tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5944387947008106102024-02-19T09:05:27.425-08:00Love Me Some Booksalymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-50064179929511766172011-06-15T09:03:00.000-07:002011-06-15T09:03:38.415-07:00writing literary criticism in the digital age: how'd we do?<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://thedigitalwriter.blogspot.com/2011/06/ebook-galleys-and-finalizing-for-our.html">Dr. Burton</a> asked us on Monday (the last day of class! gasp!) to write about how we "met the stated learning outcomes." I whipped out the old syllabus to make sure I didn't forget anything. These learning outcomes were grouped under three headings:</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Consume</span></b></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I read </span><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To Kill a Mockingbird </i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">in what we usually call regular form, my own beautiful, new paperback copy; I had different experiences, however, with both </span><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Remix </i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Rainbow's End</i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> (read about my experience using a digital format </span><a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/let-it-be-made-known-rainbows-end.html" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">). Even though I didn't love reading those two books online, I grew to respect the digital world as a resource. I did both traditional scholarly research (</span><a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/putting-to-kill-mockingbird-back-in-its.html" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">, </span><a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/harper-lees-south-and-lrc.html" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">, and </span><a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/antiracist-pedagogy-in-huck-finn-using.html" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">here</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">) and not-so-traditional research, like </span><a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/eeeekkk-somebody-answered.html" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">forums</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> and looking for </span><a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-first-prezi-find-scottsboro-trials.html" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">other student work</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">. One of my favorite tools that I use to consume other people's work is Google Reader. I use it every day to stalk friend, family, classmate, and wedding blogs. </span></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Create</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My most obvious creation is of course, this blog. At first it was intimidating to write a post every day and try to make it sound like a paper I would hand in to a professor, but Dr. Burton taught me that blogging is a completely different type of writing. You have to cater to an audience that will click away if they are not engaged from the beginning. This was also interesting in trying to write "legitimate" literary criticism (Dr. Burton answered my question in <a href="http://thedigitalwriter.blogspot.com/2011/05/legitimate-literary-criticism.html">this</a> post). I also started using Twitter; I haven't done much with it yet, but now that classes are almost over for me (hooray!) I think I can make things work. (as well as <a href="http://pinterest.com/">pinterest.com</a>. it's so fun. i think you should try it out.) Diigo has been very helpful in seeing what my classmates are working on; we have been able to help each other as well as find simply interesting websites. And I'm using it often to show my mom things that I like as we <a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/hooray-for-diigo-and-getting-married.html">try to plan a wedding.</a></span><i></i></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Connect</b></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is one important aspect of learning/teaching that often gets overlooked. But the things we did under this heading were the ones that gave the most rewarding feeling (like hearing back from someone who responded to a forum that i posted; see<a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/eeeekkk-somebody-answered.html"> this post</a>). And it is always exciting to see that someone is reading my blog from France or Germany or some other foreign country. And finally, our eBook is complete. Never before have I worked on such a meaningful project with such tangible (in a digital sense) results. Being a part of the editing team was an intense and great learning experience (both <a href="http://nyssasilvester.blogspot.com/2011/06/editing-team-narrative.html">Nyssa</a> and <a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-we-edited-ebook.html">I</a> have shared our thoughts). It is honestly refreshing to have a class that I know will matter to someone, if not right now, at least someone in the future. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Now, we would love you to join us at our final, a webinar, later tonight. See you there! </span><iframe frameborder="0" height="215" id="widgetiframeid" name="widgetiframe" scrolling="no" src="http://www.learncentral.org/alterevent/widget/8040477af41cb6ca0b6bc5fcc6810b3b/portrait" style="border: 0; overflow: visible;" width="400"></iframe>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-18087623316946345242011-06-14T17:37:00.000-07:002011-06-14T17:38:36.429-07:00free webinar: launching our eBook<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please join us for the launch of <i>Writing About Literature in the Digital Age</i> at a free webinar taking place Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 from 5:30-6:30pm MDT (you can sign in using LearnCentral's <a href="http://www.learncentral.org/node/163953">site</a>, or simply </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://bit.ly/lb8L48">click here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at that time). </span><br />
</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITr-WxB5mllqqxh-KEwiCzhYxDsg_CM0zEaRj0eX8ZGMTniIfO_nFIrLFBCjyf91w-tNjP-Jy39vm8VAGvu6BUVSkFijZMDrJtiokYKt9fN7GrxLwWHuBe-SCGRCV1fNcxQrDSLp8IXI/s1600/eBook-Cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITr-WxB5mllqqxh-KEwiCzhYxDsg_CM0zEaRj0eX8ZGMTniIfO_nFIrLFBCjyf91w-tNjP-Jy39vm8VAGvu6BUVSkFijZMDrJtiokYKt9fN7GrxLwWHuBe-SCGRCV1fNcxQrDSLp8IXI/s320/eBook-Cover.jpg" width="247" /></a></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Writing about Literature in the Digital Age</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a free eBook by students at Brigham Young University who are pushing boundaries of traditional literary study to explore the benefits of digital tools in academic writing. This collaborative effort is a case study of how electronic text formats and blogging can be effectively used to explore literary works, develop one’s thinking publicly, and research socially. Students used literary works to read the emerging digital environment while simultaneously using new media to connect them with authentic issues and audiences beyond the classroom. As literacy and literature continue their rapid evolution, accounts like these from early explorers give teachers and students of literature fresh reference points for the literary-digital future.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The table of contents for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Writing About Literature in the Digital Age</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> can be browsed <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31934064/TOC.pdf">here</a>.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the webinar, we invite you to hear the authors discuss their work and the making of their eBook. </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will be able to download your free copy of <i>Writing About Literature in the Digital Age</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> during or following the webinar launch on June 15th, 2011.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Contributors: Alymarie Rutter, Amy Whitaker, Annie Ostler, Ariel Letts, Ashley Lewis, Ashley Nelson, Ben Wagner, Bri Zabriskie, Carlie Wallentine, Derrick Clements, James Matthews, Matt Harrison, Nyssa Silvester, Rachael Schiel, Sam McGrath, Taylor Gilbert, and Gideon Burton. </span></span></span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-40346161645699570542011-06-13T20:39:00.000-07:002011-06-13T20:39:41.311-07:00how we edited the eBook<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The blogging hiatus is now over. We are completely finished with editing each individual chapter for the eBook and have sent them to the design team... And I gotta say, it's looking SO good!</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg493XgrjDY6tkQZFRHbN43zsprcAszyBcdbQdLYbwLL7sjt7TiZh6_5-Qwq92Qc-6Ka9-TLl_hxgjLMqlQzZTr1zzkvIdMBPI1RsZ1uEnlQSC-R5yscL7yXdk012VILA1pcjH8xhAz-pUb/s1600/2349632625_4eba371b56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg493XgrjDY6tkQZFRHbN43zsprcAszyBcdbQdLYbwLL7sjt7TiZh6_5-Qwq92Qc-6Ka9-TLl_hxgjLMqlQzZTr1zzkvIdMBPI1RsZ1uEnlQSC-R5yscL7yXdk012VILA1pcjH8xhAz-pUb/s320/2349632625_4eba371b56.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://search.creativecommons.org/?q=edit#">Photo</a> via Flickr</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was put on the editing team (along with <a href="http://nyssasilvester.blogspot.com/">Nyssa Silvester</a> and <a href="http://ashleynelson295.blogspot.com/">Ashley Nelson</a>) with zero experience. I am planning on pursuing a minor in editing, but as of yet I haven't taken any classes and haven't really edited papers aside from classmates'. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nyssa sent me a style sheet and my assignments-- 6 classmates' final drafts to do a first, medium edit. I was worried that I would be absolutely no help. After finishing the first chapter, <a href="http://sammcgrathwritings.blogspot.com/">Sam McGrath</a>'s, I sent it on to Nyssa for a second edit with this plea: "Please let me know what changes you made." When I received her email I was pleased with the results. She said, "Here's a copy of Sam's essay with the changes I made. I only took your edits out when they changed the voice of the essay or when they wound up obscuring the meaning. Overall, I think you did a very good job."</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nyssa's email was not only relieving</span><span style="font-size: small;"> but gave me ideas on how to be more effective. It helped with the rest of my edits, and the second edits sent to me by Ashley. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Using the Microsoft Word "Track Changes" feature, the editing team made grammar, punctuation, and minor content changes, sent them to the next editor in line via email, and then sent them to the author of the chapter so they could accept changes and send them back to Nyssa for the final look-through. This was easy and effective to get edits between editors and authors. I pretty much completed my entire assignment in two nights, long nights, but two nights nevertheless. