Title:

Plot:

Emoji story analysis:

Using the conventional emoji keyboard has led me to discover there is not emoji for meerkat or wildebeest which meant I was not going to be able to retell The Lion King, the last movie I had watched, so it was on to the last novel read. This was going to be a challenge because although the title was simple, the story itself proved to be more difficult. 

In order to guess this book title, you might need to be familiar with the book, if you are it should be easy to decipher. The plot might be as difficult to puzzle out as it was to write.  And so I began with the title and wrote in ideas or concepts and groupings of words or ideas rather than in syllables which are only bites of sound meaning little. 

The difficulties in my writing in emojis began with the plot of this story being circular rather than a linear plot line.  Many books that I have read lately seem to actually tend to do this more complex plot line. A colleague (English department head) recently told me that First Nation stories often have a circular path and yes linear, circular and iterative are indeed in the English Arts Curriculum. The story begins at the end, then flashes back to an earlier time in the character’s line in order to explain the final scene. There is also a point where the plot flashes back yet again, twice actually.  

Bolter claims that “[s]ince its invention, printing has placed the word effectively in control of the image” (48).  In the case of emojis, they are incontrol as they become the words.  Word choice is governed by the availability of emojis. I worried that I should not announce the gender of a character using a pink or blue shirt.  I soon discovered that babies did not come in all colours and races which although not central to my plot would have helped.  I tried to create groupings or “families” of character to make them more identifiable. Also missing were some occupations that I wanted as well as at least one  medical procedure. And where was the pregnant emoji?  Seriously? I was looking for that as well and was wondering how we petition for meerkats, wildebeests and pregnant people. 

What was omitted also was interesting: no punctuation, spelling or grammar to worry about, although, I did section ideas into sort of sentences or lines as well as adding spaces between lines to create some semblance of paragraphs between ideas and spans of time. It was easier to create the pauses using a lack of text or by using spaces than it was with the earlier voice to text task. It would have been interesting to simply draw or move the emojis around in different arrangements but the document demanded a line after line arrangement following the conventions of English language. My emoji story retelling still has the constraints of the conservative arrangement of a book that Bolter (2001) describes. 

Where do emojis fit into text? Kress describes written words and spoken to be a representation or “vague description” whereas an image is a more accurate representation. Bolter (2001) also makes an interesting point in that “ekphrasis sets out to rival visual art in words, to demonstrate that words can describe vivid scenes without re­course to pictures” . . . yet . . .  “in digital media and even in print, we get a reverse ekphrasis in which images are given the task of explaining words (Ch 4. P. 56). Writing in emojis is a space that exists in this tension, in a sort of “no man’s land” which is neither image nor word. The emoji are a representation of words and become symbols of words which are what words are.  Both are removed from the actual event and need to be interpreted by the reader. 

This writing experience was definitely a challenge. Emojis were designed to add emotion to text especially in shorter pieces of writing, such as in tweets, messages and chats, to avoid misunderstandings that could arise (Bolter, Ch. 4). It is so hard to tell sometimes if someone ‘s message is being terse or sarcastic or just plain nasty or maybe they are just in a hurry. We rely on more than just written words to convey meaning. This is all great but emojis are designed for these short bursts of text instead of having to rely on lengthy explanations, whereas a novel has the time it takes to set a stage or scene(s) and use multitudes of descriptive language to create meaning.  I have a text in my class library, YOLO Juliet and even it is not written in full emojis but more a rebus style with the odd emoji thrown in as well as being translated into a more modern slang version.  According to Bolter: “Digital media claim to achieve greater immediacy and authenticity by integrating images (and sound) with prose.” (2001, Ch.4, 47). Notice that Bolter says “with”? Emojis are images but to rely totally on them does not create a full story or even plot; they paint a simple picture of emotions and objects but only of those that are available. 

References:

Kress (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, Vol. 2(1), 5-22. 

