Comparable Media:

This semester I've focused so much on apply Shakespeare to the digital world that it's really easy to see how my project compares to others. For instance in this class alone each one of your amazing blogs can compare to my project of documenting my observations of legitimizing digital humanities at BYU and on the larger scale. You guys really are my contemporaries in project structures! And of course the model I'll present for you is Professor Burton's blog:

http://shakespeareunbound.blogspot.com/

I've also mentioned before several blogs that detail not only digital humanities but Shakespeare as well. Here's a small list of the many people I've come across:

Jonathan Hope's Blog:

http://winedarksea.org/ ,

Lisa Spiro's blog on digital scholarship:

http://digitalscholarship.wordpress.com/

David Perry's Blog (similar to Spiro's in idea and format):

http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/

Dan Cohen's blog on digital humanities (He's a big name in the digital literacy movement!):

http://www.dancohen.org/

Learning Outcomes:

As a way to promote my new blog I decided to post my learning outcomes on that one. I'll post the link here so that you can connect the two blogs together.

Learning Outcomes

Repurposed Content:

It's taken me far longer than I wanted to get my repurposed content up and there are actually several reasons for that. The first is that my computer decided to have an epic meltdown on me and most of my projects were deleted and I've been scrambling like a mad woman all weekend to get things sorted and fixed. My computer is finally on the mend but I'm behind in posting this and my video.

The second reason is a little different.

Originally I was unsure how to approach a repurposed project for my subject matter which focuses on the digital humanities and its growth. I couldn't really figure out how to justify doing something focused when the digital studies change constantly and new things are coming to light. It is a very difficult subject to pinpoint to one specific project.

so....

I talked to Professor Burton and he suggested that I talk to Jeremy Browne and Jarom McDonald who work at BYU and are heading up the digital humanities program that is becoming a university focus in the coming year. What an opportunity to get involved!

I made the appointment and was able to talk to Jeremy last week (but like I said I'm posting this now because everything I had saved was inaccessible). I discussed with him what was going on at the university in regards to the digital program and he gave me some insight.

He mentioned that it is hard to figure out where to put the digital humanities program because it is such a vast program and covers a lot of different genres. People wonder just how to pin down digital humanities and how to apply them to the larger university scope.

He also mentioned that a lot of professors don't truly understand the digital humanities because they are focused more on the traditional methods of study and are in a way "stuck" in their discipline and unable to budge from that. It's a big issue for people, like my professor Gideon Burton, who think far beyond the here and now because they see the potential for growth new avenues of legitimate study.

So the Digital Humanities program-still very new in development-has a lot of work on in the coming months! But the exciting thing is that there is so much potential for this program!

I then inquired as to what I could do to help further this study and move things forward. Jeremy suggested doing a few things: getting involved with digital communities and researching what is going on here at BYU. He even commented that I should make a blog to detail these observations and digital communities so that I can remain in the loop and note where digital studies are going and contribute my voice to the growth of this discipline.

"Hey!" I thought, "That's what I've been trying to do all semseter!"

So really my Shakespeare blog has fascilitated in helping me solidify my new repurposed content. The digital humanities seem to be all about socializing and proving the significance of the discipline. I've been striving to connect to people and understand their views on digital studies as well as their projects and research. This "social proofing" has helped me to gain a passion for the fight to legitimize the digital studies here at BYU as well as in the wider sphere of learning.

So, here's a link to my new Digital Humanities Blog:

http://worldofdigitalstudies.blogspot.com/

On this blog I'll be noting all the digital blogs of significance that I come across, the people I contact and interview as well as having guest bloggers to showcase their studies. At the same time I'll also be keeping updates available on the research done at BYU and the changes happening there!

Basically I'm determined to be the news on the digital humanities!

Sound exciting?

I think so!

Proof is in the Pudding....the social proof that is...