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Of course, I have a lot to learn. But contributing in such an obvious way (this is what everybody who sees this eBook is going to read!) when I felt like I had nothing to contribute gave me a reason to continue at the fastest possible speed and do my best work. There wasn't too much stress either (but I only speak for myself; I bet Nyssa would say otherwise). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I feel good about the way the eBook is turning out. I have also found a lot of wonderful resources through this experience (like the online <a href="http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html">Chicago Manual of Style</a> through the </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://lib.byu.edu/">BYU Library</a></span><span style="font-size: small;">). And I'm excited about where I'm going-- I like editing! Hooray!! </span></div>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-41188562845651198022011-06-08T21:22:00.000-07:002011-06-08T21:22:35.130-07:00the final draft... finally!<!--[if !mso]> <style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Creating Mockingbirds: The Importance of an Authorial Online Presence</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Alyssa Rutter</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSivKbVfbusfEO_zg3oFWEsuZlYhJNzxR9zMB4iaHFnBEpnRfaP04LR8KspBGUteYp53wvxtxj_yOr5ewvtWi3e7OE_Er2zGiIXACsDC2K7mUIf-HKZNxOYPvyND909opxyA5anjSOQGq/s1600/begging+mockingbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSivKbVfbusfEO_zg3oFWEsuZlYhJNzxR9zMB4iaHFnBEpnRfaP04LR8KspBGUteYp53wvxtxj_yOr5ewvtWi3e7OE_Er2zGiIXACsDC2K7mUIf-HKZNxOYPvyND909opxyA5anjSOQGq/s320/begging+mockingbird.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Georgia","serif";">CCL photo by Dendroica cerulea on Flickr.</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoCaption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"For Harper Lee, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[To Kill a Mockingbird]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> rolled out beautifully, it sold beautifully, it took on a life of its own, and its success had very little to do with the fact that she had to be out selling it. The book stood for itself. It would be nice to have that kind of a culture today, but we don't anymore."</i> - Adriana Trigiani in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of </i>To Kill a Mockingbird</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><span></span>“Keep in touch!” Those three words had a prominent presence in my yearbook and bounced up and down the halls on my last day of high school. I was surprised one of my best friends said instead, “You have got to get a blog. I’m never going to know what’s happening in your life if you don’t keep a blog updated.” My family was beginning to enter the blogging craze as well: mom, sister, aunts, cousins, second cousins, and cousins once removed (you think I’m kidding). So a couple of weeks after the graduation parties died down, I created myself online with a picture, a short bio, and an introductory blog post. Posting the link on Facebook legitimized it: From that day forward I was a blogger with a publicly available online presence, despite my amateurism. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Pressure to conform is increasing in intensity for those who are not making themselves known through the internet. Facebook, Twitter, personal blogs and other sites are becoming requirements for keeping in touch and both receiving and sending information quickly. The stakes multiply for modern authors with desires to be a part of both popular and high culture. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Authors who fail to enter with a strong presence into the digital age leave the door ajar for active members of the public to push in and create their presence for them.</b></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Harper Lee</span></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">An aspiration to make an epic discovery for my class project started me on the search for contact information of Harper Lee, author of classic American novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>. Some snooping produced this: Harper Lee has not granted an interview since 1964 (a mere four years after publication) nor published anything since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird</i> in 1960 (“About the Author”). I was stunned and disappointed, then curious. Lee composed a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel on her first try, a beloved novel that spent 88 consecutive weeks on bestseller lists, then abruptly dropped out of public view (“About the Author”). Why? My further search garnered intriguing results. In her final public interview, Lee admitted that the attention was unexpected and overwhelming, almost “frightening” (Madden 162).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alice and friend Reverend Thomas Lane Butts explained that exploitation of her words and work, specifically misrepresented interviews and autographed books, was disheartening (Murphy 71, 128). More intriguing, however, were accusations that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird </i>was in fact the work of renowned author and Lee’s longtime childhood friend and colleague, Truman Capote. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Harper Lee closed herself off without giving the public a reason. Naturally, critics and readers alike ventured to understand the disappearance of the bestselling author. Lee, however, refused to give in. Most reader and critic explanations were positive and based on fact. One, however, had its beginnings in fact but was skeptical: Was Truman Capote an unappreciated ghost-writer of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>? Lee and Capote had been friends since kindergarten, wrote side-by-side in New York, and then helped to edit and do research for each other’s novels (“About the Author”). And, of course, this was Lee’s first novel while Capote was already nationally-acclaimed. Speculation circulated that after so much fame and publicity Lee felt too guilty of hurting Capote’s career to continue in the limelight. Of course Alice, Lee’s close friends, and the majority of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird </i>scholars and readers pled and still plead disparately (Block, Windham 5). But because neither Lee nor Capote has explicitly said otherwise, a few diehard Capote fans still believe. In 2003, Ben Windham crossed paths with Archulus Persons, Capote’s father, who continued to claim that “almost all” of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird</i> was written by Capote (5). Though today greatly outnumbered, these loyal followers have portrayed Lee in a negative light, posting opinions of both her and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird</i> on blogs and forums across the internet. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">To Kill a Mockingbird</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">’s popularity may not have suffered from the rumor that Truman Capote authored the piece, but the reading culture of the 1960’s South is hardly comparable to the blooming digital age in which we now live. I echo bestselling author Adriana Trigiani in the belief that publishing and reading culture has changed since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>’s publication; no longer can authors release a book and go into hiding as Harper Lee did (Murphy 184). Readers are beginning to turn to the internet to find out more about a book or author; they generally either Google or guess the most obvious domain name, usually the author’s name or the book title (Krozser 16, 18). Type harperlee.com into the address bar and a fan-based website with this disclaimer appears: “Please note that harperlee.com is a private website, unaffiliated with Harper Lee or her representatives.” Instead of what Lee herself wants readers to know, an unknown entity includes what they consider to be worthwhile. Innocent readers can be deceived if they fail to read the small print. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Boo Radley</span></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Mysteriousness, absence, and incomplete stories generate rumors; and few have told this tale more clearly than Lee herself. Through the narration of Scout, a young tom-boy, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i> depicts the small town of Maycomb and the adventures of Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill while commenting on racism and assumptions in Southern communities</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">. </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Arthur Radley, known to Jem, Scout, and Dill as Boo, was often talked about but had not been sighted since Scout could remember. Much of the children’s entertainment </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">came from “the idea of making Boo Radley come out” (Lee 43, 9), but they were too afraid to actually go up to the door to say hello</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">, instead sticking a friendly note on the end of a fishing pole and unsuccessfully trying to dislodge it on a side windowsill (Lee 53). Readers and critics alike have been holding out the figurative fishing pole to Harper Lee and distant authors like her for years, but attempts have fallen short and we are once again left subject to any information but the author’s. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Very little time or creativity is needed to twist a story or description into a slightly less factual one, and it takes even less time to proliferate through a well-connected community. Never having heard anything different, Scout believed Jem characterized Boo “reasonably”: “[He] was </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were blood-stained. . . . There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 14). </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The children knew only enough of the stories and descriptions which Miss Maudie believed to be “three-fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford,” the town gossip, to create their own once-fact-based version of Boo (Lee 51). Jem, Scout, and Dill took for truth what they had heard, regardless of the source. They did not know what Boo Radley actually did or looked like, but because of “facts” circulating around their little town by those who were actively engaged in continuous conversation with their neighbors, the children did not know where to get the real facts, likely did not recognize that their perceptions were skewed.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The same can be said for literature readers on the internet today. Just as Boo Radley’s history, appearance, and even personality were formulated in the minds of many by rapidly-spreading gossip in a tight-knit town like Maycomb and Harper Lee was accused of taking undue credit for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, authors leave their readers to pseudo online presences <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on the internet, where information spreads even more rapidly than Maycomb. The Internet is an impressive, medium that is evolving daily, and as a result authors must also evolve. Without using the resources available to explicitly form a legitimate online presence, authors lose control over how they are recreated and then perceived by the online literature community. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Works Cited </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Block, Melissa. “Letter Puts End to Persistent ‘Mockingbird’ Rumor.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NPR</i>. NPR’s All Things Considered, 3 Mar. 2006. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5244492>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">“Contact Us.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harperlee.com</i>. n.p., n.d. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://harperlee.com/contact.htm>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Hyatt, Michael. “7 Ways to Build your Author Brand Online.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MichaelHyatt.com</i>. Michael Hyatt, 10 Nov. 2008. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://michaelhyatt.com/seven-ways-to-build-your-author-brand-online.html>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">-- . “Why Every Author Needs a Powerful Online Presence.”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> MichaelHyatt.com</i>. Michael Hyatt, 9 Nov. 2008. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://michaelhyatt.com/why-every-author-needs-a-powerful-online-presence.html>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Krozser, Kassia and Kirk Biglione. “Building Author Web Presence.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slideshare.net. </i>n.p., 2009. Web. 2 June 2011. <http://www.slideshare.net/kbiglione/building-author-web-presence>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Lee, Harper. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Madden, Kerry. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harper Lee: A Twentieth-Century Life</i>. New York: Viking, 2009. Print. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Murphy, Mary McDonagh. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of to Kill a Mockingbird</i>. New York: Harper, 2010. Print. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“To Kill a Mockingbird: About the Author.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big Read.</i> National Endowment for the Arts, n.d. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://www.neabigread.org/books/mockingbird/mockingbird04.php>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Windham, Ben. “Southern Lights: An Encounter with Harper Lee.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tuscaloosanews.com</i>. The Tuscaloosa News, 24 Aug. 2003. Web. 5 June 2011. <http://tldev.ny.atl.publicus.com/article/20030824/NEWS/308240365?Title=SOUTHERN-LIGHTS-An-encounter-with-Harper-Lee>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMbd_rC-Mw7uYeQKJQIntXMqdS5pfVpQ3QgytjPTx0QX9BaNGP-T0NIGpROMApzJ4ciGyJTjnBvK3NiwzlD7xfi03usImfEeQAnmh4zAYmupFu5c9AuFKdQNHXu_iFaL-oZTTSe8Awdtz/s1600/photo+JPEG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMbd_rC-Mw7uYeQKJQIntXMqdS5pfVpQ3QgytjPTx0QX9BaNGP-T0NIGpROMApzJ4ciGyJTjnBvK3NiwzlD7xfi03usImfEeQAnmh4zAYmupFu5c9AuFKdQNHXu_iFaL-oZTTSe8Awdtz/s1600/photo+JPEG.jpg" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9pt;">Alyssa Rutter is a Brigham Young University sophomore studying English and editing. She is a musician, a learner, a reader, and a family enthusiast.</span></div>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-17450821894062154232011-06-08T15:41:00.000-07:002011-06-08T15:41:19.390-07:00teaser photos. which one?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMtRPjwWq6tT77GveCX1DdPVXN_TG_G4SNfxtz4wZ3-Rqfps6ZCld-M2h2LW0Y2wHDHEMTUuzPjs_7r0yP2f0Dpcg3CDpdTPHXVKZc4snsaoGUmyrbTeL999_o45yI9HkdosmtjMXJy0P/s1600/3938054796_bc67f67d89_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYMtRPjwWq6tT77GveCX1DdPVXN_TG_G4SNfxtz4wZ3-Rqfps6ZCld-M2h2LW0Y2wHDHEMTUuzPjs_7r0yP2f0Dpcg3CDpdTPHXVKZc4snsaoGUmyrbTeL999_o45yI9HkdosmtjMXJy0P/s200/3938054796_bc67f67d89_z.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CCL Photo by Alan Vernon via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanvernon/3938054796/in/photostream/">Flickr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>What picture do you see when you hear the title "Creating Mockingbirds: The Importance of Authorial Online Presence"?<br />
<br />
I like both of these photos for their simplicity.<br />
<br />
The first one seems regal [maybe what authors can be if they utilize the opportunities].<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZ7abzfmehc6HhkyRaXDY8XRvz1C0qC08DYLSOQ0vX8DEMKK5SCgKT1Zd-0Sv_K3klY9ELf9wdma3xCIoKQcGEcLo7PUXNwC6F1Y6eRdJ_FjcxqO_-bxWCTXzBu-C1ZAhWiRVUisEV0nQ/s1600/begging+mockingbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZ7abzfmehc6HhkyRaXDY8XRvz1C0qC08DYLSOQ0vX8DEMKK5SCgKT1Zd-0Sv_K3klY9ELf9wdma3xCIoKQcGEcLo7PUXNwC6F1Y6eRdJ_FjcxqO_-bxWCTXzBu-C1ZAhWiRVUisEV0nQ/s200/begging+mockingbird.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CCL Photo by Dendroica cerulea via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dendroica/606193793/in/photostream/">Flickr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>This one, on the other hand, focuses more on the pestering [of a reader wanting information from an author].<br />
<br />
<br />
Opinions?alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-33276201552351890272011-06-08T12:02:00.000-07:002011-06-08T12:02:31.637-07:00WANTED<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DvQrO2BaSdnnOP09IRF9eAx9WJbccjEFTuK00kYiwWFPNpOMYR1cawpSQEhjr3XnEYE5YE9J5w5ZQPQ3waFN039SRNyq4fFW96Dj9ZOz8xPSUx7-IAibHhizSTcWYX_V19DgQGnpQXY5/s1600/editing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DvQrO2BaSdnnOP09IRF9eAx9WJbccjEFTuK00kYiwWFPNpOMYR1cawpSQEhjr3XnEYE5YE9J5w5ZQPQ3waFN039SRNyq4fFW96Dj9ZOz8xPSUx7-IAibHhizSTcWYX_V19DgQGnpQXY5/s320/editing.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CCL Photo by Nic McPhee</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A little more time for revision. </span></div>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-28509974272979230012011-06-08T11:36:00.000-07:002011-06-08T11:36:39.970-07:00hey, look! i'm in a magazine!<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My friend Whitney Sorensen called me Monday night and asked if I would be able to answer a few questions for her about my</span><a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/hooray-for-diigo-and-getting-married.html" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> recent engagement</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">. She wrote an article for </span><a href="http://www.ldsliving.com/" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">LDS Living Magazine</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> called "</span><a href="http://www.ldsliving.com/story/64829-marriage-age-on-the-rise-lds-single-adults-still-hanging-out" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Marriage age on the rise, LDS single adults still hanging out</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">." Check it out!</span></span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-91696184449717717172011-06-08T08:25:00.000-07:002011-06-08T08:25:48.487-07:00i apologize for not posting yesterday...<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But I had an interesting experience. I had a meeting with <a href="http://thedigitalwriter.blogspot.com/">Dr. Burton</a> yesterday and on my way home had a couple of good ideas, but no computer. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So I finally pulled out the memo app on my phone for the first time and started writing. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I rewrote my whole introduction on my phone via texting. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Alright, I know that's nothing new for people, but it's such a big step from where our culture was not that long ago. How's that for digital culture?</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">[And if anyone has great ideas for a way of getting all this stuff off my phone without having to type it again, let me know! I tried Evernote, but it's not giving me what I need because my phone is not compatible.] </span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-70673982555129482372011-06-06T12:53:00.000-07:002011-06-06T12:53:53.917-07:00Creating Mockingbirds: Harper Lee, Boo Radley, and the Importance of an Authorial Online Presence<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></i><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">"For Harper Lee, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[To Kill a Mockingbird]<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> rolled out beautifully, it sold beautifully, it took on a life of its own, and its success had very little to do with the fact that she had to be out selling it. The book stood for itself. It would be nice to have that kind of a culture today, but we don't anymore."</i> - Adriana Trigiani in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of </i>To Kill a Mockingbird</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">After the first day of Writing Literary Criticism in the Digital Age, I knew exactly what I would do for my final project, and it would be the most exciting BYU had ever seen. The 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the publication of Harper Lee’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i> had just passed and I wanted to talk to this celebrated author. I would compose such an enthralling and complimentary letter that when Nelle, as her friends call her, opened her mailbox she would weep then offer to fly me down to Monroeville, Alabama, where we would sit and talk for hours about her novel. Or, worst-case scenario, at least we would visit pleasantly over the phone.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">It never happened. Firstly, I’m not a brilliant writer. Secondly, after some snooping (a.k.a. Google-ing) I discovered that Harper Lee has not granted an interview since 1964 (a mere four years after publication) nor published anything since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird</i> (“About the Author”). I was stunned and disappointed, then curious. Lee wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel on her first try, a beloved novel that spent 88 consecutive weeks on bestseller lists, then abruptly dropped out of public view (“About the Author”). Why? My further search garnered intriguing results. In her final interview, Lee admitted that the attention was unexpected, overwhelming, and almost “frightening” (Madden 162). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alice and friend Reverend Thomas Lane Butts have said that the exploitation of her words and works, specifically misrepresented interviews and autographed books, was disheartening (Murphy 71, 128). Even more intriguing, however, were accusations that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird </i>was in fact the work of renowned author and Lee’s longtime childhood friend and colleague, Truman Capote. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">In 2003, Archulus Persons, Capote’s father, claimed to Ben Windham that “almost all” of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird</i> was written by Capote (Windham 5). Of course Alice, Lee’s close friends, and the majority of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mockingbird </i>scholars and readers plead otherwise (Block, Windham 5). But because neither Lee nor Capote has explicitly said otherwise, a few diehard Capote fans still believe. Though today greatly outnumbered, these believers have pushed their opinions into the spotlight, posting on blogs and forums across the internet.