Bolter, J. D. (2001). Chapter 4. Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. doi:10.4324/9781410600110

Shakespeare, W. & Wright, B.( 2015). YOLO Juliet.  Random House.

It was a dark and stormy night . . .

Please note: no animals were injured in the making of this story . . . (but maybe a few humans)

This amazing story is available through this shareable link from google drive which will allow you to first see the html language which is quite lengthy and impressive. Once you download it and open the file, you are ready to read!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_C2kJD3qghZ74fMNh4QGw4kqmBIEcYI4/view?usp=sharing

or you can unzip this file: It was a dark and stormy night (1) (1).html

The creation of this Twine story and a few thoughts:

The mapping of the Twine fascinated me as it showed all of the links between the passages. The connections of links are more obvious in the building of the story than they are in the reading.  It was even possible to link back to previous passages and have the reader re-live passages or scenes. I was fascinated with the building process and got a little over enthusiastic perhaps. It may be annoying to some; but not to my students who read choose your own adventure stories over and over again to see different outcomes.  I am reminded of how text has changed from words in books written in a linear fashion or a “complete or closed verbal structure” (Bolter, 2001, p.77) to a more circular rendition through the use of hyperlinks.

This reminds me of my English departments reporting comment bank which states: Student “can construct and create by choosing particular formats (linear, circular, and iterative) in the creation of story/text.” In the past we may have thought of a story or text being anything other than linear but to me that seems “unnatural.”  “The supporters of hypertext may even argue that hypertext reflects the nature of the human mind itself— that because we think associatively, not linearly, hypertext allows us to write as we think” (Ch. 3. 2001, p. 43).  Ted Nelson was one who thought “hypertext was natural to the mind” (Bolter, 2001, 42).  I know that my mind certainly works in circles of association -sometimes I even speak this way; words need to weave and twine around each other. Yes, the pun is intended as the Twine does just that as it circles back and steps sideways and forward.

There has been criticism that hyperlinks do not truly reflect all association. Bolter (2001) mentions supporters of books such as   Birkerts (1994) and Slouka (1995), claim that “as authors prescribe links, they deny the reader the choice of making her own associations . . . [by] letting them “choose links only gives the illusion of control (Ch. 3, p. 42). Indeed my own Twine appears to give choices to the reader and yet I force the reader to make a choice or manoeuvre them to circle back to the choice I want them to take. Sometimes, I did not even give a choice; choice is an illusion in this case.  Editors of encyclopedias decide what to include and what to exclude in both print and on the world wide web (Bolter, 2001, Ch. 5, p. 90).  Do you wonder what I have left out of my story?  There was much more but I will save that for a sequel – I really have enjoyed this experience that much.

The product itself, The Dark and stormy night twine, is rough but as I have said, I was much more mesmerized by the process. It was like a puzzle putting all the pieces together and to tie the ending up . . . well, sort of tie it up. I have included some of the twine statistics which I found quite by accident.  There were a total of 30 passages and 41 links which translates to quite a lot of circling back in for the reader, maybe until they got it right.  again, I emphasis the control that the reader thinks they have but actually do not.

I wondered if the process and being so focused on it was the reason for the grammatical errors which I would not have made if I had written the story in a linear fashion on paper. That would have forced my mind to focus on the mundane side of grammar rather than the creative. I had thought to edit them further but decided not to as a statement to the power of the technology. I know wonder if this might be why my own students seem to forget capitals, punctuation and spelling. maybe they are really focused on the creation. Or is punctuation changing – I had no idea that a ‘.’ or full stop was rude in a message, tweet of chat (Zaltman).

In addition to correcting grammar and spelling*, I might have also taken more time to get the formatting of each passage perfected. Again, I was more interested in the story than its appearance . . . except for the lovely dark background.  I did discover how to edit the formatting but chose not to as I think it suits the dark theme of the story.  I do not think Twine 2 is easy to download sound effects and graphics to (this according to the site) but the story is meant to be read in a dark, deadly quiet space.