Okay, it's been long in coming, but I finally got a response from one of my contacts, Lisa Spiro, who is a strong advocate for the digital humanities. I shot her an e-mail and asked her a couple of questions and the other day she finally got back with me. Here's how the conversation went down:

Hello,

My name is Kaleigh and I'm currently a Senior at Brigham Young University. I'm working on a project involving Shakespeare studies in the digital age and I was hoping that I could get some insight from you. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps you might answer some questions for me?

1. What do you think is the significance of the digital humanities? How are they beneficial to our current methods of study?

I think the digital humanities have broad significance. First, digital humanists have developed trustworthy digital collections that provide the basis for research. Second, they are creating tools and analytical approaches that enable researchers to, for example, discern patterns across large textual collections, visualize the relationships among participants in a network (for example, letter correspondents), model spaces and objects (including those that are imagined or destroyed), create geo-temporal visualizations that enable us to understand phenomena across space and time, etc. Third, digital humanists are experimenting with networked approaches to scholarly communication, including open peer review, multimedia publishing, networked communities, etc. Fourth, the digital humanities are devising pedagogical approaches that enable students to do original research and participate in networked communities. Fifth, DH is shaping new theoretical approaches, including a deeper understanding of the cultural implications of hardware and software. Finally, DH has a public impact by making information widely available and exploring approaches such as crowdsourcing.

2. Do you feel that digital studies will replace more traditional methods of study or enhance them? How so?

Ultimately, I think all humanities will be digital humanities, but that the core values of the humanities--interpretation, multiplicity, play--will abide.

3. How do digital studies affect our perception of texts and the humanities like Shakespeare? What can you do with digital data?

You can do lots with data: compare, mashup, map, visualize, mine, analyze, share, etc. With Shakespeare, for instance, one could compare the variants across folios, map relationships among characters, map the movements of characters, use topic modeling to detect larger themes across his works, use text analysis to plumb the significance of particular words and phrases, etc. Check out the MLA's Variorum Shakespeare Challenge: http://www.mla.org/nvs_challenge

There's also a special issue of the Shakespeare Quarterly you may wish to consult: http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/ShakespeareQuarterly_NewMedia/

4. What do you think the trend is for digital studies?

I don't know that there is a single trend, beyond DH growing in visibility. I noted a number of sessions on DH at the most recent Modern Language Association conference.

5. What would you say to critics of the digital humanities?

Experiment. Play. See what's possible. Engage in conversation. Criticism is healthy, if it is informed, engaged criticism.

Good luck with your project!

I also got a response from another of my blogger contacts, David Parry, and he was kind enough to respond to my e-mail, though his comments were somewhat unexpected. His comment about Shakespeare and the digital humanities in particular made me do a double take. That being said, I appreciated his honesty and consideration in taking the time to respond to me. Here's his response:

The article linked to below should answer almost all those questions, and in much more detail than I could do in email responses. The only thing not addressed in that article is your question of Shakespeare.
Re: Shakespeare. Actually I am not really interested in that question. I think there are probably a lot of scholars who work on this question, but for me the question of leveraging data to redo scholarship on old texts is really the wrong approach, I want to use the digital to open up new perspectives and ways of being humanists.

http://outsidethetext.com/main/2012/01/the-digital-humanities-or-a-digital-humanism/

Finally another video!

Several attempts to upload, frustration, and moments of complete and utter aggravation have finally paid off. I finally got my video to upload! It's a little late but better to have it posted then not at all right?

For some reason my youtube video wasn't showing up on the search, but if you want to view the video on youtube you can follow this link:

Digital Humanities

There's a few rough patches that I see after publishing the video, but I think it turned out okay. I'd love your feedback so feel free to comment. Thanks guys!

I Just Had a Thought:

Okay, quick little blurb that I had as I've been working on finishing my video. I've come to realize that the pursuit for legitimizing the digital humanities is very similar to the pursuit of attempting to legitimize the significance of studying humanities at the University level.

There is a lot of talk about how many scholars don't understand the complete significance of studying the Humanities at a university level. The argument stands that no definitive career is mapped out for you. There are too many variables and it often appears that the study of literature or art don't lead to a significant career in today's fast-paced, business-oriented world.

