Christine Tully's blog

Final Portfolio

Posted April 28th, 2008 by Christine Tully

Portfolio

This was my favorite class this semester. Though I had to take an English class to fulfill a requirement I am very pleased with what I got out of it. Because of an increasingly technological world I thought I was very beneficial for us to learn how to use computer programs as an educational tool. While this was more time consuming than other English class I’ve had I think what we got out of it was worth the extra effort. Looking back through my revisions and beginning projects I can see how much I’ve learned about portraying ideas with something other than words. With each revision I could see the flaws as well as the strengths by looking at others ideas and comparing them to my completed work. I think the revisions made it possible for students to take so much from this class. In other classes once done with an assignment you would try to look at it and learn from our mistakes, but very rarely are you given the chance to revise to make sure you understand why there were flaws in your first attempt. I think this is why I think I have gotten so much more than a usual literature class. Because of the important communication skills along with the opportunity to learn and develop I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in this class.
Playlist:
First Attempt- http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/37
Revised - http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/110
Reflection: Because this was the first project we did this year I think it was my least favorite. It was somewhat hard for me to change my thinking from analytical papers to the audio and visual projects we were doing in this class. I did eventually enjoy choosing songs and interpreting them to fit the character it was something which took me a while to understand. I choose a character that while I found the movie and character very interesting I now think I made it harder on myself than it had to be because of the complex and somewhat indescribable personality in the movie. If I had done a more familiar character then I probably could have produced a stronger playlist but I would not have learned as much with this project. With the revisions I tried to tell more of the story and incorporate the song lyrics to portray the character.
Collages:
Character - http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/61
Revised Character - http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/103
Poem - http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/62
Revised Poem - http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/104
Second Revision Poem: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/221
Reflection: I really enjoyed this project. It’s not often in an English class that you get to play with images on Photoshop like this. Because I had previously played around with the program before I didn’t have too many technical difficulties. I did have some issues choosing topics and getting started. But once I actually began I really loved creating these. I like how it wasn’t your typical English paper which I already knew how to produce. This was another type of communication which I had little experience with, portraying something through images instead of analyzing it in a paper made it essential to get just the right images to relay your message. I found the comments given by class mates very helpful in this project. After staring at my own work for three hours it was hard to see anything more to edit, so a fresh pair of eyes was great to give idea. In order to edit my collages I mainly had trouble with blending pieced together smoothly. I also had problems with trying to put too many different pictures into my collages. But by looking at others ideas and comments I final saw that it was more important that everything fit together well instead of trying to fit as many different pictures into one space.
Comments
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/69#comment-21
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/68#comment-22
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/91#comment-122
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/89#comment-127
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/94#comment-136
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/137#comment-170
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/147#comment-210
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/133#comment-211
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/175#comment-217
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/96#comment-218
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/148#comment-219
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/167#comment-241
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/170#comment-242
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/55#comment-243
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/171#comment-273
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/173#comment-274
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/193#comment-281
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/172#comment-290
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/209#comment-329
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/205#comment-330
http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/198#comment-332
Reflection: I think the postings and comments were a good way of keeping everyone involved outside of class. They also forced me to look at the projects everyone else was working on and see what made their projects strong and revise my own work accordingly. While I don’t think I participated enough online at the beginning of the semester I hopefully made up for during the second half of the semester. I also really loved getting feedback from other people. As I have mentioned before I would often spend so much time on one thing that I just couldn’t see it for what it was anymore. The comments other people left gave me ideas that because I had created it I could not see.
Wiki Project
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Talk:Bars%21_The_outside...
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Talk:By_daylight_she_is_....
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Dead_paper
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Weir_Mitchell
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Talk:%22Why_darling%21%2....
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Besides%2C_I_don%27t_wan....
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Talk:Creep_over_him
http://www.teachmix.com/litwiki/index.php?title=Talk:Bars%21_The_outside...
Reflection: I really enjoyed doing this project. I probably learned more about The Yellow Wall Paper than any other piece of literature I have read. I really enjoyed the in class part of this project. Hearing other (Sometimes conflicting) ideas was very helpful in seeing this story in several different ways. I also enjoyed doing the research part. I think this was the closed thing to a normal English class we got all semester. The extended podcast we did on this was also fun. I think that going this in-depth with a short story made it easier to look at some of the other fiction writers and see them more clearly.
Video Project:
First – http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/183
Revised - http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/?q=node/233
Reflection: This was my favorite project this semester. I did something similar to this in high school so I had no problem working with the program. But the subject I choose to do was something very different than anything else I had done before. I think it goes back to working with images and sounds rather than words to portray a character or a theme. While this was a very time consuming project I much more fun with it than any paper I could have written. Portraying an idea with music and images is much more complex than I thought it would be. I think something that I had the most trouble with on this video was finding the media. I had a picture in my head that I wanted to somehow put on my computer and use for my video, but when this exact picture did not appear on google I had to modify my idea to what was available. I also look at my video now and even though I had said I could not edit it any more I still see some minor problems with timing and transition.
Group Podcast: http://www.teachmix.com/itsfiction/files/change.mp3
Reflection: Now that I’ve heard what other groups did with their podcast there are a lot of things I would have like to have done differently. That is the bad thing about this project; it’s not something that can be revised several times until we think it is perfect. One thing I think we could have done better was putting a greater emphasis on the group interaction. Instead of relying on one person to do all the most talking it would have been smoother if we had more conversation. Something I learned with this project it what kind of outline I should have before attempting to discuss themes or stories like this. I think my outline was slightly too detailed and did not provide enough discussion opportunities. I would defiantly like to try something like this in the future, because of the errors I made and attempt to correct them.

