Interacting with Shelley Jackson's "Patchwork Girl"

Shelley Jackson's hypertext piece Patchwork Girl invites readers to journey through the life of a woman/monster created from the body parts of other women; by stitching together scraps of lexia about the Patchwork Girl, readers are able to explore the lives of the women who were combined to create the girl, as well as the life of the Patchwork Girl and her creator, a fictional Mary Shelley. By interacting with these pieces of text, readers can identify Jackson's theme of resurrection throughout, whether they are exploring the graveyard, Mary Shelley's journal, or the text in which Patchwork Girl narrates. Though this hypertext was and still is fairly difficult for me to interact with, my overall experience encouraged me to continue exploring and piecing together lexia so that I could see Patchwork Girl's experiences; the way Jackson writes is so vivid, I feel as though I can recall many of Patchwork Girl's experiences in my own life, however dissimilar they may appear at an initial comparison.

For me, interacting with this piece of hypertext was difficult, mainly because it is a non-linear text, and so the plot is not as easy to follow. Jackson created this piece in a manner that would force readers to piece the story together themselves, as Patchwork Girl informs interactors when she says “If you want to see the whole, you will have to piece me together yourself” (Jackson). In “Gathering the Limbs of the Text in Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl,” authors Carolina Sánchez-Palencia Carazo and Manuel Almagro Jiménez note that “Patchwork Girl is not simply one more text that reflects the aesthetics of fragmentation and hybridity; it is a hypertext that allows for material and technological possibilities that would be unthinkable in a printed version. As a consequence, the relationship between reader and text also becomes provisional and mutable inasmuch as different possible readings arise: one ordered, as in the chart view, and another chaotic or random-like, simply by clicking on any word in a given lexia” (Carazo et al. 116). As a side note, readers should keep in mind that Patchwork Girl (the disc) is for Windows and Mac, not Linux-- if you are a Linux user, you're going to need to get to your local library or campus computer lab so you can open the file. When first opened, readers are presented with three windows: one blank page that acts as a background on which users can arrange different, smaller windows with lexia or images; another window titled “her” holds an image of a young girl standing in a posture that slightly resembles Leonardo daVinci’s Vitruvian Man, though this image is sectioned off with dotted lines; the last window, titled “Storyspace Map” shows a chart that begins with “her,” and flows down to “title page,” among other things that eventually lead to the journal, graveyard, body of text, crazy quilt, and story, which contain the pieces that create the Patchwork Girl and her story (see fig. 1).
(fig. 1)

Clicking the “title page” opens a new window that contains just that; here, the difference from other title pages (and texts) begins to display itself. The title page credits the authors as being “Mary/Shelley, & Herself” (see fig. 2). This may confuse interactors initially, but as they work through the hypertext, they will realize that this is a valid byline; as I also explored the text and learned about the Patchwork Girl and her creator, I found that while Shelley Jackson created the piece about the Patchwork Girl and her creator/lover, the Patchwork Girl seemed to speak for herself and author her own text, as did Mary Shelley through her original text, Frankenstein. Carazo and Jimenez add that “[t]his deliberate confusion about authorship is also detected in the diversity of sources and borrowings from the literary tradition. Thus, a sample list might include those from her literary mother, Mary Shelley (journal), theorists such as Derrida (sources), not to mention the original owners of the monster’s implants presented in the shape of memories and testimonies, particularly the whole graveyard section…” (Carazo et al. 120). Below the authors’ names are five “pieces,” as I will refer to them, that help interactors begin their hypertextual exploration: a graveyard, a journal, a quilt, a story, & broken accents. Clicking on “a graveyard” opens another window, titled “hercut4” (see fig. 3).
(fig. 2)

(fig. 3)

Clicking the different images in “hercut4” bring up a small window with the lexia that appears to best describe this text, as well as its theme of resurrection: “I am buried here. You can resurrect me, but only piecemeal. If you want to see me whole, you will have to sew me together yourself” (see fig. 4).
(fig. 4)