The narrator “voice”was modelled after the Twine example of “The temple of No” with a cheeky humorous tone but with a bit cleaner language as I would like to share my Twine with my grade 8/9 classes. The narrator(s), maybe I was arguing with myself, I envisioned arguing throughout the story but this may have been hard to maintain. By using a second person perspective, and “you” in the story even more engagement is created along with the illusion of control. I think it is something students would appreciate and maybe even like to try. Last Halloween, we read a choose your own adventure in class using a google slide show with linked slides which was a big hit and later we participated in a BBC refugee simulation (a bit more serious) but the interactiveness of the activity was highly engaging for the students. To be able to create and understand linking and the opportunity to control it adds yet another layer to this educational process.

*some grammatical and spelling errors have now been corrected after sharing with a small group ( 2 students and 1 educator) for feedback. There were more errors than I had first thought. DIY and feedback are valuable.

References:

Zaltman, H. 102. New Rules: The Allusionist. podcast. with guest McCulloch, G.  http://theallusionist.org/new-rules

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Chapter 3: Hypertext and the Remediation of Text.  Writing Space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print . Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 27-44.

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Chapter 5:. The Electronic Book.  Writing Space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print . Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp.77-98.

Potato Printing: An exercise in humility

I chose this task because I had, as a child, done potato print stars with angular straight cuts; it should be easy.

Here is a quick preview of the process:

A detailed look at the process of potato printing:

First, there was planning to do including a day ruminating over word choice. A 5 letter word. Should it be one that could be recycled over and over toPotato make the maximum number of smaller words such as “twine” . . .twin. . . win. . . in . .. net . .. wine.    Or should it be a word of significance? The first book Gutenberg printed, after all, was the Bible so the word should be IMPORTANT. Thus a word go significance to me was selected, Raven, which reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven and my Raven house team at the Middle School where I work.

Might I soon be saying “nevermore” in frustration? Perhaps.

Benson & Carey. The Elements of Lettering.

Font selection: A suitable font for “Raven” was needed but not just any font. I consider fonts to be of particular importance as they can visually communicate an era, a style, an emotion or idea.  Gutenberg’s Bible, the first printed text, was done in Blackletter, also known as Gothic or Textura which appeared similar to the handwriting of medieval monks (The Printed 00:37:50) with its “strong vertical strokes and vertical appearance”(Cloud). Appearing remarkably similar to the monk’s writing helped to promote acceptance of Gutenberg’s work (The Printed 00:37:50). Further, Edgar Allan Poe’s genre of writing is described as American Gothic and so a modified Gothic style seemed appropriate for my Raven. I have done both the Blackletter and the Southern Gothic font in the past, using a calligraphy pen; however, I soon learned this would be a far more difficult task on a potato.

Next, there was the procurement of potatoes. Unfortunately my potatoes had sprouted and were planted in the garden the day previous so off to the store to purchase new potatoes. I selected russets which proved to be far too juicy and I wonder if the new white potatoes would be better as I thought of Gutenberg selecting the best metals to use for his moveable type press. (Harris, 00:36:54)

Tools: Gathered in anticipation were a Leather-man (not used), a steak knife (used extensively, a chef’s knife, a tape measure, a geometry set divider, a pen (which proved to be useless), a felt marker (nearly as useless as a pen), and some references (paper based and online) to check fonts.

Finally, at 7:02 pm the  actual carving process began. Individual letters were in mirror image  so they would appear oriented  correctly.  This I checked several times. I chose to carve in order of the spelling of the word; I am not sure why but suspect I was following the English convention of writing from left to right. The potato was halved and the letter “R” was carved in uppercase after several attempts with each on making a smaller and smaller potato “halve.”  This is when the decision to make a simple version of the font occurred. The potatoes were incredibly juicy making it messy as well as difficult to see to see the letters and whether too much had been trimmed off. Next time, I would try a dye on the surface to create more contrast. (Yes, I am excited to try this again!) 