Revised Video

Posted April 28th, 2008 by Christine Tully

After looking at the comments I changed around some of the photos and clips.

Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Enjoy!

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Video Project

Posted April 8th, 2008 by Christine Tully

When this project was first assigned I though It was going to be easy. I complete two major projects in high school that were very similar so I wasn't worried. However, these previous videos had very set topics, so I had a difficult time deciding what to portray in this project. I finally decided to do a music video of sorts. I choose the song Far Away by Ingrid Michaelson because it is upbeat and also had some imagery which I could pick out to display. What I tried to convey is longing for a simpler life. Something away from the stress of modern society and outside of the perfect life everyone envisions for themselves. I tried to contrast the photos portraying today’s hectic lifestyle making them darker and with less color. While those showing the songs dream world were much brighter and more saturated.

And thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Midterm Portfolio

Posted March 10th, 2008 by Christine Tully

Portfolio

Reflection:
When I registered for this class I thought it would be a lot of reading and several papers. I was pleasantly surprised when we started discussing the projects we would be working on. Because I had never had a class like this before I was also a little bit nervous. But I found myself learning more than I would have simply writing papers or reading a text book. The play list was probably the hardest project for me because it integrated more than I was used to working with in an English class. The collages I enjoyed making because I had done similar projects before and it was interesting to work with the colors and the blending of different images. I also liked the short story The Yellow Wall Paper, so it was a good choice in story to discuss in depth in the Wiki project.

1 comment

Revised Playlist

Posted March 10th, 2008 by Christine Tully

One of my favorite movies is Amélie, so my playlist is about the main character. Amélie grows up in dysfunctional family. Her mother dies when she is young and her father is socially isolated in his own world. Amélie retreats into herself instead of pursuing relationships with those around her. To edit this I tried to incorporate some of the lyrics to portray her character.

1. Take 2 Blue - Bittersweet

Sit up straight
With your head held high
Start your day
With a random act of kind
Don't forget
To brush your teeth before you rest

I liked this song for Amélie because of the unusual style. Amélie is somewhat old fashioned and living in a dream world. It also relates the methodical way she lived her life. She does what she is told, what is expected of her, but nothing beyond.

2. Tout Doucement - Feist

N'allez jamais trop vite
Vous avez tout le temps
Attention à la dynamite
Prenez garde aux volcans
A ces jeunes énervés
Qui ne savent pas aller

Or in English :

Never go too fast
You got all the time you need
Beware of the dynamite
Take care of volcanos
Of those young nervous ones
Who don't know how to go

When portraying a French character a had to add a song with French lyrics. The Songs lyrics while they don’t make much sense in English it gives us an idea of the lost young girl who does not know ‘how to go’. She’s being so protective of herself she forgets to live.

3. Asleep on a Sunbeam - Belle and Sebastian

But restlessness has seized me now, it’s true
I could watch the dreams flicker in your eyes
Lying here asleep on a sunbeam

Another summer’s passing by
All I need is somewhere I feel the grass beneath my feet
A walk on sand, a fire I can warm my hands
My joy will be complete

Amélie is happy with her half life for a time but then she realizes that she is missing something. She’s living in her fantasy in the city but she is asleep. She is passively observing others not getting involved.

4. Cathedrals – Jump, Little Children

Faded colors, pieces left incomplete
The line moves slowly past the electric fence
Across the borders between continents

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is

She keeps herself separated from others to protect her from being hurt. After moving away from her father and into the city she realizes something is missing in her life. A human connection she never had.

5. Hotel Song by Regina Spektor.

Come in, come in
Come into my world I've got to show
Show show you
Come into my bed
I've got to know
Know know you

I have dreams of orca whales and owls
But I wake up in fear
You will never be my
You will never be my dear
Will never be my dear, dear friend

Amélie finds this connection by returning a treasured possession to an old man. She then finds other ways to help others around instead of focusing on her. While she is now interacting with those around her she is not interacting with them. She still has a childhood fear which keeps her from fully letting her guard down.

6. Vienna - Billy Joel

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart tell me why
Are you still so afraid?
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do and only
So many hours in a day

While the goal of making the world a better place satisfies Amélie for a time she is then reminded that while she is busy living for others she forgets herself. While she is confident in herself when she is helping others when she meets Nino she realizes she has only masked her fear instead of facing them.

7. Dreams – The Cranberries

I know I've felt like this before, but now I'm feeling it even more,
Because it came from you.
And then I open up and see the person falling here is me,
A different way to be.