The other side argues that the Humanities are an essential study to our society today. Both men and women should study subjects such as literature and realize that even though there may not be a definitive career path, Humanities majors are actually far better off because they aren't limited by a chosen path. Humanities allow for a wide array of opportunities to present themselves. The door of possibilities is far larger as a Humanities major!

The contention with the digital humanities is that many people believe that taking a focus on the digital form of study hinders the significance of traditoinal forms of study. People, like Stanley Fish, feel that digital humanities can be significant if you are merely "crunching numbers." But he fears that the digital humanities can also cause people to focus more on the digital aspects and as a result many will ignore the necessity to explore texts in a more standardized format.

And then there are those who argue that the Digital Humanities allow for an expansion upon traditional forms of study. You can learn a lot of traditional studies. However, you can also apply digital study methods to enhance studies and open new avenues of comprehension that aren't available through more traditional forms.

Can you see the correlation I see?

'By my penny of observation'-A review of "Love's Labour's Lost" (BYU)

As the king of Navarre states at the beginning of Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost":

"Our court shall be a little Academe,
Still and contemplative in living art."

Foreswearing the company of women, Navarre's court of scholarly men sought to gratify their minds through pursuits of the academic nature.

In short, no girls allowed!

That is until the princess and her ladies come to visit. Then all bets are off!

Once beautiful ladies appear, scholarly pursuits take a back seat to wooing and romantic escapades. And so commences a humorous portrayal of the follies of men and women in love.

Brigham Young University's 1940's adaptation of Shakespeare's early comedy does a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the Bard's play, while at the same time taking creative liberties to capture the spirit of a memorable era in American history. The scenes are constructed to remind the viewer of the times during World War II. The costuming, lighting, makeup, and  sufficiently and accurately capture the nostalgia of the 40's lifestyle: the sailors, the dancing, and the music.

One aspect of the play that I found interesting was the combination of 40's lifestyles and surroundings mixed with Shakespearean speech. The speech remained true to the traditional publication form that Shakespeare employed during his time. However, this speech was applied to a time far more modern. This tactic marries two histories together.

But how can someone achieve this? How can two seemingly different points in time connect to one another?

The answer seems simple really. Shakespeare's work transcends time and we can relate the concepts and subjects found within his works to our current situations. The theme of "Love's Labour's Lost" is the pursuit of love and the hilarity that can ensue during such acts. People in every time have experienced moments of humorous love-sick pursuits, where words are misconstrued and goofy relationship mishaps abound. Shakespeare was not unique in his subject matter. Such themes apply to his time as much as they applied to the 1940's and even today.

Ultimately, Shakespeare can be perceived as the most influential literary figure because his works transcend time. All people have the capacity to find meaning in Shakespeare's words.

Life...

Well, my posts are tad late. I'm still finishing up my video (My week/weekend was beyond crazy) and I hope to get it up soon. I also have several posts that I need to get up and posted for your enjoyment, but again I've been sucked into family issues that have eaten up vast amounts of time.

Sorry guys.

:( (here's my pouty face)

My Project Idea

I think that perhaps for my project I will do a twist on our own class project. If I can get all the people I'm going to contact to consent, I think that perhaps I can do a collaborative video presentation about the significance of the digital humanities. I can ask a specific question to each "guest speaker" and have them record their response on video and send that to me. Then, perhaps, I can combine each segment together into one larger project. It can be all fancy and digital and pretty and...several other adjectives I can't htink of

Does that sound like a good idea?

And I think that perhaps if I can get more of the general publice (students/people interested in the digital medie, etc.) to accept my inquiries, I can do something similar with them. That way I can observe the different viewpoints and address the struggles and questions people may have about digital humanities.

Maybe make this a web series or something?

What do you guys think?

Market Research Study/People I Want to Contact:

Okay. I 've been working rather hard to figure out who I will be able to contact and how I will contact them. I've decided that I want to display the community building power of the digital humanities as well as the learning power you can gain from employing digital means. I want to show how digital humanities enhance traditional studies and how beneficial they are to our current age.