The  letter “a” took only a couple attempts and was not the most challenging letter despite the interior cut that needed to be made. The letter “v’ was one of the harder letters because for some reason I could not get the right angle between each side making the letter too wide. I ended up cutting it off and starting again.  The style of the letters also dictate that there be some curves even to the seemingly angular letter “v.”

Interrupted by my spouse, I  envy the medieval monks in scriptoriums where “silence is mandatory” (Harris,  00:06:36). 

Even more troublesome letter was the “e” which was strangely was the most angular of all letters and should have been the easiest. The letter “n” was too large at first attempt and needed to be downsized which was done without incident.

Throughout the process, the divider was used to measure the height of the letters; I preferred the speed and ease over the tape measure that was initially used. Uniformity of font size would improve the finished look of the word. Again, I am reminded of the medieval people marvelling over Gutenberg’s uniformity of text (Harris) which drove me to attempt to perfect the uniformity of my letters. I chose not to trace them, thinking that would be “cheating” and instead carved freehand which made uniformity of size more challenging.

I then trimmed the sides of each letter so they would nest closer and flat beside each other as well as the bottoms so that I could line them up on a straight edge. Next time I will attempt to use a long skewer to join the potato pieces much like a typeset tray.

Ready to Print! Maybe . . .

The printing process stalled when I realized that my paint had been packed in one of 30 or more boxes in the process of renovations (never again during a course). A frantic search resulted in some lovely black acrylic and one stubby paint brush, both selected because they were all that was available but they worked well!  Success . . .almost. The first printing resulted in the  letter “a” appearing backwards which was puzzling. I was sure I carved it in reverse. I had even tested it on another potato half.   

Then came the realization that it was upside down; the style of the “a” made it possible to appear like a
backwards “a.”

Crisis averted, the black paint was applied and potato print blocks lined up ready to be placed ” carefully because they tended to slide and smear easily.  I discovered the letter “n” was not quite flat or level and needed to be rocked slightly to leave a full imprint. As I did this I thought of the monk’s letters, “crisp and  straight upon the page” (Harris, 00:10:18).

9:04  “Raven” was completed! 

Reflections:

I was quite pleased with the way the letters waved almost birdlike in their shape and the rough fill of the paint, all of which seems to suit the Raven of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem. And of course the “found” black seems like fate – perfect. Was I able to get the two words to match exactly? No, but that  uniqueness is reminiscent of the monk’s almost, but not quite perfect lettering. Potato printing seems to bridge the world of hand written manuscripts and the “mechanization” of the printing press, being not quite part of either world. Potato printing  is labour intensive initially but one can rapidly print once the printing blocks are completed.

At several points in the process I had even wished I had chosen to write a 500 word manuscript instead, envying the monks hunched over their writing but I soon became addicted to printing with my potato blocks trying different angles on the paper and curving letter arrangements. It became soothing as I derived pleasure from this simple act of printing. The almost 2 hour process of carving resulted in the ability to quickly print many more and I had extras to give to my colleagues and fellow Ravens the next day. An evening well spent! 

And then I decided to try Animoto to create a dynamic video of the process which need to be uploaded to YouTube which all took almost as long as the potato printing. It will go faster the next time . . . potatoes and new technologies!

References:

Benson & Carey. (1950). The Elements of Lettering. Toronto: McGraw-Hill.

Cloud, G. (July 12 2016). The Jenson Bible joins the Gutenbergs Bible’s page turning.  The Ransom Center. University of Texas. https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/ retrieved June 3, 2020.

Harris, B. “The Printed Book: Opening the Floodgates of Knowledge” How it Began: A History of the Modern World. podcast.