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Mysteriousness, absence, and incomplete stories generate rumors; and few have told this tale more clearly than Lee herself. Arthur Radley, known to Jem, Scout, and Dill as Boo, had not been sighted since Scout could remember. It is unknown whether it was by force or will, but Boo rarely, if ever, appeared outside the Radley Place, and certainly never in broad daylight. Never having heard anything different, Scout believed Jem characterized Boo “reasonably”: “[He] was </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were blood-stained.... There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 14). The children’s playacting was based on half-true stories, and much of their entertainment came from “the idea of making Boo Radley come out” (Lee 43, 9).</span> </div><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span> <div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Very little time or creativity is needed to twist a story or description into a slightly less factual one, and it takes even less time to proliferate through a well-connected community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children knew only enough of the stories and descriptions which Miss Maudie believed to be “three-fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford,” the town gossip (Lee 51). Jem, Scout, and Dill took for truth what they had heard, regardless of the source. They did not know what Boo Radley actually did or looked like, but because of “facts” circulating around their little town by those who were actively engaged in continuous conversation with their neighbors, the children did not know where to get the real facts, likely did not recognize that their perceptions were skewed.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The same can be said for literature readers on the Internet today. Just as Boo Radley’s history, appearance, and even personality were formulated in the minds of many by rapidly-spreading gossip in a tight-knit town like Maycomb, authors who fail to enter with a strong presence into the digital world (where information spreads even more rapidly) leave the door ajar for active members of the public to push in and create their presence for them. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">When readers turn to the Internet to find out more about a book or an author, they most often Google it or try the most obvious domain name, usually the author’s name or the book title (Krozser 16, 18). Type Harperlee.com into the address bar and a fan-based website with this disclaimer appears: “Please note that harperlee.com is a private website, unaffiliated with Harper Lee or her representatives. Her reps cannot be reached through this site and we cannot forward messages to them.” Something similar appears under the domain name harperlee.org. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">I echo bestselling author Adriana Trigiani who considers our digital age culture as one which rarely supports authors who are not marketing themselves (Murphy 184). No longer can authors release a book and go into hiding as Harper Lee did. Now it is necessary for authors to “participate in the conversation” about their work and make participation for readers easy, entertaining, and informative (Hyatt “7 Ways”). The Internet is an impressive, relatively new medium that is evolving daily, and as a result authors must also evolve. Buddying up to readers is now not simply a supplement to an author’s marketing scheme; it is a necessity.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Works Cited (unfinished)</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Block, Melissa. “Letter Puts End to Persistent ‘Mockingbird’ Rumor.” National Public Radio. Web. 5 June 2011.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">HarperLee.com. “Contact Us.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Hyatt, Michael. “7 Ways to Build your Author Brand Online.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">-- . “Why Every Author Needs a Powerful Online Presence.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Krozser, Kassia and Kirk Biglione. “Building Author Web Presence.” Web. 2 June 2011. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Lee, Harper. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird. </i>Print. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Madden, Kerry. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harper Lee: A Twentieth Century Life</i>. Print.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Murphy, Mary McDonagh. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scout, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of</i> To Kill a Mockingbird. Print.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">“To Kill a Mockingbird: About the Author.” National Endowment for the Arts: The Big Read. Web. 5 June 2011. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Windham, Ben. “Southern Lights: An Encounter with Harper Lee.” Web. 5 June 2011. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Alyssa Rutter is a Brigham Young University sophomore studying English and editing. She is a musician, a reader, a family enthusiast, and a lover of all things beautiful.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">[Dear Readers,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Feedback is much appreciated. To get you started… Here are some questions:</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">How’s the title?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Do you think the writing is too “bloggy,” or not “academic” enough? </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">What didn’t flow like it should?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Anything confusing? Did it work to not pull everything together until more towards the end?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">How do you cite forums and blog comments?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Would it be helpful to have headings, such as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harper Lee</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Boo Radley</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Importance of an Authorial Online Presence</i>?</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">I can edit this piece until Wednesday, June 8.]</span></div>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-10782794312477553052011-06-03T19:02:00.000-07:002011-06-03T19:02:24.443-07:00putting it all together... it's coming<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The long post earlier today was more for me than anyone else. I've been struggling a little bit the last couple of days because of a sudden change in topic. Suddenly, my previous research is rendered useless, and I'm left to find all new research and write a chapter for a book [albeit a rough draft] in two days. I failed on that account. I spent way too much time at the library on Thursday finding way too much research, finding over forty quotes when I only needed three or four. So please bear with me as I scramble to put together a cohesive chapter on a subject which I am really interested in... </span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-76413629067452578132011-06-03T12:29:00.000-07:002011-06-03T12:29:31.048-07:00working draft: boo radley, harper lee, and creating an online presence<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I apologize for the extremely rough draft; this is more of an outline with ideas and quotes. Good organization is still in the process; I'm open to any ideas!</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Boo Radley</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><i>Why?</i><b> </b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> * </b>"I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he <i>wants </i>to stay inside." (Lee 259).</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> - </b>Compare to Harper Lee (see second quote)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><b> </b>Personality, physical description, actions</i><b><i> </i></b><i>as seen by everyone else</i><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> * </b>"Jem, naturally, was Boo: he went under the front steps and shrieked and howled from time to time. As the summer progressed, so did our game. We polished and perfected it, added dialogue and plot until we had manufactured a small play upon which we rang changes every day." (Lee 43). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "That is three fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford," said Miss Maudie grimly. "Stephanie Crawford even told me once she woke up in the middle of the night and found him looking in the window at her. I said what did you do, Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him?" (Lee 51). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> - Very quickly, descriptions and stories transform into new stories. Jem, Scout, and Dill in reality had not idea what had happened in Boo's life or what he actually did or looked like, but because of the stories circulated around the community by those who actively engaged in conversation with their neighbors, the children had a skewed perception about what was going on. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half<b> </b>feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were blood-stained-- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time." (Lee 14)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> -Compare above quote to what he really looks like: "I looked from his hands to his sand-stained khaki pants; my eyes traveled up his thin frame to his torn denim shirt. His face was as white as his hands, but for a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind. His hair was dead and thin, almost feathery on top of his head." (Lee 310).</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Is there a problem?</i> </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "What Mr. Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside his own house he had the right to stay inside free from the attentions of inquisitive children, which was a mild term for the likes of us. ... What Mr. Radley did might seem peculiar to us, but it did not seem peculiar to him. Furthermore, had it never occurred to us that the civil way to communicate with another being was by the front door instead of a side window?" (Lee 54). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad." (Lee 320).</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> -Authors are writing books that aren't being recognized because they aren't marketing them well enough, especially over the internet. Furthermore, when we enjoy a piece of work, we have the opportunity to say something, find their website and contact information and send them an email. Are we letting authors without those things go unappreciated because other forms of communication are just too time consuming? </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "even from the first, when Boo is most terrifying, he is not an alien totally removed from their lives: Boo is closer to them than they first suspect. He is from the first metaphorically kin to them, a part of them even before he enters their minds and imaginations, and he has lived on the street with them for as long as they can remember. He is always there, near them, in a house that at one time was white and not unlike their own. In befriending Boo, the children are confronting a hidden part of themselves." (Johnson 85). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Harper Lee</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b><i>Why?</i><b> </b></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> * </b>"Nelle Harper Lee 'comes from a generation of writers who never appeared on <i>Oprah</i>, people who were fairly private. And as we've made stars and personalities of our novelists, we can't understand why anybody would want to keep their private lives private. Everybody wants to be on TV.' --Professor Claudia Durst Johnson." (Madden 21).</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> - This is one particularly common point of view. The majority of our community has their own Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blog, and other websites which are seen by some as exploitation. But why not use those resources for good?</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "It was like being hit over the head and knocked out cold. You see, I never expected any sort of success with "Mockingbird." I didn't expect the book to sell in the first place. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers, but at the same time I sort of hoped that maybe someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I'd expected." -Harper Lee(Madden 162). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> - This quote came from Lee's final public interview.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Who is she? </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i>* "If you want to know what's in her heart, in her consciousness, then go open the book. The truth is, you just open that book and you just start pulling things from it that you spent a lifetime thinking about." - Rick Bragg (Murphy 60). <i> </i></span> </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "I once referred to Nelle Harper as being conservative, and she corrected me. She said, "I'm not conservative. I'm independent." - Reverend Thomas Lane Butts (Murphy 70)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "A lot of people think that she's recluse, which is absolutely untrue. She's a person who enjoys her privacy like any other citizen would. She's not reclusive; it's very different from that. She's open, she loves to be around people and associate with people. She does not like to be exploited by people. And she does not like to have her works exploited for profit by people." - Reverend Thomas Lane Butts (Murphy 71).</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "For Harper Lee, her novel rolled out beautifully, it sold beautifully, it took on a life of its own, and its success had very little to do with the fact that she had to be out selling it. The book stood for itself. It would be nice to have that kind of a culture today, but we don't anymore." - Adriana Trigani (Murphy 184). </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <i>Is there a problem?</i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "She may not grant interviews, but she is still singing away via her 1960 masterpiece." (Murphy xiv).<i> </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i>* "Reverend Thomas Lane Butts... has been a friend of Lee's for more than twenty-five years. ... 'She has controlled her own destiny. She doesn't have a PR person. She doesn't need one. I think she has led a happier life and certainly [a] more contented life because she has chosen how she relates to the public.'" (Murphy 10). <i></i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> * "'Maybe for Harper Lee there was nothing else to play," James McBride said. "She sang the song, she played the solo, and she walked off the stage. And we're all the better for it. We're very grateful to her for the amount of love that she's given us.'" (Murphy 41).</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Online Presence</b>: Personal Branding [specifically for authors]</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> *When you don't create your own online presence, someone else will do it for you</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> *Create a website domain with your name or the name of the book.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Bibliography</b> [not complete]</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Johnson, Claudia Durst. "The Danger and Delight of Difference." <i>To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries</i>. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Lee, Harper. <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Madden, Kerry. <i>Harper Lee: A Twentieth Century Life.</i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span> </span><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/kbiglione/building-author-web-presence">http://www.slideshare.net/kbiglione/building-author-web-presence</a><i> </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">[Dear Readers, I'm looking for some kind of research that shows the results of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">not</i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> having an online presence. Have you heard of any authors who have had a harder time marketing their books because they didn't have a strong online presence, such as other people creating websites in their names?]</span></span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-72018568155558741712011-06-01T22:57:00.000-07:002011-06-01T22:57:20.134-07:00should i tell you, or leave you hanging?My first question as I finally begin to focus in on a research topic and thesis is this: would it be most beneficial for you, as the audience, to know exactly where I'm going with my research, or to have it all connect in one [or more] beautiful posts towards the end?<br />
<br />
There are a pros and cons to each side, as far as I can see it.<br />
<br />
<u>Telling you, my audience, straight out </u><br />
Pros: with no guessing game, you will know whether or not you would like to keep reading or are completely uninterested.<br />
Cons: I would like to try something new, something a little unconventional. But maybe this project, the way it's set up is unconventional enough already. <br />
<br />
<u>Holding off</u><br />
Pros: there will be the element of surprise and suspense. If readers want to know what is going to happen next, they will have to come back to my blog. <br />
Cons: do I actually have the skill to write in a way that will engage or interest my readers so fully that they want to "follow" me or put me in their reader?<br />
<br />
What do you think? Would you prefer to have me publish a sort of "hub post" at the beginning of research and writing or at the end?alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-48509962395972099872011-05-31T23:19:00.000-07:002011-05-31T23:19:43.769-07:00ebooks. what kind of content?<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I should have thought about what I was getting myself into when I signed up to do this research. Very little straightforward information has been given on the internet [at least where I'm looking] about what is produced specifically to be an eBook or literary works that have been reformatted so they can be read on a Kindle, iPad, etc. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As you can see, our class finally decided on a final project. We're still working on unified content between all of us, but it's been decided that an eBook is the answer. Each of us was assigned to do some research about eBooks-- publishing [like on Goodreads-- a great idea by <a href="http://ashleylewis-oldmeetsnew.blogspot.com/2011/05/uploading-e-book-on-goodreads.html">Ashley Lewis</a>], formats [by <a href="http://brizabriskacademic.blogspot.com/2011/05/free-simple-quick-painless-ebooks-i.html">Bri</a> and <a href="http://nyssasilvester.blogspot.com/2011/05/guidelines-for-ebooks-1-kindle.html">Nyssa</a>], length [by <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://taylorraygilbert.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-long-should-ebook-be.html">Taylor</a>]</span>, use in education [by <a href="http://amywhitakerwrites.blogspot.com/2011/05/ebooks-and-education.html">Amy</a> and <a href="http://shtcarliesays.blogspot.com/2011/05/teching-or-teaching.html">Carlie</a>], consumption [by <a href="http://rachaelschiel.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-are-ebooks-consumed.html">Rachael</a>], . My assignment-- types of content. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Because there was so little research already, I did some analysis of my own. I went to </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/ref=zg_bsnr_tab" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Amazon.com Bestsellers in Kindle Store</a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> to see what audiences have been choosing. Of the top 20 paid bestsellers, one is a game, two are autobiographies, and the rest [17] are popular novels. Of the top 20 free bestsellers, one is a collection of biographical short stories, one is a cookbook, one is an iPad how-to, four are games, and 13 are novels. A good number of these novels [both in the paid and free bestsellers] look like trashy romances. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Obviously, our class is not going for a game, a cookbook, or a trashy romance novel, but a good number of the popular eBook buys are autobiographical. Especially as a child I would go through <a href="http://lds.org/magazine?lang=eng">LDS magazines</a> to get straight to the stories sent in by every day people. And even today those autobiographical stories are the most engaging. I don't know how we as a class could make our literary works relate to our own lives, but I feel that for many audiences, including autobiographical information in relation to whatever we're writing would be much more exciting than plain literary criticism. [This may go against my hope for "legitimate literary criticism" the last paragraph of <a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-time-to-get-serious-lds-ebook.html">this post</a>, which I never thanked Dr. Burton for so <a href="http://thedigitalwriter.blogspot.com/2011/05/legitimate-literary-criticism.html#more">completely addressing</a>.] </span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-34595763264900066182011-05-27T12:42:00.000-07:002011-05-27T12:42:44.221-07:00antiracist pedagogy in Huck Finn using project muse<a href="http://brizabriskacademic.blogspot.com/">Bri Zabriskie</a>, one of my classmates, is researching <i>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn </i>by Mark Twain. I decided to try to help her out in her research because there are many similar themes in our two books. From what I know, she's interested in relating <i>Huck Finn </i>to education, so I used the database <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/">Project Muse</a> to look for an article that may help her.<br />
<br />
In the advanced search boxes, I put "Huckleberry Finn" AND education and after looking through a page or two of results, found this article:<br />