Clicking on “a journal” brings up pieces of lexia from the journal Mary Shelley wrote in while creating and living with the Patchwork Girl. Here, readers discover the fictional Mary Shelley writing about her creation similar to how Dr. Frankenstein wrote about his monster; the difference between these two characters, however, is that Dr. Frankenstein immediately distances himself from his creation, calling it a monster and abhorring it from its first living seconds, whereas Mary Shelley finds beauty in the non-traditionally beautiful being she has created, eventually coming to love her fiercely and have a relationship with her (see fig. 5 and fig. 6).
(fig. 5)

(fig. 6)

In “Gathering the Limbs of the Text in Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl,” Carolina Sánchez-Palencia Carazo and Manuel Almagro Jiménez analyze the various pieces that come together to form the body of text that is Patchwork Girl as well as the main character herself. They assert that interacting with the text “turns readers into a sort of Dr. Frankenstein putting together the different pieces of the textual corpus, and thus creating [their] own monstrous, aberrant reading (Carazo et al. 116). Sometimes, I found it easier to explore by referring back to the Storyspace Map and clicking on boxes there.

Clicking on “body of text” opens a window with a whole new flow chart, containing pieces of lexia like “dreams,” “blood,” and “now” (see fig. 7). Clicking on “story” does something similar, though there are much fewer new boxes for readers to explore. One time during my exploration, I clicked on a box titled “M/S” which then opened up even more pieces of lexia, such as “birth,” “a promise,” “I am,” and “she” (see fig. 8). As I explored and mentally assembled the various pieces of patchwork lexia I encountered, I was able to experience the lives of many women, not just the Patchwork Girl or the fictional Mary Shelley; I was also able to experience the lives of the women whose body parts composed the Patchwork Girl. I think that this is part of Shelley Jackson’s purpose for this text; as we read and interact with Patchwork Girl, we not only resurrect her body, we resurrect the lives of those who created her, as well as the lives of the women in Shelley’s Frankenstein, who are destroyed throughout the course of the novel, including the original female monster created for Dr. Frankenstein’s bastard child/monster. This theme of resurrection helps readers see and appreciate the lives of the women in the text, and how Jackson uses this text to give life to more than one woman silenced or ignored, something even more significant when readers consider the fact that Mary Shelley initially published Frankenstein under her husband’s name, rather than taking credit for such a masterpiece herself for fear of rejection by the patriarchal society she lived in.
(fig. 7)

(fig. 8)

Carazo and Jimenez argue that in Patchwork Girl, “Jackson questions the concept of authorship, origin(ality) and literary property, and related issues such as intertextuality and assemblage, all of which are indices of the theoretical concerns underlying Jackson's text and of the ways in which it follows, re-writes or invites us to re-read Shelley's “hideous progeny”” (Carazo et al. 115). Through this, readers are made aware of not only a basic plot within Patchwork Girl, but also the purpose of the many paths readers may choose to pursue in assembling the pieces of the Patchwork Girl and her story. By pushing readers to question the concept of authorship, Jackson shows them just how any text can be a patchwork creation, made up by voices and opinions of many, though attributed to just one voice or author; Jackson may have created the fictional Mary Shelley, but Shelley created Frankenstein, which lent itself to Jackson in creating the various scraps of lexia that became the Patchwork Girl, and the Patchwork Girl developed her own voice throughout the text in a way that separated her from Shelley and Jackson, giving the text an even deeper meaning as the Patchwork Girl and the women who lent their body parts to her share their experiences.

Carazo , Carolina Sánchez-Palencia and Manuel Almagro. “Gathering the Limbs of the Text in Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl”. ATLANTIS. June 2006. 115-129.

Jackson, Shelley. Patchwork Girl. Watertown, MA: Eastgate Systems. 1995.

Creating IF Using Inform 7- "IT'S [not] A TRAP!!!"