I've noticed a few problems with the digital studies that I'd like to address:
-Why aren't the digital humanities more widely available to a more general audience?

And

-How can we promote the digital humanities to show to skeptics that this method/genre of study is significant and beneficial?

I've mulled over these questions and I've figured out that perhaps if I focus my attentions on a more informal audience and promote the digital humanities to them perhaps popularity will win over the more skeptical audiences. I also want to extend my feelers out to audiences who are studying the digital humanities in the digital world and interrogate (or simply question) their motives for studying the digital humanities as well as their desires for the future of digital studies, etc. Sound like a plan?

Well I like this plan anyway.

And here's who I plan to contact (so far anyway):

I stumbled across a blog from a woman/ professor who has devoted a great deal of time studying the digital humanities:

http://digitalscholarship.wordpress.com/

In this blog the creator, Lisa Spiro, hopes to study the digital humanities and the affect that they have on studies. She also hopes to promote digital scholarship and display the significance of the digital humanities to a wider audience.

Pretty cool right?

I hope that I can contact her and get her insight on how she hopes to achieve these things. I'm working through her blog right now, but I would love to do an interview with her through e-mail.

And as a added bonus, her blog led me to several other blogs with people who are hoping to achieve similar things! I haven't worked through all of the individual blogs yet but I have a few that are extremely promising:

http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/

This blog, created by David Perry (a professor at the University of Texas), and he discusses his hope to cultural transformation brought about through the digital humanities. In his own words he states: " Particularly I am interested in how traditional institutions-libraries, higher education, even democracy itself-will be altered in a post print society. To see some of my work visit the research page."

He mentions that he has a twitter, so I'm hoping to follow him and start questioning him (okay maybe stalk him) in hopes to better understand his motives and insights. I'll also be perusing his blog and gaining a better understanding of his research.

Still another blog that I've come across is this:

http://www.dancohen.org/

This blog run by Dan Cohen (A professor at George Mason University) delves into the "impact of new media and technology on all aspects of knowledge, from the nature of digitized resources to twenty-first century research techniques and software tools to the changing landscape of communication and publication."

He teaches this at George Mason University and his blog is merely an extension of that reasearch. I'm also hoping to get an interview with him and propose several questions to him about making the technology for the digital humanities more cost effective and available to the the more general public.

And like I said there are many more blogs that I'm going through and I'll be sure to update another list of people when Iget more information on the creators and credibility of the blog list.

But, I do have a small problem that I'm not sure how to overcome. I keep thinking of ways to promote the digital humanities to people on a more common level, i.e. not professors or researchers, but people in general. I'm trying to get specific people/groups that I can interview, but I'm not quite sure how to go about things.

Any suggestions?

"By my penny of observation"-Review of "Love's Labour's Lost"

Well I realize this post is a tad late in being posted. I've been super busy this week with various projects and while I haven't shirked my duties with assignments, I just haven't posted anything yet! Forgive me dear blogites and Shakespeare friends.

I hope you enjoy reading the next few posts!

To start off this blog-fest I would like to discuss my views on the amazing play we finished this week. Didn't you guys just adore "Love's Labour's Lost"?! I did! It had me giggling constantly and I absolutely loved the word play and the sparring of 'wit' between the characters. Plus, the sheer amount of humor woven through the interactions was fabulous.

I still maintain my preference for Biron as my favorite character with Armado coming in a close second. Both of these men were humorous to read/watch. I really got a kick out of Biron's humor and wit and sharp minded remarks. It was amazing to read his comments and justifications for everything. One of my favorite parts was the following passage because I absolutely love the word play here. I love how each character adds to the rhyme of the other. It's wonderful! Enjoy.

BIRON

I'll prove her fair, or talk till doomsday here.

FERDINAND

No devil will fright thee then so much as she.

DUMAIN

I never knew man hold vile stuff so dear.

LONGAVILLE

Look, here's thy love: my foot and her face see.

