4 MEMES

1.  Original Image, Original Text

 2.  Original Image, "Borrowed Text"

 3.  Borrowed Image, Original Text

4.  Borrowed Image, Borrowed Text

Mr. Plimpton's Revenge

     One reason I chose this story is because it was interesting to me while I was reading it.  I feel like if this story was written on a Microsoft Word document, I would have stopped reading it after the first paragraph, but since it was portrayed in a google maps manner, I was able to physically change to the next part of the story which would take me to a new location that the author would talk about.  Although the author added humor in a couple different areas to keep the readers entertained, I also found it a story I could personally relate to because not only am I also a University of Pittsburgh student, but my parents have a house in Pittsburgh so I was able to visualize the actual streets the author was talking about while I was going through the story.  Even though I liked how the story was being presented, I questioned if the story even had a point to it as some of the parts seemed to be made up, but as I kept reading, it ended up being one of my favorite stories we have read with a point to be learned.  One thing I learned greatly is to never keep your head down because it pays to keep your eyes open.  It might have been a little creepy that these the two people stumbled upon each other numerous times after they were first introduced to each other in Pittsburgh, but they ended up forming a friendship and the old guy managed to remember the kid who chauffeured him around Pittsburgh.

Public Secrets by Sharon Daniel and Erik Loyer

     Public Secrets was a piece that I enjoyed reading very much.  One reason I was interested in this so much was because Sharon Daniel put herself into a dangerous position to listen to other women's experiences in the Central California Women's Facility.  The California Department of Corrections had imposed a media ban on all of its facilities which prohibited face-to-face interviews, cameras and recording devices, etc.  The reason we all have access to public secrets was because Sharon Daniel was put into this facility as an advocate to be able to relate to these other women in a more personal matter which would help them open up to her and share their experiences with her about their knowledge on the war of drugs, the criminal justice system, and the prison industrial complex.  

     I consider myself a visual learner and looking at public secrets was a very creative way to present this piece.  I also don't like to read but the fact that I was able to interact with each block and be able to listen to some of the stories instead of read every single one kept me interested in what each women had to say.  Further into my readings, I realized how unfair and cruel the society treats certain people, especially women.  Listening to some of these quotes has made me realize that many innocent people are locked up behind bars for petty crimes while actual criminals are getting away with murders, rapes, and theft.  Being able to actually hear the women's voices gets you involved and in a way you are able to visualize the different points they are trying to explain.  One of the quotes I remember specifically from the piece was when it said, "The trick to public secret is knowing what not to know."  The reason I like this quote so much is because I was able to understand it without reading it twice and I think everyone is able to grasp something different when they read that quote.  I grasp the fact that the quote is telling people to not be oblivious to the world and that there are secrets out there that are being kept from people but there are also secrets that are pubic which need to be addressed.

Deviant

     The artwork I chose to summarize was called Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw, by Donna Leishman.  This specific piece is an animated graphic based on the historical story of Christian Shaw and her demonic possession.  The reason I chose Deviant is because I consider myself as more of a visual learner and the way this story was illustrated helped me understand the concept by keeping me interested in the story.  It started out as a game, in which you were forced to click on different parts of the game and learn each type of symptom that Christian Shaw had experienced while she was being "possessed".  The game takes about 10 to 15 minutes to uncover every part of the story and you know when you've reached the end because a link shows up to the actual case story of what fully happened. So far, Deviant is my favorite E-literature piece that we have read because of the main reason that you could go back and play the game 10 more times and still find something new that you couldn't find before.  The amount of time and detail put into this game to illustrate such a deep story really helps the reader completely experience some of the personal "scary" awkward moments that Christian Shaw went through.  To those people who don't like reading too much and consider themselves a visual learner, deviant is a type of artwork that will draw you in with the game and make you interested in reading the full story to be able to grasp what you just went through while playing the game.

What is Digital Humanities?

     Digital humanities is a word that has numerous definitions within itself.  This is mainly because the word "digital" and the word "humanities" are both a part of our society and will play a huge role in our society the future as well.  When I think of the word digital, the first thing that comes to my mind is the word "symbol".  The reason everything is becoming digital is to make it easier to read information through computing and electronics by converting it into a numerical form using mainly 0's and 1's (symbols).  When I think of the word humanities, I think of the whole entire world. I was born in India where there is a completely different culture being followed and moved to the United States when I was 6 years old where the "humanities" being followed are the exact opposite.  Culture is only one type of humanities as humanities can also be related to all types of ancient modern languages, performing arts, history, and even communications.

     When you put digital and humanities together, you get the definition of the society we live in today. Digital humanities, in the past, used to be portrayed through cultural arts on walls, then adapted to paper, such as newspapers and books and has now transformed into iPads and Kindles.  Digital Humanities is the act of portraying humanities through digital media. I believe that if our entire species was able to come together digitally, the different types of humanities and cultures we believe in has potential to come together and refine our earth to further develop the use of technology.