Lesson 1.2 – Question 7

Digital technology is an amazing advancement that is completely altering the way we experience literature. In this medium, words are no longer just marks on a page. Instead they can be portals to just about anything: other webpages, pictures, or even a musical accompaniment. Beyond this, moving GIFs, recorded videos, or unique page layout can completely alter the reader’s experiences and impressions. In this sense, there can be a whole new world hidden in the text of another.

Digital literature is unique because, through the use of social media and other platforms, it can be published by individuals and not through the use of publishing companies. In my opinion, this can be both a good and a bad thing. The internet has given a platform to many people who deserve it but would not otherwise be accepted by traditional publishing companies. For example, the self-publishing style of YouTube has allowed content creators like Philip DeFranco and Jack Douglass to find audiences for their videos. Without a digital platform, both of these now full time YouTubers would have been unlikely to find an audience for their entertaining and informative creations. Of course, the self-publishing freedom that the internet provides also has a negative effect on the overall quality of the literature that is put out. Twitter is an excellent example of this. Because of its 140 character allowance, many of the “tweets” posted are of extremely low quality. Also, because anyone can create an account and post content on Twitter, the website is flooded with posts. This makes it much more difficult to find quality among the more than 150000 tweets that are published every minute. While before publishing companies were in place to ensure only quality literature was published, now we find ourselves responsible for distinguishing between the quality posts in a sea of tweets.

Hypertext has also had a massive effect on the unique quality of digital literature. Through hypertext, words can carry multiple meanings or provide more information. With the click of a mouse or the tap of a finger on a touchscreen, hypertext adds an entirely different dimension to our literature. Hypertext can be an incredible learning tool. When I was in fourth grade, I discovered one of my favourite books of all time, Watership Down, in my school’s library. I remember when I read the book I had no idea what a cowslip was. I figured it was a plant of some kind, but I assumed that it was just a special type of grass. If I could have clicked on the word cowslip and be taken to a picture of an actual cowslip, as has just happened here, I would have known instead that cowslip was a small bulb of yellow flowers and my visualization of the novel would have been quite different. In the future, I would love to see digital children’s stories that include this use of hypertext.

References:

Adams, Richard. Watership Down. Google Books.

Cowslip Image. PlantLife. PlantLife.org.uk.

Disney Songs. “Aladdin – A Whole New World”. YouTube. YouTube, 8 December 2008.

Jack Douglass on YouTube. YouTube.

Philip DeFranco on YouTube. YouTube.

Twitter Website. Twitter.

Widrich, Leo. “Every 60 Seconds 175,000 Tweets Are Sent”. Buffer. BufferApp, 27 February 2012.

YouTube Website. YouTube.

Lesson 1.1

Hello! My name is Shannon Jaye Smith. I am a fourth year English Lit student in the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia. I am currently enrolled in an online class, English 470, taught by Dr. Erika Paterson.

English 470 is an interesting course that uses various forms of media including blogs, Facebook, and other collaborations through social media in order to explore perspectives in Canadian literature. All of these are going to be needed to properly dissect the narrative of Canada’s settler stories.

I think the embracing of technology in a course like this is extremely important. Not only does extensive use of the internet provide us with many more tools to work with and better ways to connect and communicate with one another, but it often allows us to present digital media in relation to documents of the past. My majors seminar, which I completed in the fall semester of 2013, was entirely about literature in the digital age. Because of this, it allowed me to do a presentation on video games and how even they contain aspects of literature. This is why it will be even more interesting for me to look into literature of the past and see how much it has in common with what can be considered digital literature.

Overall, I am really excited for this course and its unique format. I am a Canadian, one whose ancestors immigrated to this country more than three generations ago. I don’t have a particularly strong bond with my ethnic roots, but I think it will still be interesting to explore writing from the perspective of those who first settled in the great white north. I am also looking forward to improving my digital literacy as well as my currently nonexistent blogging skills. Let’s get started!

References:

League of Legends. Riot Games, 2014. 16 May 2014.

Paterson, Erika. ENGL 470A Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres. University of British Columbia, 2014. 16 May 2014.

University of British Columbia Website. UBC, 2014. 16 May 2014.