Making my own piece of Interactive Fiction has been one of the most exciting and inspiring experiences known to me. I have been able to creatively express myself, and involve others in my creative process by sharing my piece with them. In making my piece, titled “Dream Walking,” I decided that I would like to write a sci-fi story that revolved around a character who does not remember who he is, and must find his way home before something terrible happens (see fig. 1)
Fig. 1

Different kinds of interaction I hoped to incorporate into my piece were exploring different rooms and finding all sorts of things that end up being pieces to various puzzles, usually locks and keys that open different things, like boxes, doors, and the like (see fig. 2).
Fig. 2

I wanted readers to be constantly thinking, trying to figure out what would happen next in the story, and how it would affect the main character as he progresses through the story. I wanted it to be a bit frustrating, so that readers would feel rewarded once they figured out different puzzles I presented (especially since the main character cannot progress until certain things have been found).

Inform 7 is an interesting piece of software, though much, much more than once I found myself feeling like Charlie Brown when Lucy tells him he can kick the football, only to pull away at the very last second: “AAAAAAUUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!” I, too, felt like a blockhead. I thought that (being a bit of a geek) I would have a relatively easy time using Inform7; I was wrong. But, that said, once a user gets a basic grip on Inform, it becomes a heck of a lot more fun—as a matter of fact, my boyfriend has decided that he will make his own piece of IF using Inform 7 because watching me create mine, and playing it was quite fun! To begin, I read the manual on Inform7 so that I could have a solid background on how to start my story, and make it work without having any problems (see fig. 3). I also wound up doing a few google searches to get clearer answers to certain problems I encountered repeatedly, such as making a character talk. I have since then written a piece of IF that has become Star Trek fan fiction (which I am very pleased with), instead of simply a sci-fi story about an abstract character. I am not sure if this will alienate some readers because there are a number of references that may be caught only by “Trekkies,” though I have tried to let the story explain as much as possible to interactors without giving the whole plot away.
Fig. 3

Making this story really opened up a whole new world of creativity for me to tap into. I was amazed with how much detail I was able to insert in my story, and make a world no one had ever traveled through before. Part of the reason why I titled the piece “Dream Walking” is because I felt as though I was putting a dream to life, by creating this fantastical realm that used to reside in my brain and nowhere else. Thinking back on what I had hoped to accomplish with this piece, I feel successful, even though it is not yet complete. I was able to create a series of rooms for the interactor to travel through, all of which the interactor had to in order to finish the story. The only issue I had with creating this aspect was that I wanted to have rooms in a house, and then regions outside to explore, but could not seem to get Inform 7 to understand what I was trying to do, so I settled for rooms named “Outdoors” and the like, so my character could access places that at least appeared to be outside the house, even if in text, they were inside the house, if that makes sense (see fig. 4). Also, I wanted readers to be able to find things that they would later realize were clues and tools to help them get to the end of the story, such as a crowbar hidden in a box under a bed, a lockpick stashed inside an old toilet tank, and a key that opens a certain thing as well as a door (see fig. 5).
Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Unfortunately, there are a number of things that have frustrated me throughout this process, the main one being the task of making characters talk. Each time I would try different ways to make the character say something, I would generate a problem, in which Inform 7 did not know what I was trying to do, or what “talk” meant, and so on (see fig. 6). This is an issue I am still working on, but I think I may have found the solution (I’ll come back and edit this if I do). Also, I had some serious problems with compass directions, mainly in labeling where things were inside rooms, because if I typed for instance “the desk is west of the door,” I would generate a problem telling me that the desk cannot be (“is” as in “to be” not “is located”) “west of the door” because that would imply that I am saying the desk is a compass direction (see fig. 7). I wound up removing many of those descriptions because I just kept generating errors each time I tried to place an object in a certain area or direction of the room. Based on my experience, this issue may be due to my inexperience, but I think it also has a lot to do with Inform 7 and how much it as a software program is capable of understanding.
Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Writing IF, for me, is very different from writing a story. I think part of this is because it is much easier for me as a writer to be more creative when I can have or give more than one option for action in a narrative. I find it different from a standard story because even though my piece is more story oriented, it also requires a lot of thinking and action on the part of the interactor. I have definitely been more inspired to write using Inform 7, mostly because (as I mentioned in an earlier post) I love choose-your-own-adventure books, and this was like creating my own choose-your-own-adventure; the only difference between my piece and the choose-your-own-adventure books is that in the books you have even more options than I have been able to create (thus far). I can play with Inform 7 for hours, working on my piece, and once I finish this one, I hope to post it online and get some feedback from other IF lovers and geeks alike. Inspired authors who feel stifled by the demands of print-text should definitely try creating a piece of IF. Even if it does not seem to fit the genre one would prefer to write for, it will surely help the creative process and inspire you write more!