<blockquote>Barrish, Phillip. "The Secret Joys of Antiracist Pedagogy: <i>Huckleberry Finn</i> in the Classroom." <i>American Imago</i> 59.2 (2002): 117-139. <i>Project MUSE</i>. Web. 27 May 2011.</blockquote>This article talks about the difficulty for white liberal professors to teach in an anti-racist way in classrooms with mostly white students. In a way, while trying to be anti-racist, racist backgrounds and sentiments are very likely to arise, generally subconsciously. He talks specifically about the "oft-discussed dilemmas" brought up by <i>Huck Finn, </i>especially<i> </i>using the n-word in classrooms.<br />
<br />
Hopefully this relates in some way to Bri's research. I found it especially interesting to read a professor's personal thoughts on the subject and the way he was dealing with the issues he bring up. There may even be an opportunity to contact this professor, if Bri is interested. <br />
<br />
[bri, i'm not sure that this is exactly what you're looking for, but it's an idea. i hope you get something worthwhile out of it! also, while i was looking i found an article by Kenneth Kid called "Boyology" that talks about the problems young boys have and how we should educate them. it only barely mentioned huck finn, but i thought you might be interested because you are having a boy :)]alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-34814929701016641242011-05-27T11:50:00.000-07:002011-05-27T11:50:46.674-07:00harper lee's south and the LRC<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">After finding my first article [read about how i did it <a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/putting-to-kill-mockingbird-back-in-its.html">here</a>], I am confident that I will be able to find more information about the white Southern reaction to <i>To Kill a Mockingbird </i>through LRC. <a href="http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=LitRC&u=byuprovo&authCount=1">LRC</a>, or Literature Resource Center, is a database that I have never used before. It focuses mostly on the most-studied authors with biographies, bibliographies, critical analyses, and other online resources.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">To make sure I'm doing the search right, I'm using the Advanced Search mechanism [second tab over on the top] to search for "To Kill a Mockingbird" AND Harper Lee AND South*. Few results have come up, but at least there are more than five to look through. Under the "Literary Criticism" tab, the fifth result down is this article: <span class="TF"> </span></div><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="TF">Erisman, Fred. "The Romantic Regionalism of Harper Lee." <i>The Alabama Review</i> 26 (1973): 122-36. Web. 27 May 2011. </span></blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="TF">[i used <a href="http://refworks.com/">RefWorks</a> to create the citation. i highly recommend it!] </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="TF">Erisman claims that the Maycomb of <i>TKM </i>is in many ways a microcosm of the South, reminding readers that many Southerners have a way of holding onto the past. Erisman focuses specifically on the social structure ("keeping blacks in their place"), the "power of the sexual taboo" (focusing on the way empirical evidence is overridden by the caste system), and the white class distinctions (and the subtleties of those distinctions). This is what Erisman calls the romantic regionalism, and states that Harper Lee used these specific levels to show that the South has the potential to transform into a region of functional romanticism. The main content of the argument is how the everyday man, represented by Atticus, can make this change in spite of harassment and mistreatment. Erisman concludes by stating that the South can no longer stand alone. Reaching out and realizing it's place will be difficult, and there will be change, but at this point it is necessary. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="TF">This article is an older one, but for my topic I believe it will be helpful. The article was written 9 years after <i>TKM </i>was published, and comments on the Southern social system at the time. The perspective of a critic not too long after the book was published, and the way that he thinks, is telling of the focus of critics in that time period. </span></div>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-79257097431590693192011-05-26T23:41:00.000-07:002011-05-27T11:51:49.091-07:00putting To Kill a Mockingbird back in its time with JSTORWelcome to Aly's step-by-step guide of using BYU's online databases! Are you ready? This is a type-as-I-go kind of deal. Be prepared for twists and turns. <br />
<br />
To find my first article, I will be using <a href="http://lion.chadwyck.com/">LION</a>, or <i>Literature Online</i>, which is an index of English and American poetry, drama, and prose, as well as journals, criticism, and other resources. I chose LION because it is completely available online [which is helpful for when I'm not on campus] and it also has a specific focus on American prose and criticism.<br />
<br />
Because I don't have anything particular that I am searching for, my initial inquiry is simply "<i>To Kill a Mockingbird.</i>" I have found here a book of critical essays. There is a link right on the site for exporting the citation directly to <a href="http://refworks.com/">RefWorks</a>, where I am able to immediately get the full citation. Unfortunately, I am now hitting a roadblock with this particular site. The chapters from this book aren't online. Even after searching in the MLA and EBSCO databases and doing a general search, I haven't able to get what I want without going up to the library, which at this point is out of the question.<br />
<br />
Start over.<br />
<br />
I'm frustrated, so I'm moving on to <a href="http://www.jstor.org.erl.lib.byu.edu/">JSTOR</a>, which focuses on humanities, social sciences, and more recently other sciences. Once again, I enter "To Kill a Mockingbird," but these articles aren't exactly what I'm looking for. Enter my recently acquired Boolean skills: "To Kill a Mockingbird" AND South*. Immediately more of what I was looking for was on the top of the list.<br />
<br />
The first one that caught my attention was this one: <span class="TF"> </span><br />
<blockquote><span class="TF">Chura, Patrick. "Prolepsis and Anachronism: Emmet Till and the Historicity of to Kill a Mockingbird." <i>The Southern Literary Journal</i> 32.2 (2000): pp. 1-26. Web. May 27 2011. </span> </blockquote>This article is putting <i>TKM </i>in historical context, showing some of the conflicting dates and then comparing the trial of Tom Robinson to the circumstances, emotions, tensions, etc. around the murder of Emmitt Till. Chura uses comparisons between these two events to make claims about Harper Lee's perception of the Southern and the racism prevalent especially in that time. Scout's narration is used, in Chura's opinion, to show the kind of sleepy, dream-like, not completely aware state of many Southerners.<br />
<br />
Finding this article has been a really helpful resource for the direction I think I would like to go in. I've been looking at putting <i>TKM </i>back into its historical context and figuring out how a white Southerner would have read this book. Of course, this article was written 40 years after the book was written, but it has given me hope that I may be able to find more about the history of the time period and the reaction of Southerners to this book.alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-26360673471345909992011-05-26T19:24:00.000-07:002011-05-26T19:24:39.371-07:00it's time to get serious. an lds ebook?I'm searching for a subject on which to focus in my blog. It's still hard for me to even choose a subject to begin researching for <i>To Kill a Mockingbird </i>because I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing with it. Maybe I should start with the artwork [both professional, amateur, and student work] like classmates <a href="http://amywhitakerwrites.blogspot.com/">Amy Whitaker</a> and <a href="http://rachaelschiel.blogspot.com/">Rachael Schiel</a>, to bring some unity into our ideas. But I also really like the approach that <a href="http://taylorraygilbert.blogspot.com/2011/05/finding-how-southerner-might-look-at-to.html">Taylor Gilbert</a> took when he found a scholarly article to help me with my research; <a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-read.html">I've been thinking about</a> the idea for a while now, trying to read the book from a Southern perspective. Unfortunately, as I've been researching there is very little to do with Southern reactions when the book was first published or anything of the sort. It's been frustrating. Anyway... back to the real content of this blog post... <br />
<br />
***<br />
<br />
In class yesterday, we had conversations about what we would like to do for our final project. The general consensus was an eBook. Now... what in the world would we put in an eBook?<br />
<br />
Before I give an idea of the content that should be included, let me give an overview of my vision of the layout:<br />
<ol><li>An introduction co-authored by the whole class </li>
<li>1-2 pages for each member of the class (focused on their specific literary work-- check out their selections <a href="http://thedigitalwriter.blogspot.com/p/current-student-blogs.html">here</a>)</li>
<ol><li>Within each class member's "article" of sorts, should be different types of media, such as video or audio. It is an eBook, after all; why not use the unique opportunity to include the interesting, non-text sources or things we do ourselves? [such as al gore's ebook that dr. burton mentioned during the first week of class. here's a <a href="http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/al-gore-invents-a-showpiece-e-book/">link to a review</a> in the new york times.]</li>
</ol><li>A conclusion, also co-authored by the class</li>
</ol>I mentioned in class yesterday that we have a very unique opportunity to be here at BYU and be able to bring our <a href="http://lds.org/?lang=eng">LDS religion</a> into the classroom. Taylor Gilbert made a comment while I was talking to him about this idea that was really interesting. I'm paraphrasing his idea a little, but he said, "Most of us are not experts in very many things. But we are experts at being LDS; most of us have been LDS our whole lives. Why not use the assets we have?"<br />
<br />
Obviously getting the rest of the class's approval and feedback on this idea is key, but, Taylor is right. One thing most of us know for sure is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Using the religious knowledge we already have, we could connect each of our literary works to some type of LDS concept [especially the three pillars of eternity: Creation, Fall, and Atonement], and then put it together with videos of our testimonies [i'm not sure if that would be completely appropriate, but i like the idea] in the conclusion. We could market it to not only the LDS community, but those looking for different views of literary criticism.<br />
<br />
One thing I was hoping to get from this class is learning to effectively write legitimate literary criticism that would deserve attention. So far, I haven't seen much of this instruction. As I begin to focus my blog and write a little more formally, I would really appreciate feedback on my writing and advice for improvement. And at least a paragraph or two of legitimate literary criticism should be included from each of us in our eBook.<br />