This song is the change in Amélie. This song is the change in Amélie. She finally has the courage to pursue a relationship with Nino, realizing her dreams and setting her free.

8. Fidelity - Regina Spektor

I never loved nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting my heart truly
I got lost in the sounds
I hear in my mind
All of these voices
I hear in my mind all of these words
I hear in my mind all of this music

And it breaks my heart

Given her prior tendency to close herself off Fidelity show how she has changed and opened herself up to be loved. Instead of ensuring a broken heart by remaining alone she makes the choice to live instead of hiding in fear.

9. Dance with me – Nouvelle Vague

Come on little stranger
There's only one last dance
Soon the music's over
Let's give it one more chance

Won't you dance with me
In my world of fantasy
Won't you dance with me
Ritual fertility

Take a chance with me

And the final song still holds some of the quirkiness that is Amélie but has now come out of her shell.

1 comment

Amélie

Posted January 28th, 2008 by Christine Tully

One of my favorite movies is Amélie, so my playlist is about the main character. Amélie grows up in dysfunctional family. Her mother dies when she is young and her father is socially isolated in his own mind. Amélie learns from this and as she grows up she retreats into herself instead of pursuing relationships with those around her.

1. Take 2 Blue - Bittersweet

I liked this song for Amélie because of the unusual style. Amélie has a sweet somewhat old fashioned character from growing up alone. This makes her stand out when she moves to the city.

2. Tout Doucement - Feist

While the lyrics of Tout Doucement are somewhat unrelated it reminds me of a children’s song giving us a little bit of the childlike naiveté Amélie possesses.

3. Asleep on a Sunbeam - Belle and Sebastian

Amélie lives in a world of her own creation and for a while she is happy with this. It allows her to create her own moods.

4. Cathedrals – Jump, Little Children

After moving away from her father and into the city she realizes something is missing in her life. The mood of this song portrays Amélie's loneliness while she longs for a human connection.

5. Hotel Song - Regina Spektor.

Amélie finds this connection by returning a treasured possession to an old man. She then finds other ways to help others around instead of focusing on her. Hotel Song relates to her new openness however she is still reluctant to have personal relationships.

6. Vienna - Billy Joel

While the goal of making the world a better place satisfies Amélie for a time she is then reminded that while she is busy living for others she forgets herself. Vienna shows how she slows down and must take care of herself first to be happy.

7. Dreams – The Cranberries

This song is the change in Amélie. She finally has the courage to pursue a relationship with Nino, realizing her dreams and setting her free.

8. Fidelity - Regina Spektor

Given her prior tendency to close herself off Fidelity show how she has changed and opened herself up to be loved.

9. Dance with me – Nouvelle Vague

And the final song still holds some of the quirkiness that is Amélie but has now come out of her shell.

1 comment

Alfred Noyes

Posted January 14th, 2008 by Christine Tully

Literary to me has always meant some sort of writing. And while we did define it in class to include a much broader rage of things I think I will stick with something a bit more classic.

First let me say that I am not a huge fan of poetry. While I love English in general, poetry has always been something that I could never quiet grasp. However, when forced to relate to it in high school I choose this poem and since then I have always had a sort of connection to it. Which is how we defined literary in class. Something which provides emotional or intellectual stimulation.

The Hills of Youth
BY ALFRED NOYES

Once, on the far blue hills,
Alone with the pine and the cloud, in those high still places;
Alone with a whisper of ferns and a chuckle of rills,
And the peat-brown pools that mirrored the angels’ faces,
Pools that mirrored the wood-pigeon’s grey-blue feather,
And all my thistledown dreams as they drifted along;
Once, oh, once, on the hills, thro’ the red-bloomed heather
I followed an elfin song.

Once, by the wellsprings of joy,
In the glens of the hart’s-tongue fern, where the brooks came leaping
Over the rocks, like a scrambling bare-foot boy
That never had heard of a world grown old with weeping;
Once, thro’ the golden gorse (do the echoes linger
In Paradise woods, where the foam of the may runs wild?)
I followed the flute of a light-foot elfin singer,
A god with the eyes of a child.

Once, he sang to me there,
From a crag on a thyme-clad height where the dew still glistened;
He sang like the spirit of Spring in that dawn-flushed air,
While the angels opened their doors and the whole sky listened:
He sang like the soul of a rainbow, if heaven could hear it,
Beating to heaven, on wings that were April’s own;
A song too happy and brave for the heart to bear it,
Had the heart of the hearer known.

Once, ah, once, no more,
The hush and the rapture of youth in those holy places,
The stainless height, the hearts that sing and adore
Till the sky breaks out into flower with the angels’ faces!
Once, in the dawn, they were mine; but the noon bereft me.
At midnight now, in an ebb of the loud world’s roar,
I catch but a broken stave of the songs that left me
On hills that are mine no more.

Introduction to Fiction

Christine Tully's blog

Final Portfolio

Revised Video

Video Project

Midterm Portfolio

Revised Playlist

Amélie

Alfred Noyes

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