BIRON

O, if the streets were paved with thine eyes,
Her feet were much too dainty for such tread!

DUMAIN

O, vile! then, as she goes, what upward lies
The street should see as she walk'd overhead

Video and short synopsis of my repurposed research

Alright. Let me just vent for a minute. I had an amazingly cool video to post for you filled with pictures and texts and all that wonderful stuff. I was rather proud of it actually. HOWEVER, like so many of my frustrations this last week, the stupid computer of mine didn't save things! Talk about frustratingly annoying.

Anyway,  I made a small video explaining, somewhat, my ideas about digital humanities. While the video isn't terrible I'm not too happy with the result and I feel as though I can be a lot more concise and tune my focus even further. That being said, this is a great jumping off point. Like I said though, my other video was much much better. Alas, 'tis not my lucky week. Oh well. Gotta roll with the punches, eh?

My main focus for the video, and I think for my research, is to focus on the benefits of digital studies. In particular I want to emphasize the ways digital humanities enhance traditional studies, as well as how the research community is more available. Because come on let's face it, it's always nice to know that there are people out there who actually CARE about what you're studying and talking about right? And I think that I'm going to take my focus away from strictly an academic community and focus more on the common, everyday people who are interested in employing digital studies into their learning. I want to show that digital studies (or studies in general) don't have to be limited to the upper crust of researchers. Everyone can study. Everyone can learn. And EVERYONE can share their ideas and become a part of the community.

Well that's what I think anyway.

Enjoy the video.

*Grumble grumble*

I've been trying ALLweekend to get my video up. Stupid computer keeps failing me. How annoying can that be right?! Seriously.

I will get my video up (hopefully today) and in that video I'll be able to discuss with you my new direction for my paper which is: The SIGNIFICANCE of Digital Humanities.

Hopefully my computer will cooperate this time. *insert angry face here*

"Our court shall be a little Academe"-Loving Love's Labour's Lost!

Wow.

I'm loving this play! I love the wit, the vivacity, and the plucky little comments woven throughout the story!

I decided after I read the text, to watch the production done at the Globe that Dr. Burton showed a clip of. And can I just say that it is awesome?! Seriously I loved having a production to observe after reading. It really made the text come alive for me. And it reinforces the idea that plays are really an EXPERIENCE not just a text. Plays are meant to be produced!

And boy did the Globe do an excellent job of producing Shakespeare's play!

My favorite characters are probably Berowne or Biron (or however else it is known) because he's so amusing to listen to/read; Costard simply because he's hilarious; and Adriano De Armado because of his obsession with love.

I loved reading the lines of these three in particular because of the language each uses (Berowne with his rhyming and wit, Costard with his simplistic absurdity, and Adriano with his lovey-dovey rationalizations)

So, when I started watching the production done by the Globe I was happily aware of how fabulous the actors portrayed these specific characters. They were IMMENSELY entertaining!

I'm not completely done watching the play but three of my favorite scenes so far are:


Talkative Prisoner

This is the moment where Costard cannot STOP talking about how he WILL stop talking
Witty Barbs

This is the scene where Biron and Rosaline spar and throw some witty little barbs back and forth.

Armado In Love

Ah Armado is in love! What more can I say? :)
* As a side note to anyone who doesn't have access to these links (because they are provided through BYU) There may be a way to e-mail links to you! Let me know if you need some help! :)

The Breadth and Depth of Digital Humanities & SHOUT OUT TO ASHLEY!

Okay!

As you may be aware from previous posts, I'm sort of addicted to the digital humanities. The whole concept to expand learning through the modern digital methods really intrigues me. And after working through my paper and listening to everyone's insight on reworking their own papers I've started to think about the different ways I can improve my own research.

One way that I thought about reworking my paper is to shift and expand my focus. I think my paper was very academically centered. My main focus was on talking to an audience of professors or researchers. I think that I need to expand this field a bit more and look at the broader scope of things.

I started by asked myself these basic questions:

Who has experience with the digital world?

-Just about everyone!