<br />
What do you [especially my classmates] think?alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-9869960190371125402011-05-25T12:17:00.000-07:002011-05-25T12:21:53.318-07:00eeeekkk!! somebody answered!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">The past couple of days I've been looking for websites where I could start a thread on a forum [and actually get some response] about <i>To Kill a Mockingbird. </i>I'm still not positive exactly what I wanted to know from people, so I started with posting the following note on <a href="http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/6/457900">BookCrossing</a> and a slightly different one on an <a href="http://www.topix.com/forum/afam/TBB9PN18OE579DP9B">African American Forum on Topix</a>:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaR-DUiNnOFjm3QuLtCMmfF1frkcEO1p3dmrWetKRzv-LKTDKL56GWqy83N_xWjx-VGaFumoUWQUW9wG7YxICCP9IVjr04W0FNtGB0z0Q_g_FVDLFg_jg2M_RMPDUO-y0Q-EX6VHUrzvQv/s400/forum+1.PNG" width="400" /> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">I imagined opening up my inbox to find hundreds of beautifully written answers to my questions. </span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Well, by the end of the 1st day my hopes were lying lifeless on the floor. I understand that my note was not the most beautifully written thing, but I thought that some lover of <i>TKM </i>would surely see it and take just a minute to answer my simple questions. To say I was disappointed would be... very true.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"> But I opened my inbox the 2nd day and I felt like this little kid [i may or may not have made this very face]:</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir27H7zQP_jH30cBLlk9zObZ4ScM9JUGkct65sYvYnLiKiVwfBRFrWVdHz811VWPr6c06DetjYeCPgu-AYTvSlXXXCLk-WO_4-l_DDpU1osaaiY-jNN_e5gje8EL5qdJB025Bg1_L1XnIP/s1600/excited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir27H7zQP_jH30cBLlk9zObZ4ScM9JUGkct65sYvYnLiKiVwfBRFrWVdHz811VWPr6c06DetjYeCPgu-AYTvSlXXXCLk-WO_4-l_DDpU1osaaiY-jNN_e5gje8EL5qdJB025Bg1_L1XnIP/s320/excited.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">via <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://godisthere.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/excitement-in-life1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://godisthere.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/fresh-and-new-life/&usg=__j1PVCJQ0YUFI6Kraqz8PwhXyWxo=&h=260&w=390&sz=26&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ksJNP8lLqVm-7M:&tbnh=137&tbnw=180&ei=r0jdTaXfIardiAK445gY&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dexcitement%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1264%26bih%3D587%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=121&vpy=244&dur=2523&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=102&ty=208&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0">godisthere.wordpress.com</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">A woman! Who would be willing to answer my questions (but only by email). I stalked her BookCrossing profile a little bit, and to be honest, there was not much information. But her picture... That was a clue. She's a teacher! So I sent her the questions via email along with a plea to tell me about how she taught <i>TKM</i>. This was her response [questions in <i>italics</i>]: </span></div><blockquote><pre style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Why do you think this text is important? Or do you think it's important?</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></pre><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Like </span><span style="font-size: small;">Atticus I suppose I think that just because you won't win, doesn't mean you stop trying. The message of TKAM is timeless, ideal, and necessary-- perhaps more today than ever. If we could truly live like Atticus, not just say we live like Atticus, it would be a better world. The text is important because we all have a character in the book that we can relate to. As close to perfect Atticus is, he still isn't perfect. But he tries to do his best. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>When was the last time you read it? </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I last read the book when I taught it, about 8 years ago or so. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do you remember the first time you read it? </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The first time I read it, I was in college and it was during a summer. I had never read it in high school-- but I never read much in high school. I think I was supposed to read it, but I must have not been ready to understand it. I do remember that the first time I read it, I was mad at Harper Lee for convicting Tom Robinson. I was so sure that he would be acquitted. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>How many times have you read it? </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">About 12, probably. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What were your assumptions of the book before reading it and what were your thoughts after reading it?</i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think I had a lot of the assumptions that a young person growing up in the North would have. I had never really seen racism, and in my house we didn't use racial epithets at all. I never heard either of my parents use any derogatory comments against people. I guess I grew up thinking that we were better than the people in the South because we had won the Civil War. But I wasn't conscious of that at the time at all. Only now do I understand the whole picture-- and how i really do need to get into the shoes of someone else to understand life from their point of view. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do you feel like it stands up to multiple readings? </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh yeah. I believe, and tell my students, that we never step into the same book twice. A classic will give us the opportunity to see the book differently because we are different. Today I read the book as a parenting tract. Atticus is one of the best literary parents ever. I especially like his patience. It goes a long way in parenting. I also appreciate the humor much more every time I read it. The snowman chapter cracks me up every time. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do you think this book deserves to continue to be taught in schools? Why or why not? </i></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Definitely. I can't think of another novel that does, other than Huck Finn and maybe 1984. I know that it must be valuable because people still want to take it out of the English curricula. I also think that, in general, we need to include more reading in our classrooms. The patience and critical thought it takes to read a novel is a skill that my students need. We must show them that they can't just click away from a page if they get bored... but I digress. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">The best project I did with my students was to have them create bag collages. Outside the bag, they include images of what they show the world about themselves. Inside the bag, I ask that they include one thing that not everyone knows, but that they could share with their classmates. I like to think they learned a bit about each other for one day. It works as a great writing prompt, too.</span> </blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I couldn't be more pleased about her response.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">She gave me just what I was looking for [although i wasn't looking for anything in particular] and more.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Included in her answers were a couple of great ideas that I hadn't thought about looking at before. Parenting by Atticus? I'm leaning toward looking into that.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Also, did you catch her comment on digital culture? Read it one more time: </span></div><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"The patience and critical thought it takes to read a novel is a skill that my students need. We must show them that they can't just click away from a page if they get bored... but I digress."</span></blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As of yet I haven't written her a thank-you/followup email, but I'm considering asking her about that comment and what she feels about the digitization of books and that sort of thing.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Do any of you have any thoughts or questions?</span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-41760847148069122702011-05-20T22:49:00.000-07:002011-05-20T22:50:21.528-07:00i wish i had thought of this first<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">You know those ideas that you practically die over once you find them because you know you could/should have thought of it? </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Let me introduce you to my "I-wish-I-had-thought-of-this-first" idea: </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.worldbooknight.org/index.php">World Book Night</a>. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
The very first one was merely two months ago, March 5, 2011. </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Guess what happened? </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1,000,000 books were given away (40,000 copies of each of <a href="http://www.worldbooknight.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=35&Itemid=130">these 25 titles</a>).</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The idea is that a person reads the book and then passes it on to someone else who might enjoy it. You can track where the book has been on the website, along with have discussions about the books that have been passed around, etc. My fiance's father was in England at the time and was given one of these books [and from what I know, has really been enjoying it]... That's how I found out about it. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjni0LaQtFJt-yJYFOJxxt7fLIDaQ98iF0QnlLFCuV_B0x1sNix5WHPzz41qV0aOmw_2Cgm0VjsZS2sNWOBR1SS1M1g3pF6cX5M-M-Nf2mgqryVlvJ7oOYqZD6bYPu-6aBJtPVJIM9BB6tS/s1600/world-book-night.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjni0LaQtFJt-yJYFOJxxt7fLIDaQ98iF0QnlLFCuV_B0x1sNix5WHPzz41qV0aOmw_2Cgm0VjsZS2sNWOBR1SS1M1g3pF6cX5M-M-Nf2mgqryVlvJ7oOYqZD6bYPu-6aBJtPVJIM9BB6tS/s320/world-book-night.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic from <a href="http://blanc-grout.tumblr.com/post/3055020246/world-book-night">this blog</a> (one of the 20,000 people chosen to distribute 48 copies of a book)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The next one is planned for April 23, 2011. I'm planning to participate in some way [If I can't actually participate, I'll at least read a couple of the books on the list and get into the discussion].</div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Golly. If only I could do something like that for my project. If I had my way and all the time in the world, I would give away a million copies of <i>TKM. </i>Then I'd create a website all about the thoughts people had as they read the book this time around. Wouldn't it be interesting to see interpretations from across the world? from different age groups? and races? and genders? </div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Ahhh... I'm dying. Someday this will be me. </span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-90325651748981381682011-05-19T23:51:00.000-07:002011-05-19T23:51:26.265-07:00now what?I finished <i>TKM </i>today. I haven't read it since 8th grade, so it was good to get back into the story. <br />
