Final Portfolio

Posted April 28th, 2008 by Hannah Jones

Portfolio

I discovered "Literature and the Other Arts" when I was searching for a course to fulfill my general college Literary Arts requirement. Looking back, I don't really remember what the course description said, but I do remember that it immediately captured my interest. I generally do not consider myself a literature enthusiast--not that I do not enjoy reading and writing, but literary analysis and critique have never been areas that I thrive in or that particularly interest me. Having said that, I am, however, passionate about the arts--specifically music. So, I signed up for the course feeling optimistic that it not only would fulfill my literary arts requirement but also that it would be an English class that I would actually enjoy rather than dread. I am pleased to say, now, having completed the course, that it not only reached by expectations, but went far beyond. I feel certain that the skills I gained in this course are ones that I will use throughout the rest of my college career--and maybe even further.

This course truly broadened my appreciation for and understanding of literature. If someone had asked me five months ago to define the word "literature" I probably would have muttered something about an important written work. Unimpressive. Today, if someone asked me the same thing, I am happy to say that after taking this class I would have a much more eloquent and extensive answer, although I'm not sure I could give (or would want to give, rather) one concrete definition of the word. In fact, I think giving "literature" a concrete definition is impossible because the meaning is partly up to the individual. Sure, many people will agree that a work of literature must evoke emotions, have common motifs, reflect cultures, etc. but isn't it up to an individual to decide if he/she truly believes something to have these qualities?

I also have come to believe that in order to have a more succinct and expanded understanding of literature, it is necessary to utilize the other arts--just like we did in this class. In each project that we did, the multimedia elements (audio, video, etc.) not only enhanced the piece of literature being portrayed but actually added something that could not be achieved simply through writing.

Having said this, I worked on and revised each individual element of this portfolio keeping in mind the criteria of literature previously mentioned, and by doing so I hope that in some way each piece might evoke in others a genuine appreciation for literature, art, music, culture, and so on. I would like to say that there is one underlying theme that connects each piece of this portfolio, but I'm not sure that there is. I purposely tried to make each project unique, so its difficult to say what links them. What I can be sure of is that I chose each character, song, and subject because they have had an impact on my life in some way, so for me personally, that is the most important element that ties everything together.

Playlist

Composing the playlist was harder than I initially anticipated. From the very beginning, I knew Elizabeth Bennet's characteristics that I wanted portrayed in the playlist, but I found choosing the appropriate songs difficult. Besides having to choose from millions of different songs, Elizabeth Bennet is such a well-known and complex character, and I almost felt like there were no songs that could completely do her justice. At first, I found myself eliminating decent songs because certain lyrics didn't seem to correlate well with her, but as I continued working, I realized that it was probably unrealistic for me to expect to find songs that were absolutely perfect. I then, rather than focusing on entire songs, put more emphaisis on finding appropriate excerpts of songs.

Although the assignment was somewhat time consuming for me, I actually enjoyed the process. I often found myself becoming totally engrossed in listening to various songs, and could, without realizing it, spend hours searching for just one song.

Draft 1: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/51

I did not make any dramatic changes in my first playlist revision, but I did try to strengthen my descriptions and make them more cohesive by adding direct quotes from the novel.

Draft 2: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/229

For my final draft, my main focus was on making sure my descriptions clearly connected the lyrics of the songs to both Elizabeth Bennet and to the book as a whole. I expanded my points about how each song fits the character of Elizabeth Bennet, and I added a few more quotes from the book.

Final Playlist: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/347

Podcast:

Making the podcast was fun! I really liked experimenting with Audacity and deciding how to organize the audio clips, commentary, and interview. It definitely was challenging, however, and I have a whole new level of respect for people who create professional radio podcasts. Although podcasts require many of the same elements as written works (like background information, transitions, etc.) it is important that the podcast does not sound like someone reading aloud an essay. I wanted to have a script in front of me so the podcast would maintain a decent flow and so I wouldn't make mistakes while recording, but because of that, parts of my original podcast (particularly the interview) sound like they are being read off a sheet of paper, rather than being spontaneous (like a live radio show would be).

Draft 1: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/135

I was unable to make multiple revisions of my Podcast because I had to work around the schedule of my interviewee; however, I think it has definitely improved. At first I was worried that it was too short, but I think that because of the nature of the piece, if it were longer, it might be a bit overwhelming. My main focus for the revision was to eliminate the moments that sounded scripted, but I also worked on making the transitions more smooth.

Final Podcast: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/387

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_%28musical%29

Collages

Making the collages was definitely my favorite project. Visual Art is an area that I have had very little experience with in the past, so there were times when I was a little concerned with the quality of my work in comparison to some of the other more artistically talented students in the class. But, for the most part, I had a blast testing my abilities in this new arena. I really enjoyed working with GIMP and using it to be creative with the aesthetics of my collages. This assignment totally justifies the old saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words," and as a result, I think it was even more essential that every piece of the collages were chosen very decisively. Without any kind of explanation, a picture can evoke a wide variety of meanings depending solely on who is looking at it, so I tried not to be too half hazard with my image selection. After all, an inappropriate image could totally alter the entire meaning of the collage for another viewer.

Character Collage Draft 1: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/154

In my first revision of my character collage, I used a lot of my classmates suggestions: I made the text more legible and tried to make certain images more clear.