Entering the Amazing Time-Space Continuum of Interactive Fiction through "Whom the Telling Changed"

As we entered the world of interactive fiction, I found that I very much so enjoy it. I have always loved choose- your- own- adventure books, and so to be able to participate in literature in a similar manner brings me great pleasure. For this blog post, I decided to discuss my favorite piece of interactive fiction so far (aside from the piece I am creating!): “Whom the Telling Changed,” by Aaron A. Reed. “Whom the Telling Changed” is a wonderful piece of fiction for those who enjoy even just the basic concept of storytelling. When I was younger, my older brother would always tell my siblings and I stories that he would improvise about a special character he created for us. This is perhaps why I am having so much fun creating my own piece of interactive fiction; I am now able to create my own fantasy world in which others will have the opportunity to interact with characters and scenarios I conjure up. :) But, I digress… “Whom the Telling Changed” is a fairly short piece about loyalty, bravery, and learning from the experiences of others so that one can make the right choices in life when difficult situations arise. To begin, a player must first make sure s/he has downloaded the program Gargoyle, so that the game’s files can be downloaded, unzipped, and run.

After this, the player will be asked if s/he would like instructions on how to play the game, as well as how they would like words that are emphasized to be presented (I always select option one so the emphasized words are displayed in a bold font).

Reed begins the story by describing the current settings to the player; I learn that this night is a special night for my people, and that a “telling” is going to happen. I learn that I resides in a tent that contains certain possessions, some of which are important for the night of the telling. This is a point at which the puzzle-playing aspect of the game comes into play. Before I can leave the tent, I must first select some of my possessions because they are needed for the telling. I learn that a symbol of my occupation is hanging in the center of the tent. Another small puzzle is presented to me when I am told that there are two items of interest, a medicine bag and a dagger. I am not sure what my profession is, so to be safe I take both. Interestingly, whichever I item I choose first becomes my profession, so in this instance I am a healer because I take the medicine bag and then the dagger—the dagger now belongs to my lover.

I want to mention that throughout this game, the puzzles help solidify the content of the story, which is not always easy to do in interactive fiction. The puzzles are not always particularly challenging in any way, but they help give the interactor control over his/her character, which really benefits the story because when an interactor feels as though they are making their characters choices, rather than simply following a prompt, their entire experience with the piece of interactive fiction is much more enjoyable.

I search the room one last time before I leave, and discover that I “find only the expected,” a feather circlet belonging to the storyteller, which I add to my inventory. After I step outside, I approach two people, one who is my enemy, and one who is my lover. What I like about this part of the game/story is that I do not know if I am a woman or a man, so my choice in a lover will ultimately determine that. My lover sees me and reaches out; when I command my player to take my lover’s hand, it asks whose hand I want. I’m not sure who is male/female, and I’m not sure if it matters, so I take the character Saiph’s hand.

The other character, Sihan, is Saiph’s sister, so now I know who my lover is and who my enemy is. Players will notice an interesting and very helpful feature at the top of their text box: in a thin gray line, words in white will appear as players interact with the piece, words that if typed and entered will provide more information, either about what is being told in the telling, or about the player’s character or other characters closely involved with the story. These are those emphasized words that will help move the story along and provide more information to the player. I notice that as these words appear in the gray box, they are also in bold font throughout the text. I decide to go to the firepit, and learn that two other characters, Isi and Nabu, are standing there with the rest of the crowd.

