, and collaborating to present it in a professional published form. Through this final project, we hope to convey not just what we’ve learned as individuals, but collectively as a class. The chosen pieces of writing all come from various points in the semester, and observing the chronological order of them showcases the development of ideas and understanding that occurred during this semester in 19th Century British Novels: Technologies of Reading.

Throughout the semester, our class has looked at many different pieces of writing, many of which were blog styles, while others were projects that we were assigned throughout the course. We experimented with many different reading and writing styles including serialized reading, close reading, reading out loud, collaborative and networked reading, e-reading, and even ‘not reading.’ The concept of the class was to explore nineteenth century novels that have made a big impact on later pieces, and that are not read as often today.

This website was put together throughout the semester to showcase a compilation of the best writing work our class has done. We worked in four groups to fulfill all the criteria and to complete a website to publish these pieces in. This was a complete group effort. All the works on this website were done by the Fall semester 2012, English 366, 19th Century British English class. As a class we voted on the best writing pieces that were done throughout the semester based upon our four groups. We then divided the four groups into critics based upon an outline of criteria that would be used to critique all the pieces that were candidates for the final project.

During the course we submitted many blog posts that we worked together as a class to compile each other works, as well as critique them. Along side the blogs, we did a total of two other projects which involved an interesting concept of reading a story out loud and recording it, as well as ‘not reading’ a story, or distant reading. The essential part of the course was learning to work together as a group, as we were assigned groups for the blogs and projects. As well as working together in groups, our final project consisted of putting together a website showcasing the superlative pieces of writing from fellow classmates.

This website was put together as a class with different groups working on different parts of the website. Throughout the semester, anywhere from editing writing pieces, to designing and coding the actual website, our class has worked together as a whole to fulfill different components of this project. We have done a lot of work throughout the semester and have had many improvements as well as new skills picked up along the way. Skills that are important not only for school work, but also important for our future as professionals. We have evolved this semester as a class of just turning in assignments routinely, to working together as a whole to fulfill project deadlines, and making sure the quality of our work and our classmates works are submitted to the highest standards.

As stated on our course syllabus, “This course will consider the novel as a technology and reading as a process of adapting to new forms in different time periods and with different mediums and materials.” Not only did we examine the quality of writing and thought process of these different novels, but also we incorporated more modern ways of research and reading styles. Apart from this, we also examined the different attitudes of reading print vs. digital in today’s society and the supposed ‘death’ of print and reading, presently.

One part of the class focused on looking at ways in which early British Literature helped shape pop culture and how stories progressed as technology had undergone significant progression. One of the works we looked at was Mary Shelly’s novel Frankenstein, which has evolved from a story concerning humanity and the human spirit to one of the most iconic horror images of modern times. We used similar concepts in analyzing Mary Shelly’s novel as we did when we read A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Much like Frankenstein, Doyle’s Sherlock novels have undergone the same kind of transformation to fit into modern day society the same way Frankenstein had. After the publication of the first Sherlock Holmes book, there have been more than 50 television and film remakes of the stories, but most importantly, Sherlock’s character has embedded itself into pop culture today as a symbol of intellect and wit. Part of the classroom curriculum forced us to look into this concept and ascertain the importance of the incorporation of British novels in modern day pop culture.

Aside from studying the importance of how and why the novels evolved over time, the class also taught us how to read the novels in different perspectives. Aside from just closely reading novels in a effort to convey meaning and ascertain an important message (which most English classes teach young readers) this class helped develop distant reading skills and showed us how technology helps shape way we understand literature. Concerning distant reading skills, professor Whitson encouraged us to read an essay titled “How to not Read a Victorian Novel” in preparation for our second project which gave us insight on how to distantly read a book without having ever read it before. The essay deals with teaching students how distantly reading novels differs from closely reading and analyzing them. It offers students alternative ways to analyze texts by simply understanding important words which stand out throughout the book. In order to find out which words were used the most in these books, students were required to make word clouds and analyze possible motifs or ideas regarding the work as a whole. Later in the year, students read JITP articles concerning the final project and one which stood out was the essay titled, “MyDante: An Online Environment for Contemplative and Collaborative Reading”. This essay informed students of an online source known as MyDante, an online study environment which contained the actual text, as well as documents regarding the text which would boost the reader’s understanding of difficult books such as The Divine Comedy. Using these methods, readers were given other ways of analyzing and interpreting novels such as Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet.

Also discussed in depth in class is Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret. A sensation novel extremely popular in its time, and sadly underappreciated in classes nowadays, Lady Audley’s Secret brought many themes to our discussion. Power, adultery, deception, and family are a few of the prominent theme present in the novel. This work was also accompanied by the essay, “The Victorian Sensation Novel, 1860-1880” which covered common themes and aspects of the sensation novel, many of which are also present in Lady Audley’s Secret. The essay explicitly mentions Braddon’s novel as a prime example of the Victorian sensation novel, which one can infer from the majority of the common traits.Lady Audley’s Secret “features a beautiful, clever young woman… who is adept at disguise and deception,” which is clearly embodied through Lady Audley herself. The novel also hits several characteristics in the essay, including bigamous marriages, misdirected letters, romantic triangles, characters adopt disguises, aristocratic villains, and heightened suspense detailism, all of which are clearly represented in Lady Audley’s Secret.

Our discussions of the novel centered much around the topic of whether or not Lady Audley is a villain or a victim, and the class seemed fairly divided on the subject. This is one thing that makes the novel so intriguing and engaging, and was so popular when it came out. The reader sympathizes with Lady Audley once her past is revealed, yet also loathes her because of her criminal actions. Throughout the course of the novel, Lady Audley also never seems to develop a clear personality, which is suspicious yet leads to more mystery and suspense, and also relates back to her being “adept at disguise and deception.” However, what may be one of the most frustrating yet successful tricks from the novel is the dragging on of the details. For instance, Lady Audley takes pages to reveal all that she has done, which makes the reader want more, but it does not come quick enough.

As a sensation novel, Lady Audley’s Secret encompasses many of the characteristics pinpointed in the essay. As mentioned, it was extremely popular, but may have been so because there were not many other novels like it at the time. The sensation novel was a growing trend, andLady Audley’s Secret provided mystery, crime, and a female villain, which was also quite a discrepancy from the time period. Women were supposed to be proper and ladylike, and Lady Audley is; she just possesses a dark past, too. This fact added to the novel’s popularity, and is important to take note of. Lady Audley’s Secret became trendsetting, and served as an interesting discussion topic for class.