<br />
But now what?<br />
<br />
As I've been reading my <a href="http://thedigitalwriter.blogspot.com/p/current-student-blogs.html">classmate's blogs</a> I'm amazed at what they have come up with, the people they've contacted, and the ideas that simply seem to flow.<br />
<br />
I'm not feeling the flow. I really like the idea of trying to read the book as a member of the "authorial audience," or reading it in the way Harper Lee intended it to be read. But what's the point? I've been trying to find something meaningful to do, like Bri's <a href="http://brizabriskacademic.blogspot.com/2011/05/friending-huck-making-mark-twains-novel.html#more">idea</a> of making a website based on her book for others to use, but my idea hasn't come to me yet. I'm stuck at the moment, so I apologize and just ask you to bear with me.alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-42783779670848517102011-05-18T12:31:00.000-07:002011-05-18T12:34:26.366-07:00thank you, dr. burton<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In his introduction to Paulo Freire's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=xfFXFD414ioC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false"><i>Pedagogy of the Oppressed</i></a> [now on my to-read list], Richard Shaull writes: </span></div><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes "the practice of freedom," the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.</span></blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I don't think I've ever heard this idea put into words more concisely. When I read this, it struck a chord and I immediately thought of my favorite teachers, from kindergarten to today. They all have at least started me in a direction of critical and creative thinking that have started me on the path to at least thinking of ways to connect and create with those around me a better world in one way or another.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">It's not very often that I get excited about a school project. In this class, however, I've found myself thinking of things I never would have thought about and learning the skills that might actually make that possible. Thank you, Dr. Burton for choosing to do something different with this class and helping each of us to find a way to "transform our worlds." </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">So, here's a shout out to all those teachers [and future teachers] who will change the world vicariously, through their students. THANK YOU. </span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-6980852662996975952011-05-17T23:12:00.000-07:002011-05-17T23:18:24.421-07:00i just had an idea<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Remember <a href="http://alymarierutter.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-read.html">this post</a> on reading <i>TKM </i>from a different perspective? I've been reading an article about Postmodernism for my 251 class and thought of something a little different today as I came across this quote:</span></div><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I believe... that we, as a race of people, will see progress, but only if we all cooperate. ... Cooperation among scholars from all fields is vital. Gone are the days of individualism. Gone are the days of conquest. Now is the time for tolerance, understanding, and collaboration. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Since our knowledge always was and always will be incomplete, we must focus on a new concept: holism. We must realize that we all need each other, including all our various perspectives on the nature of reality. We must also recognize that our rationality, our thinking processes, is only one of many influences that can lead us to an understanding of our world. Our emotions, our feelings, and our intuition can also provide us with valid interpretations and guidelines for living. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And we have finally come to realize that no such thing as objective reality exists; there is no ultimate truth, for truth is perspectival, depending upon the community and social group in which we live. Since many truths exist, we must learn to accept each other's ideas concerning truth, and we must learn to live side by side, in a pluralistic society, learning from each other while celebrating our differences. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We must stop trying to discover the undiscoverable--absolute truth--and openly acknowledge that what may be right for one person may not be right for another. Acceptance, not criticism... must become the guiding principles in our lives. When we stop condemning ourselves and others for "not having truth," then and only then we can spend more time interpreting our lives and giving them meaning, as together we work and play.</span></blockquote><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sorry, that's a little long. We have been studying so many different theories and methodologies of literary criticism and, to be honest, I have no idea which one I believe works the best. I find that while I'm reading an article on Formalism I completely agree, but then when I read something on Marxism I immediately switch over. So maybe it's simply because I just read an article on Postmodernism, but the above quotation is something I believe in. Still not quite sure how I feel about it pertaining to literary criticism, but at least it's a start. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Where can I get views of those who are different than I am? I'm not sure how I would do this, but my first thought was having a <i>TKM </i>marathon on a Saturday with people of different backgrounds, ages, races, political views, etc., and then having a discussion. Honestly, I don't think this will happen, at least not in person. But maybe using the skills I have learned from this class and trying some new things I could put together a forum and somehow get people from all over to read the book at the same time and then collaborate on the internet. </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">And then what could this group of people do together to make a change? </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm still working on this part. But I think it could be something worthwhile. Any ideas?</span></span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-87021231714544477562011-05-17T16:37:00.000-07:002011-05-17T16:40:10.785-07:00my first prezi find... scottsboro trials and TKM<div class="prezi-player"><style media="screen" type="text/css">
.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }
</style><br />
This isn't much, but of the presentations I've seen on Prezi, this one is the most concise and informative.<br />
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="400" id="prezi_hpenaf06yczn" name="prezi_hpenaf06yczn" width="550"><param name="movie" value="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"/><param name="flashvars" value="prezi_id=hpenaf06yczn&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0"/><embed id="preziEmbed_hpenaf06yczn" name="preziEmbed_hpenaf06yczn" src="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="550" height="400" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="prezi_id=hpenaf06yczn&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0"></embed></object><br />
<div class="prezi-player-links"><a href="http://prezi.com/hpenaf06yczn/to-kill-a-mockingbird/" title="The influence the Scottsboro Trials had on Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.">To Kill a Mockingbird</a> on <a href="http://prezi.com/">Prezi</a></div></div>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-15031589610238068502011-05-17T16:12:00.000-07:002011-05-18T12:35:42.279-07:00hooray for diigo! and getting married!<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">Well, it's on Facebook, so that means it's official.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictWznM0lGPRHvrHT2ltbLI4YWaxG5b8Xt8P20zGJ5HJKZQnF2DJQnvpNIt0ZNdIDzPHMdw6d5T9Q1no3kNyk9LMh1w8qg77ooFBeUmxzfrCM92pVcMd3L1nsEwE99Z6nlRS5K1ava_Saf/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictWznM0lGPRHvrHT2ltbLI4YWaxG5b8Xt8P20zGJ5HJKZQnF2DJQnvpNIt0ZNdIDzPHMdw6d5T9Q1no3kNyk9LMh1w8qg77ooFBeUmxzfrCM92pVcMd3L1nsEwE99Z6nlRS5K1ava_Saf/s320/042.JPG" width="228" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Saturday night my best friend and I got engaged!! We're so excited! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">What, you are asking, does this have to do with anything on this blog? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">#1-- It's my blog. And when there's news this big... I get to share it! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">#2-- We're planning a wedding. And it's hard to get everyone in on my ideas. So now I'm using my digital skills that I've learned in this class and putting them to good use and I just wanted to share what I've learned [yeah, it's really basic. but it's a good start for me!] </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">It's been really useful for me as I've stalked wedding blogs to use <a href="http://www.diigo.com/">Diigo</a> to just bookmark and take screen shots of what I like. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">I've created a Google Doc so we can make notes and start putting together a guest list. Also on the Google Doc are flower, photography, and other ideas to show to the florist and photographer without having to bring my own computer. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;">It's making putting together a wedding in a couple of months a lot easier! Does anyone have other ideas for making the planning easier?</span>alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-594438794700810610.post-63069430614553966232011-05-14T15:09:00.000-07:002011-05-14T15:09:58.385-07:00how to readIn class yesterday, Dr. Burton told us to read our novels [i'm doing <i>To Kill a Mockingbird </i>by harper lee] in a different way. I was not quite sure how I was going to do that, maybe looking through the index and reading sections looking specifically for how they relate to a certain subject. Today I was reading an article called "Actual Reader and Authorial Reader" by Peter Rabinowitz and came across this sentence: <br />
<blockquote>"[I]n the case of successful authorial reading, the author and readers are members of the same community, so while the reader does in fact engage in an act of production, he or she makes what the author intended to be found."</blockquote>Obviously, I am not from the deep South of the 1960's. And I'm not exactly sure who Harper Lee was hoping to have read her book. And I know this isn't necessarily reading the text in an explicitly different way from how I usually read a novel, but I think I'll start by trying it this way: reading it as if I were a member of the white middle class in the deep South in the 1960's.<br />
<br />
What do you think? Is this going to be any different from the way I read now?alymariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00451014069883298899noreply@blogger.com2