What also makes this a great story and not just a game is that the setting is so well-described. Interactors can clearly picture themselves moving around in their tents, walking with their lovers, sitting amongst their fellow villagers listening to the teller and watching the night sky. The characters are not as well-developed, but each important character is given a solid physical description, which helps interactors figure out what type of people they are. I personally would have liked to know more about myself, Isis and Nabu, and Saiph and Sihan, but what information I did learn about them helped me better understand the story.

I talk to Isi and Nabu, my aunt and uncle; my uncle asks if my lover Saiph is willing to fight for the village if necessary, and tells me that anyone who carries a weapon should be ready at all times. Saiph tells me to give the circlet to the storyteller, and so I am presented with another puzzle: who is the storyteller? I decide to give it to my aunt, and see what happens. She becomes the storyteller (though I learned after that I can also give the circlet to my uncle and make him the storyteller) and we all listen as she begins to speak. Different words begin to appear in the gray box as the story progresses, telling my character about a great war hero named Gilgamesh.

When I type in some of the emphasized words, my character will say different things, or ask questions relating to the story. If, however, I wait too long before typing the words, I am told that it’s not important to the story anymore or that the story has moved on.

I don’t type in all the words, mostly because it’s a little difficult to keep up at times, but when I do, my character learns much either about herself, other people like her aunt, or other characters in the tale about Gilgamesh and what sort of character traits he possesses, both positive and negative. After a while, Sihan asks me if I will support her efforts to protect our people, or if I will try to use peace—my character learns that an enemy is approaching and we will be defending our tribe on this very night!

The story continues, but then suddenly strangers come out of the darkness; my character recognizes these people as invaders to our land, and begins to talk to their leader. The vicious character demands much of our sheep, telling me that if I don’t give them, they will be taken by force.

I call them fools for choosing violence so quickly, and one of my people is immediately stabbed with a spear, and we begin to fight!!! The fight gets bloody very quickly as I work to protect my people and myself from these dangerous strangers; we manage to overtake them and run them out of our village. Sadly though, I learn that the storyteller is dying from a battle wound—I hasten to her tent to find her, and she asks my character if I would like to know how the story ends since she was unable to finish. She tells me how the tale about Gilgamesh ends, with him setting off on a journey of self-discovery. The storyteller asks me if I would be willing to become the storyteller after she passes, and I agree. [215] The story then ends with a summary of the events that occurred on the night of the telling, how I came to be the storyteller, and how the story will always be told and give guidance to those who seek it.

In this class, we read a selection from Twisty Little Passages, by author Nick Montfort. In Twisty Little Passages, Montfort discusses and describes how interactive fiction is created, and how interactors do different things that help move the story along. In his text, interactors learn that when they enter any text, it is considered input, and any of the responses that follow (or output) until any other text is entered is called a cycle (Montfort 23). These cycles will help the interactor progress through the story, and usually, the more input the computer is given, the deeper the content of the story, the more meaning the story gives to the interactor. In “Whom the Telling Changed,” interactors are encouraged to supply as much input as possible (which is why special terms are presented in bold font) so that they can better follow the story and participate, rather than simply typing the same command over and over until the story finishes. Montfort also discusses how the commands interactors put in are diegetic, because these commands require some sort of action from the players they are controlling (24). In “Whom the Telling Changed,” I would type a number of things, such as “talk to x” or “look” or “examine (x)” so that the computer could supply me with more information; with the output I received I could better determine my character’s position in the story, and how other characters were responding to me, in addition to moving towards the climax of the story as it unfolded. Commands that are different in that they do not require any action from the character are considered extra-diegetic (24). These are commands like “save,” “quit,” or “restart.” All together, these inputs help generate cycles that help the interactor move throughout the story and glean as much information as possible, so as to better understand the story and where it is heading, as well as enjoy participating in the story because they feel more involved. I played through “Whom the Telling Changed” about five or six times, and found that the more information I put in, the more fleshed out the story was, and the more I enjoyed it. When I simply typed “listen” repeatedly, the story would quickly finish, and I would feel unclear about where the climax was, who exactly was contributing to the problem, and how to solve it. When I typed in as many of the words in the gray box, as well as my own commands, the story was clearer, and gave me a deeper insight into the story and the message that Reed was trying to send in creating this piece.

http://www.aaronareed.net/telling.html
Montfort, Nick. Twisty Little Passages. Boston: MIT Press, 2003. Print.

