Response to E-literature

         There are many different examples of electronic literature; online poems, visual and interactive pieces, auditory elements and many more.  Electronic literature is defined as several forms and threads of practice, some of which are: Hypertext fiction and poetry, on and off the Web. Computer art installations which ask viewers to read them or otherwise have literary aspects. E-literature is meant to take you on an adventure of some sort, whether it is through interaction or telling a story using visuals. It is meant for you to be able to fully picture in your mind the words that are being portrayed to you. 
         Pieces of Herself is an interactive form of e-literature where the reader uses the computer mouse to travel through a house and town picking up pieces and dragging them to a woman’s body. It is almost seen as a dress up doll, which allows the reader to customize their experience. You cannot remove any of the animations from the body once they are placed there, which is a good example of how the world designs and shapes a women as a whole. The voices heard in the background are actual women who have been interviewed about a particular situation that matches the story of the piece. Many women see themselves in a different light than everyone else does, and this story does a good job of showing that. This is “an exploration of feminine embodiment and identity in relationship to public and private space.”
         Everyone views things differently; which means that we all learn, see, interact and appreciate things differently. Just because someone understands and appreciates the work of Juliet Davis in Pieces of Herself, doesn’t necessiarly mean that others will view it in the same way. Others may connect to a less interactive piece and find themselves caught up in the words versus auditory pieces and visual versions of electronic literature.

An Adventure of Digital Poetry

When we explore e-poetry we first must define e-poetry. E-poetry is poetry that arises from an engagement with the possibilities offered by digital media.  Digital poetry is a poetic practice made possible by digital media and technologies. Digital poetry is created using technologies and meant to be read using technologies.

The Sweet Old Etcetera is an interactive piece of e-poetry using the works of e.e Cummings. E.E Cummings words are brought to life through the use of technology. The Sweet Old Etcetera gives new meaning to e.e. Cummings poetry through motions, graphics, and sound. “The Sweet Old Etcetera” is a personal response to the poet’s work, aiming to capture the poem’s playful spirit in an interactive, experiential, and highly visual way. As a reader exploring this e-literature piece the interactive text generates more feelings for the poetry as you watch the poetry fall off the tree like the actual leaves in the poem. The motion of the leaves falling gives real life to the poem

The words of The Sweet Old Etcetera form a vivid background of a picturesque landscape. The landscape paints a picture for the reader to actually see through the poem. The poem connects to reader though its pictures, sounds, and the words of e.e. Cummings.

Other works of e-poetry use moving words to actually act out the poem. They also use sounds to make the reader feel certain emotions. Using technology writers can create e-poetry the constantly changes depending on the reader and what the reader wants to actually experience from the poem.

Digital poetry allows the reader to interact and connect with the poems they are reading. When the reader interacts with the poetry they are able to get different feelings and meanings from the poem. When creating e-poetry authors try and use the sounds and motions of the words to convey their message to the reader.

What is Digital Humanities?

There are different forms of Digital Humanities one can look at. Electronic literature refers works with important literary aspects that take advantage of the capabilities and contexts provided by the stand-alone or networked computer. In these types of interactive fiction, the story has already been created and the reader must just click through to see the ending. Some types of electronic literature are, Mr. Plimpton’s Revenge, The Sweet Old Etcetera, and My Body a Wunderkammer.

Mr. Plimpton’s Revenge was created as a google map essay and is a funny and easy to follow piece. This piece of e-literature was written by Dinty Moore that has a visual of where each new location the story takes place. It makes it easier to visualize where you are rather than the regular literature pieces that is all text based. This one in particular is non interactive piece with a lot of quirky ideas involved. For example, Moore was on too many drugs to have a real conversation and he didn’t remember his encounter with Mr. Plimpton except when Moore made a fool of himself. What I think makes this piece stand out is the way the user has to interact with the piece and the visuals you get out of it.

The Sweet Old Etcetera is an interactive piece of e-poetry using the works of e.e Cummings. The Sweet Old Etcetera adds new layers and meaning to e.e. Cummings poetry through motions, graphics, and sound. “The Sweet Old Etcetera” is a personal response to the poet’s work, aiming to capture the poem’s playful spirit in an interactive, experiential, and highly visual way. As a reader exploring this e-literature piece the interactive text generates more feelings for the poetry as you watch the poetry fall off the tree like the actual leaves in the poem.