Who would be interested in digital studies?

-Students and teachers and people interested in learning.

HOW could digital humanities benefit?

-Digital Humanities can benefit people through the expansion of the knowledge base and the variety of information available. Further, studying through digital methods allow for different methods of study to present themselves providing unique opportunities for learners to understand the humanities in ways that appeal to individual learning habits and patterns as well a provide new insight into the basic foundation of studies in humanities.

So, in a nutshell, digital humanities provide a breadth and depth of knowledge and community connections that expand on traditional study methods.

Sound good?

Also, I thought that I could make my presentation more digital-friendly. How do you appeal to a digital savvy community about the importance of digital humanities unless you reach out to them through digital means? I'm not quite sure what avenue this will take just yet, but I'm starting to get things figured out slowly.

And ASHLEY,

I'd love to collaborate with you on our videos if you'd be willing. I know your ideas focus on Ophelia, but I think that there's a great many places where our ideas can overlap. Perhaps we can combine ideas in some way or present our videos as connectors to one another?

Let me know what you think!

"Frailty, thy name is woman,"-Ashley's Ophelia

Can I just say how awesome Ashley is? Seriously I loved your paper. I loved the insight you had the argument you presented. It really sparked my interest and I found myself contemplating several things.

Here's a link to her blog:

http://lewisashley382.blogspot.com/

Now I want to focus on a few thoughts I had while reader her blog.

The first:

As I was reading about how Ophelia was abused by all the men around her it got me to thinking about the stereotypes that society has of women today. I mentioned a similar idea as a comment to the post that Rachel O. made about how to broaden her paper to a larger sphere beyond merely Mormonism and Shakespeare.

Here's a link to her post:

http://ontiverosrachel382.blogspot.com/2012/03/after-meeting.html

What I can't help but wonder is if perhaps both papers are a call for shifting from stereotypes in society to more accepting. Ashley's paper made me think about how society objectifies women in many respects. According the popular social standards, you aren't important if you can't fit a specific form of standards. To me this correlates to Ophelia who, as Ashley argues, was objectified by everyone around her. Her father saw her as a possession. Many men today see the same thing. And sometimes women overcompesate.

Perhaps we could take this to a larger sphere and create a community where women attempt to change the societal norms and push for a new definition of beauty and a new standard of what a great woman is? I think about women who struggle with eating disorders and mental issues because of the abuse they've received from family, peers, and the media. It's interesting to note that connection.

It reminds me of this movement:

 

Beauty Redefined

Isn't it interesting, too, which flower Ophelia gives herself? As Ashley mentioned it is called a Common Rue. I decided to do a little research on this particular flower. And you know what I found? The alternate name for the flower is called:

Herb-of-grace


Pretty interesting in connecting that to Ophelia's apparent call for change. She isn't giving herself a flower that denotes her impurity or her subservience to men. Rather, she gave herself a flower that noted her grace, her inward beauty, her inward value (something that is overlooked by all others). This seems to be her declaration of independence and realization of her true worth. She seems to advocate the importance and worth of ALL women (think of the name again: COMMON rue).

Second:

When reading about the connection Ashley made to flowers and water I started thinking in the context of the mythological and historical references to each of these. This could connect well to Bri's research on her blog:

http://zabriskiebri382.blogspot.com/

In her paper and her reflections she discusses her connections between Shakespeare and the mythical (plus she does a great job of analyzing Ashley's paper).

Seeing these two blogs, I started making connections between the two concepts. For instance, in all religions (from what I can tell) there are allusions made to water as a significant idea (baptism, life, rebirth, etc.) Also, historically, water is referenced in many ancient stories. Think of Beowulf and King Arthur texts. How many times can you count where water is referenced? This idea even extends to later after Shakespeare. I keep thinking of Tennyson's "The Lady of Shallot" and how intricately connected this concept is to Shakespeare:



The Lady of Shallot

This lady seems to represent the mythical world, full of magic and wonder. Her death occurs as she floats down the river singing her own death song. Who does this sound like?