Creating Digital Poetry of My Own: An Experience with Powerpoint, iSpring, and the Wonders of Technology

So far this semester, we have been reading and interacting with a cornucopia of digital poetry that has been informative, inspiring, and simply amazing to encounter. When we were first told of our assignment (creating our own digital poetry), I felt it would be an impossible task; I’m familiar with tools like flash and java, but I have a very hard time creating poetry itself and seeing it to completion. While most of my classmates were put at ease upon learning we would be using Powerpoint and ispring to create our digital pieces, I started getting nervous—Powerpoint and I have had a long, very rough relationship over the years, and most experiences with it have left me frustrated and ready for a fight. But, I determined that I would do my best, and be proud of the digital poetry I created.

My personal journey into digital poetry began with the use of a poem I had started working on a few weeks ago about my aunt. I decided that for this project I would alter my poem and make it include other immediate family members as well. I began setting up my poem in Powerpoint, with the intent of having the finished piece appear like readers were flipping through a scrapbook about my family. I inserted family photos, and described members of my family, using different tools in Powerpoint (like making text and photos fade on and off the screen, fly in, ease out, etc.). [see fig. 1.1]
Figure1.1

Of course, the ease of my experience with Powerpoint could last for only so long. Over the weekend, I went back to finish my piece, and found that all my work from the last in-class workshop had miraculously disappeared, even though I still had screenshots of my latest progress. [see fig. 1.2, 1.3, 1.4] Determined not to be defeated by Powerpoint, I decided to change my course of action and instead use a poem that I had already finished, rather than work on finishing a poem and a project.
Figure 1.2
Figure1.3
Figure 1.4

The poem I chose to work with, “Love My Mother Cooks,” is one I wrote last semester while I had some free time on my hands. I reconciled myself with Powerpoint, and started my project over from scratch. While Powerpoint and I are still in a business-only relationship, I must acknowledge the impressive formatting tools Powerpoint is best known for—being able to change the backgrounds, fonts, and animations from slide to slide is absolutely incredible. Throughout this project, I started each slide as a blank page; this way, I could enter text in any way I wanted using text boxes, found under the insert tab. [see fig. 1.5] Because I could enter any amount of text in separate boxes, I could then make each box of text enter the screen in different ways, like fading in or descending onto the screen. Additionally, I could insert sound bytes to accompany my slides, which I found on a website for free sound effects. [see fig. 1.1 and 1.6] Using the “custom animation” tool, I was able to make each of my slides unique and complimentary to the text. Another great feature of Powerpoint, is that if a user finds a piece of clip art that does not work well as a picture on the slide, it can be saved and then re-inserted as the background; this way, if the picture is too large, it can be set behind the text as a background, and both the text and photo can be seen. [see fig.1.7, 1.8, 1.9] Though my initial experience with Powerpoint was a little frustrating (imagine working on a paper for hours, saving it to a flash drive, and later opening the file to discover it’s not there!) my overall experience has been very rewarding. I truly feel that with Powerpoint, I was able to effectively display my poetry, and use technology to give it much more meaning. As aforementioned, each slide is unique and compliments the text in a way that draws and keeps a reader’s attention so that he or she can better understand the poem.
Figure 1.5
Figure 1.6
Figure 1.7
Figure 1.8
Figure 1.9

To upload this poem, I used to program iSpring; I never realized converting a Powerpoint file to flash could be so easy! My Powerpoint had an iSpring tab loaded, and all I had to do was click on the “Publish” key; this opened a window that gave me options as to how I wanted to Powerpoint to upload (whether I wanted a minimum amount of seconds per slide, automatic transition from slide to slide, etc.) [see fig. 1.10]

Figure 1.10

What is really cool about iSpring is that anyone can use it! Their website has a free version that anyone can download for personal use, and once a user is registered, they can access forums about any questions or comments they may have. I personally look forward to using iSpring again in the future; it has opened up a new “window” into digital poetry for me, one that I will enjoy interacting with.