Julius – a short story

Rated PG for violence and horror

Leo in “Pet Sematary.” Paramount Pictures

Julius a story for the not so faint of heart show me warned there may be some scenes that may be disturbing to sensitive listeners reviewers apologies but the rest of you I hope you can enjoy the horror of the story story begins on the road in a semi rural area at a little house with a white picket fence set back down a long dirt driveway away from the I guess secondary Highway Novus Highway has an S curve just passed the house really great place I rolled my brother’s keep there when I was 16 oz cars tend to come down the hill Fairlane at least 30 to 40 km over the speed limit and the s-curve they cut the corners and yeah it was in my name so I get the chips that’s another tale though Archdale takes place a few years later my sister lived in the little house I’m a little house was beside my house it was great being Neighbors and my sister loved her cat Julius he was an orange striped nail Tom but he wasn’t a nasty Tom he was one of those nice friendly in your face kind of cats so you can imagine her concern when Julius went missing gone she looked everywhere for that cat she called Julius Julius where are you no cat after several days maybe a week or so or to my memory is not as clear as it used to be walking down the road past my sister’s driveway and I come to the S curve and as I’m coming closer to the hill I see a ball of fur off to the side of the road a crumpled mango body oh no! not Julius! There was Julius decapitated headless Josh his bloody stump of the neck it was horrific! my sister was away work and what was I to do I took a shower and carefully scooped up the body you do realize it was like summer and quite hot so I did what I had to do I took the body and no I didn’t put it in the refrigerator or the freezer that’s gross I actually dug a small grave close to my raspberry patch not in the raspberry patch that’s where the former neighbours buried the doll nasty children my sister came home I told her I found Julius and I told her that I had buried him and show her the grave she was so sad she was nearly inconsolable. Psy so about a week later you can imagine how to spell. Oh wait let me back up here a bit I forgot to tell you my sister was a fan of Stephen King and had recently read the novel Pet Sematary. space yes The Cat Came Back! there was Julius sitting on our doorstep licking himself very much alive. my sister scream in Terror! Okay she wouldn’t go near the cat she wouldn’t touch the cat she swore that that cat smelt like the dirt of the grave and walked with a bit of a flirt lurch the cat I’ve been raised from the dad dead! know if you’re unfamiliar with Stephen King impact stem Cemetery you won’t be too terrified or horrified.. but she had got cat was never allowed back in her house I might have told you another Tale Pier One perhaps but that’s tail has been taken old mr. Johnson and his cat the end. And now for the backstory in our neighbourhood there are at any given time at least three to five feral cats call Sharon similar genetics each card has its own doppelganger. got. Or do they? 

Story Analysis:

How does this story deviate from the conventions of written English? (Or what is wrong with the text?) To me the most obvious deviation is the lack of punctuation to tell the reader where I paused, dramatically, I might add. All of the expression has been lost as even if you yell into the microphone, THE CAT CAME BACK! or THAT”S GROSS! sadly, no emphasis is given. I see myself as a very expressive storyteller but none of that was conveyed in my story, although I did add a “exclamation mark” and it added an “!” (Is that allowed?) Okay, confession, I also may have said “period” or “sigh” which was translated to Psy.  A pause did not produce a period or comma or new sentence.  Structurally, the story is almost one long run on sentence which destroys the sense of excitement and horror as it visually appears to be “monotone” lacking in variety of sentence length or structure.  Conventions such as punctuation are needed in written stories to help to convey the features that oral language has such as tone, volume, inflection, pace and gestures.  This is where the voice to text really felt “wrong.”

Another deviation for the conventions of written English is use of proper spelling: however,  this might actually be word replacement rather than the misspelling of words as most words are spelled correctly. One such replacement was  “reviewer” for “viewer” in the second line and later “dad” for “dead.”  It was hard not to repeat the word in frustration as I watched it incorrectly appear. Sometimes the meaning is lost through this misspelling and replacement of words although the results were hilarious in places. Most disappointing was the intended  suspense and horror being lost.