Ophelia perhaps?




Anyway, those are my thoughts so far. I'm having a great time looking at everyone's blogs and I hope to create some posts about my thoughts as I continue to read! :)

Smile. It's Friday

Here's my plan for this weekend:

Do homework

Look at my paper again (I want to take Dr. Burton's suggestions and start to revise things to make them clearer)

Spend time with children

Take a nap

And I will be sure to laugh at some point.

I saw this the other day on facebook and thought I'd share:

Reflections: Ode To a Research Paper

Well guys we did it! :)



I think we all should feel some sense of pride in all of our hard work. Each of us have researched, contacted others, blogged, and diligently attempted to create exceptional research papers. I say, everyone has done amazing!

Professor Burton asked that we all write a reflection on our process, our paper, and how we feel about things right now.

So, let's get started eh?

First of all here's a copy of my paper:

Digital Humanities

Honestly when I was working on this paper I sort of felt a little like a small fish in a big pond. The digital humanities is such a large and popular subject. I wanted speak intelligently about the grammar and linguistic aspect of the digital movement. So it was a little intimidating for me to sit down and write my paper. I worried that I wouldn't make sense in my writing and that I would sound foolish trying to talk about something so complex.

But I guess without any bravery we never know what we can accomplish eh?

So I continued on.

As for the completely product that you read? Well, I feel like maybe it is disjointed and that a lot needs to be reorganized. Professor Burton made some suggestions about how I can make my argument clearer and stronger and I can see that if I reworked the structure then my paper would sound stronger and be much more cohesive than it is now. Also, perhaps narrowing my focus even further than it currently is would help make my argument stronger.

I know that I can make my paper better than it is now. And I think that's a great aspect of writing, every time you complete a paper or a chapter in a novel, you are only finishing another DRAFT. You can edit and polish your paper later on and make things clearer, stronger, and better.

That thought cheers me up. I'm not saying that my paper is completely horrible. I don't think anyone in this class can write a horrible paper either. What I'm saying is that I know that I can always improve things. I know my strengths and I know the weaknesses of my paper (and I appreciate the critiques from Professor Burton and anyone else that cares to give me advice!). And I think this experience will make each of us stronger as writers, readers, and critics.

So what's in the future?

Well, I know that I'll be working to strengthen my argument and make things clearer to the reader. And I really want to research things further. Professor Burton noted that not all programs in the digital sphere are made readily available to everyday people (especially teachers). This intrigued me and I wonder if there is a way that we can attempt to work to make such programs available to a larger audience. I think discussing the benefits the digital humanities (particularily in the area of grammar/linguistics) can have in teaching pre-college students.

I also want to do some research on my own to see just how many researcher tools I can locate and use in my own studies of grammar in Shakespeare. It should be interesting to see what I come up with!

Now I have some things to consider! :)

Tweethis Update!

Okay, so since I posted a little while ago, I discovered that someone is now following me on twitter because of my tweethis statement. The person in question is called 'Technology Coach'.

Exciting! :)

And now? Back to writing!

Tweethis Statement and A Big Thanks!

Well guys first off, thank you for all your encouraging comments on my rough draft. You guys are amazing at posting your reaction to what little I have written so far. I really appreciate it and I'll be certain to return the favor to all of you lovely people!

Now, I have worked on my tweethis statement. In fact, I posted three different ones in hopes that someone would react.

And you know what?

I got NOTHING!

What a bummer it was.

However, as I was preparing to try yet ANOTHER tweethis statement I found that two people actually modified my tweet and displayed it on their sites. But beyond that there really wasn't much of a response.

How tragic.

This is what I wrote:

#Digitalhumanities expand on traditional research. Now we can understand #Shakespeare and #Grammar in new,exciting ways. #Technology.

I messaged the two people who tweeted, one was the self-proclaimed "grammar police" (gulp. Maybe I spelled something wrong?) and the other was a  commentator on politics (weird combination but okay :) ). I hope to hear from them soon! Maybe they'll retweet me again?