My Finished Product!

"Faith" and "London Eye"- A Response to E-Poetry

In the poem “Faith,” by Robert Kendall, the concept of faith is explored through a progression of five stages in which faith tries to refuse logic; in each stage, words and phrases from previous stages are incorporated in order to give a deeper meaning to the conclusion of the poem. As each user interacts with this piece of digital poetry, he or she will be able to help the poem progress. The poem begins with the word “faith” in a large font positioned at the top of the screen. Slowly, in a much smaller font, the word “logic” begins to fall around the word “faith,” perhaps in an attempt to shake or disturb it. As this occurs, the reader hears music that gives the impression of “logic” raining down on “faith.” After “logic” rains down on “faith,” other words bounce into the screen until the phrase “logic can’t bend this” appears below “faith.”


Then, the text, “So…” appears at the bottom of the screen; here, a reader must click on the arrow beside “So…” in order to move on to the next screen. After clicking, readers will watch as the words “I… edge… out” move into view on the screen. From here, readers only need to keep watching, and remember how each screen looked before new words were added, in order to understand how the author’s beliefs about faith are being transformed by logic. Eventually, the author appears to be asking readers a question about faith and logic: “Can’t the mind press on around the bend to consummate this vision of the deep “or”? The answer “Maybe. But…” appears, and readers must again click an arrow beside the text in order to move on to the next stage of thought within the poem. As readers watch the text unfold itself, they see the inner thought processes of not only the author, but mankind as a whole, questioning faith and trying to determine if the darker revelations logic may bring are truly better than the brighter, happier thoughts that accompany faith.


As the poem progresses, readers see the author determine that he is not able to “press the black button” and “think around the bend of theory” so that he can choose faith or logic; readers click the arrow that appears next to the words “And yet…” and then, the author decides that in spite of that notion of inability, he begins to gingerly step towards “the idea edge” of faith to logic, and moves “beyond the brink, around the bend of theory.” Readers watch on screen as the author takes a metaphorical leap of faith through the text, and ultimately all that remains physically (on the screen) and metaphorically is “faith.”


Some argue that digital poetry has the ability to cause thinking in the minds of readers, and this piece is a perfect example; because readers can only click arrows to help the poem progress, they have to think carefully about the text before them as it moves and new words are added. In the article "Beyond Taxonomy: Digital Poetics and the Problem of Reading," author Talan Memmott mentions that "the ability to cause thinking is an essential part of digital poetics and rhetoric" (Memmott 303). When readers think about this poem in relation to the concept of “mise-en-écru” Memmott refers to as a sort of parallel to the concept of "mise-en-scene," it must be noted that without the sound effects, different colored texts, and movement on screen, this piece would convey a completely different message, one that would not require any thinking on the part of the reader (303). Because readers have to follow along with the quickly-changing text as the addition of words change each phrase and their meaning, they begin to think about their own thought processes regarding faith and logic and how each concept interacts with the other. If this were simply text on a page, readers would not be able to think about these concepts of faith and logic in relation to the author and themselves, they would simply be reading the author’s thoughts on faith and logic.

In the poem “London Eye” by Diane Greco, readers are able to experience the life of a person, presumably a woman, who becomes infatuated while spending some time in London. To begin, a reader is presented a black screen on which four small boxes are centered with a quote by John Berger above that reads: “When there is more than one figure, it is hard to be sure whether each is real, or only the dream-projection of the other.”

Eventually, the reader will realize that each box clicked opens the same new, smaller window that they will be further interacting with. This new window appears to be a series of tiny black boxes with lavendar colored screens (it may remind one of an older television set), surrounding a larger box positioned in the center/lower right hand side of the window. As the reader clicks each box, different snippets of text will appear on the larger screen.


