Reaction to Week Five Literature

 

 

There were a number of different electronic literature pieces that I viewed and read this week. For this blog, I am going to discuss two particular ones. Since I have never been one to read much poetry in hard copy, I thought an electronic piece might be more interesting. The Sweet Old Etcetera by Alison Clifford which is based on the poetry of E.E. Cummings is a totally interactive piece. You go nowhere unless you click on various spots (usually red highlighted words) on the screen starting with the branches of a tree that sprouted out with words. Clicking on the words to move forward with the poetry wasn't always easy since the tree sways back and forth. I was able to read and understand the areas where the words formed sentences; other areas were more confusing and I couldn't make sense of what was on the screen. Also, it was frustrating because there were times that I wanted to leave the screen, but couldn't until I clicked on all the highlighted words. This piece did have sound - when clicking on a highlighted word, you hear a single beat similar to a chime sound. There were spinning stars you could click on and make "music" (similar to playing a piano with one finger). All in all the piece was too confusing and didn't give me a better appreciation for poetry.

 

The second piece I am going to discuss is the total opposite of Clifford's especially from the standpoint of being interactive. AH by K Michel and Dirk Vis shows words flowing across the screen, most of the time in a straight line, at a fast pace to the point where it made me dizzy as I was trying to make sense out of it. There was nothing to click on, no color, no sound and nothing else to see except this flow of words that were meant to represent the moves between the breathing and singing of someone in the shower. In order to figure out more about this piece, I did some research and found an analysis of AH that gave me some additional insight. Check it out if you are interested. http://nkelber.com/engl278w/?p=2089#