What went right with the text?  The basic story remained intact despite the lack of guiding punctuation. Surprisingly, most of the spelling is correct and names of cats and people are recognized as such and are capitalized (although I have no idea who Sharon is in the final 2 lines). Homophones such as “tale” and “tail” are recognized by the voice to text tool, being used correctly.  Oddly, “crumpled mango body” created an interesting visual images that works despite the fact that it should have read “crumpled, mangled body.” Incidently, the  incorrect spelling of the word “cemetery ” is ironically correct in the context of the story as it matches the title of Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary.” In case you are wondering, according to Merriam Webster “King’s spelling of cemetery as sematary is intentional—it is a use of realism, which is the practice in writing to accurately represent real life.” To me this is an important point in my story (as well as King’s).

Ultimately, the mistakes of the text are considered mistakes because they alter the meaning of the story. “card” and “cat” are very dissimilar in meaning, for example. These mistakes include not only word misspellings and replacements but also the lack of punctuation which totally changed the pacing and the expression of the story.

Had I scripted the story, it may have been marginally more organized, and I would have included more descriptive details. I am sad that I neglected to include a few more details to set the story up and to describe my removal and burial of the body, and of my sister’s horrified expression. (I was worried it might be a bit too graphic). This is a true story and so the way it unfold is much as I have described it. Sometimes my stories ramble and go off on tangents much to the annoyance of my family. As a written story, understanding of the horror (and the humour) of the situation may have been aided through the use of conventions.  I prefer oral storytelling to written because of the ease at which one can create tension and excitement through pacing, tone of voice, inflections and use of sound effects (these did not transfer to written text well). Gestures also aid in creating meaning. Oral storytelling does not immediately translate to written.  In written stories, so many artificial or invented means are required to produce the same effects.

A few final task reflections:

This story was recorded with google docs voice recording, a new experience for me. First, I discovered that voice recording does not appear in the tool menu of google docs when using Safari browser; it must be in google drive. I can appreciate student frustration in using voice to text technology although it is, in my opinion, much more reliable than early versions of Dragon Naturally speaking. The story was an easy one to retell but I did neglect to tell it all as it occurred over a decade ago. I was only reminded of it by my sister, last week. In the retelling, I also felt that I might be judged by the content – for me this was worst than “baring all” in the “What’s in my bag?” task. Through this task, I can appreciate both story telling and writing as valuable but distinct skills.  I also see a need to create more video recordings of story telling, to be able to see and hear the rich weaving of words. With that, I leave your with Mr. Johnson’s cat.

NFB. The cat came back.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJl_4IsQJ2g

Merriam Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-spelling-of-sematary-vs-cemetery-in-pet-sematary

The video of Lera Boroditsky’s How the languages we speak shape the way we think has offered me a perspective that I had not previously thought of.  I feel like I tend to live in a little egocentric bubble until I heard her  lecture, thinking we generally, as humans, all think alike.  The first viewing was interesting but it becomes a richer experience after listening to the tap dancer, Anderson and the Shetlandic poet Christine de Luca.  A second viewing allows for more connections and deeper thinking although it was a bit difficult to listen and stop and read posts and reconnect to what the speaker, Boroditsky, was saying. 

The connections between thinking, language and culture did become clearer. The shaping of language and culture from our past histories or generations really resonated with me as well as the need to preserve dialects and appreciate their value. There was a passion evident in the tap dancer’s language and the Shetlandic that involve so much more than just words. They were building on existing language but changing it to make it their own. There is a theme of past, present and future emerging here for me. The idea that language is a living thing evolving over time speaks to me.  Language is more than just the building blocks of words; it is the way or patterns of words, symbols, text, gestures, sounds and tones woven together. 

Borditsky, L. (May 2017) Does language really shape the way we think, SAR lecture. https://applications.arts.ubc.ca/secure/educ/index.php?autoplay=true&cid=165&gid=3294&vid=%5Bsn%5DMpAlijDU17A%5Bsn%5Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiGuuHwbuQOg

MacDonald, A.  Oral Traditions in the Age of Smart Phones. TEDxFullbrightDublin.