Readers can click in any desired order, though proceeding left to right across the window seems to keep the poem on a more linear path; as the author thinks and writes about her experiences, a reader can see the development of infatuation with another character, who appears to already be in a relationship with another woman, and has a child. The thoughts readers may encounter are interesting, at times quite funny, and also troubling. The main character allows readers to see what she is thinking when she is and is not with the man she desires. One can see her indulging in her fantasy, wishing to reenact scenes from a favorite movie with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, though her version of Cary Grant never fully plays his part.

Clicking from box to box, a slight sense of desparation begins to manifest through the author’s writings and actions; from virtually stalking via webcams found on the internet, to the sad realization that she “[doesn’t] consume him the way he consumes [her],” readers see a young woman infatuated with an unattainable man, slowly losing herself (quite literally) as she attempts to connect with him similar to how she feels he connects with her.


Towards the end of the poem, a reader sees a woman who tries to become a different person, realizes that she does not even know herself, and eventually reaches a different stage in her crisis.

As readers progress through this poem, they will reach a point in which they begin to recognize certain behaviors typically representing depression. It could be said then, that the author perhaps intends to display these behaviors within the poem in order to bring attention to the subject of her poem, causing readers to think about how and why depression occurs, and perhaps try to determine what would be considered the best choice of action after recognizing what is happening, if not in their lives, in the lives of others. By making the readers move the text (that is, click each individual tiny box to make the poem continue) the author is able to effectively keep the attention of the reader, as well as ensure that each reader will be following the story closely, in an effort to make sense of each snippet of text. If this were simply a written text, readers might not grasp the subject matter; additionally, readers might not be able to recognize what the author is trying to do in having her text read box by box. Clicking from box to box is an effective way to make readers pay attention to the story and its characters, so that they can recognize actions and behaviors, and distinguish how the main character feels about the experiences being related within the text.

Memmott, Talan. "Beyond Taxonomy: Digital Poetics and the Problem of Reading".New Media Poetics: Contexts, Technotexts, and Theories. ed. Adalaide Morris and Thomas Swiss. MIT PRess: Cambridge, Mass. 293- 306.

http://collection.eliterature.org/1/works/kendall__faith.html

http://www.heelstone.com/meridian/greco4.html

An Initial Response to E-Poetry

My initial response to e-poetry based on the pieces assigned so far is one that is highly in favor. I had no idea reading a text through an electronic medium could so drastically change the way I understood it or read it previously. After watching the action-poetry version of “The Best Cigarette” I find I better understand the meaning of the poem, and the reverence Collins holds for what he considers the best cigarette; the cigarette ever-present when he feels most inspired to type is the best kind of cigarette he can have. Through this action poetry, I see what the author imagines as he writes this piece, and how each line connects to the next, how each thought relates to the other within the text. He describes and presents an image of other kinds of cigarettes he has an enjoyed, which occasions are most memorable to him, such as one after dinner or after a good swim. He then goes into detail, however, describing the kind of cigarette he regards the highest, which is one when he feels most pleased with himself, working diligently to express his thoughts and feelings on paper.

Though I find the flash poem, “Nine,” to be a little difficult to read (mainly because I am not good at nine-tile puzzles), I still enjoy what the author has given to readers by creating such an interactive text. Lewis uses the nine-tile puzzle to show readers his interpretation of the lives he presents through the text. I also find it interesting that he uses the number nine, perhaps suggesting humans have nine lives, similar to the notion that cats have nine lives. It fascinates me because as he describes on the main page of the puzzle, we as humans go through life at a dizzying pace, but in retrospect it seems different times and places in our lifetime seem to belong to completely different people, as if we have lived different lives (something I can totally agree with).

To be honest, the interactive version of “The Mermaid” is not my first choice for an e-poetry selection. I really enjoy the text version of the poem, as it is short and concise; it contains a simple plot with a rather sad turning point, and pleases with an ABCBDB rhyme scheme. I personally enjoy mermaid stories, though happy endings can become pretty bland, so one that has a more realistic (though unfortunate) ending is much appreciated.