My Body a Wunderkammer is a piece of hypertext fiction written by Shelley Jackson, where the story progresses by clicking on certain part the author has written about. Within those pieces of text there are more links that you can click on to take you farther in exploring the stories. What's interesting about this piece is the ‘Wunderkammer’ translate to “cabinets of curiosities”, so continuing through the story you are able to get a greater sense of the story.  The author of this piece intends to focus on the relationship between human identity and the body's constituent organs, fluids, connective tissues, and other parts.

All three of these electronic literature pieces can not explain e-literature on their own.. Mr. Plimpton's Revenge; a google map essay, The Sweet Old Etcetera; e-poetry, and My Body a Wunderkammer; a semi-autobiographical hypertext are all pieces of electronic literature. These pieces are all constructed differently using a wide range of technologies to tell their stories. The one thing they all have in common is that they are pieces of e-literature meant to be viewed using technology.

Chris Carder
Tyler Nigro
Kendal Mahony
Justin Zerbee

Response to E-poetry

E-Poetry is poetry that arises from an engagement with the possibilities offered by digital media. E-poetry is not your regular form of poetry, it takes time and some understanding to decipher what the piece is really about. Most pieces of E-poetry have a deeper meaning or you need to have a understanding for the piece itself. For example, in class we looked at a variety of pieces and no two were the same. We interacted with My Body a Wunderkammer, Tailspin, and Public Secrets just to name a few. After reviewing these pieces, you start to get a better understanding of the meanings behind e-poetry as a whole. All the pieces we have covered in class, have had some type of message to convey to the reader. In Public Secrets by Sharon Daniel and Erik Loyer, the author takes us inside a massive women's prison called the CCWF or Central California Women's Facility. While interacting with Public Secrets, you are able to listen to testimonies of women from inside the facility. In these testimonies, the women tell you about their experience from inside the prison. As you progress through the piece, you can listen and follow along with each testimony from the women. What this piece does is bring to the attention of the reader of all the wrong that is being done. It is titled with the name, “Public Secrets” because the public is aware of all the wrongdoing that is going on, but they just choose to do nothing about it.

Not all e-poetry has a deeper meaning like Public Secrets, but most do make you think. Two other examples, with not such a deep meaning, would be “Puddle” and “Paddle” by Neil Hennesy. Neil uses words in a way that represents the formation of a puddle, but the animation is so minimal. To best see how this piece is demonstrate visit the following hyperlink Puddle. Finally, Paddle, is along the same principle Puddle follows. Where by the changing simple letters the words will take on a entirely new meaning. Best represented in this hyperlink Paddle. In all, E-poetry can have an interesting impact to catch the eye of a lot of people. It takes some time to get used to how to interpret e-poetry, but once you get the hang of it they are pretty interesting to read.

E-Poetry

E-poetry, also known as electronic poetry, is digital content of poetry that arises from interaction with the poem. Electronic poetry is possible thanks to digital media and technologies. There are many examples of e-poetry such as a poem entitled “Puddle” by Neil Hennessy. The poem begins with the word ‘drip’ falling from the top of the page and then stopping. That happens once again, and now we see the word ‘drip’ stacking on top of the word ‘drip’. Next, the world ‘dribble’ falls down in the same path and fashion that the word ‘drip’ fell in, but this time the word ‘dribble’ replaces the two drips that were seen stacked previously. Now, the only word seen is dribble. As the word dribble sits at the bottom of the page, the word drip appears to fall one more time, only this time it causes the word dribble to transform into the word ripple, as it moves in a rippling way. Finally, the last thing the poem reads is there word ripple. Then, the poem restarts and does the same thing all over again. Though the poem is simple, if you printed it out to a psychical copy on paper you would not be able to read the poem the same way, if you are even able to read it at all.

Electronic poetry could be mistaken for poem that was just typed and published to print or on a website. However, e-poetry depends on some sort of interaction or digital effect to allow the poem to be read. It can not simply be read on a paper. E-poetry is a genre of e-literature (electronic literature) and a poetic practice that utilizes the effects provided by the rapidly evolving technologies that shape digital media.