Character Collage Draft 2: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/230

In the final draft of my character collage, I wanted to focus on giving the piece a focal point. To do this, I eliminated some of the less important items in the collage (i.e. the candles on the wall, the swans in the bottom right-hand corner, and the sheet-music on the piano). I decided that the text should be the focal point, so I made it darker and eliminated all its opacity.

Final Character Collage:
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/350

Song Collage Draft 1:
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/228

I used some of my classmates' feedback for my song collage by choosing a completely different image of a woman's face. In addition, I adjusted the opacity levels in the collage. I wanted the woman's face to be the most clear image and everything else to be varying levels of opacity so that all the other images would look like fading memories. Also, I wanted the woman's face to be the focal point for the piece, so I tried to make it stick out by using contrasting opacity levels throughout the collage.

Final Song Collage:
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/349

Sources:

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=493523
www.menstoppingviolence.org
https://www.cardiomyopathy.org/homepage.htm
www.kennyjamesart.com
www.istockphoto.com
hemingwaysshotgun.wordpress.com
www.psych.nyu.edu
www.worldofwconline.com

Video:

Making the video was one of the more frustrating experiences I had in this class. I chose my topic relatively early on, and I actually completed the first minute or so of the video in a relatively short span of time. However, for some reason, I hit a wall (figuratively speaking), and for the longest time I could not get my video to a point at which I was pleased. Either I couldn't decide what song/song clip to use, or I couldn't find the appropriate picture, or my commentary did not correlate well with the underlying music. Maybe my initial idea was too complicated for my current video-creating skills or maybe I was being too picky about how I wanted my video to look. I'm not sure, but I do know that it was taking me hours and hours to come up with video-footage that looked only mediocre at best. So, in a desperate attempt to get some sort of finished product, I simplified my approach and came up with the video below. I unfortunately did not submit any drafts in time to get feedback, but I did make a significant number of revisions on my own. On the bright side, I am now pretty proficient at working with Adobe Premiere Elements, and once I got on a roll, I actually really enjoyed adding flare to the video and trying to make it both visually and audibly pleasing. I'm fairly certain that were I given a similar assignment in the future, I would experience fewer mishaps/frustrations and actually enjoy the entire process a bit more.

Final Video: http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/comment/reply/377#comment-form

Group Project Reflection:

I enjoyed working on the group project because it was a chance for my group and me to take all the knowledge we have learned from this class and put it into one large project. Collectively, we used videos, podcasts, audio tracks, and images to track the progression of fairytales (specifically Cinderella) throughout the years. I not only was able to learn a lot about our topic, but I actually had fun doing it. My group spent a significant amount of time discussing how we would break up our topic and disperse the work, and in the end, every person came through and really put thought and energy into her part of the project. I think we felt a little crunched for time towards the end, and we had to spend quite a few hours outside of class compiling everything, so we didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked polishing the final product. But, overall, I am pleased with the way it turned out.

The biggest problem we had with the project was using Sophie. Many of us were able to successfully install the program, but for some reason it would randomly shut off sometimes when we tried uploading certain items. I'm not sure what triggered this, but we did eventually get the program to work on Elizabeth's computer.

Blog Postings:

I must admit that discipling myself to post at least 3 blogs/comments each week has been quite a challenge. My problem seems to be that I will post many times one week and then not at all the next, rather than maintaining a more evenly spaced balance. I have no excuse. It's not that I dislike signing on to the website and looking at my classmates' work--au contraire, I actually really enjoy seeing what the other students are working on. This class was filled with quite a diverse and talented group of students, and I think the blog truly reflected that. Looking at the other students' work also, on many occasions, helped me answer individual questions I've had about assignments.

Also, I'll admit, I really appreciated getting comments from other people about my own work. They definitely helped me when it was time to make my revisions, and they usually gave me a different perspective on the subject. When it came to commenting on other people's posts, however, I think I sometimes just didn't feel like I had anything constructive or unique to say. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself--I don't know. But, I did try to maintain a presence on the blog, and I found that as the semester progressed, I became more and more comfortable with it.

Below I have compiled my blog activity for each week of the semester. Besides posting my own large assignments (playlist, podcast, etc.), I have used the blog to give other students feedback on their assignments, and I have posted reflections on some of the literature/topics we have discussed in class.

1.
What is Literature?
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/8
Comment on Literature and the Other Arts
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/11#comment-5

2.
Reflection on "Marginalia" http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/29

3.
Draft of Playlist
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/51
Comment on Video Poem
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/60#comment-31

4.
Huck Finn Voicemail
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/100
Response to a comment on my Playlist
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/51#comment-76
Comment on James Bond Voicemail
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/94#comment-75

5.
None

6.
Comment on Joyce Carol Oates short story
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/119#comment-120

7.
Comment on Shel Silverstein Podcast
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/129#comment-137
Draft of Podcast
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/135

8.
Comment on Juno Collage
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/152#comment-187
Comment on The Outsiders Collage
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/156#comment-179
Character Collage Draft
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/154

9.
Revised Collage
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/230
Revised Playlist
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/229
Song Collage Draft
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/228

10.
Spring Break!

11.
Comment on Eleanor Rigby Collage
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/263#comment-272
Comment on Richard Wright reading assignment
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/262#comment-287
Comment on The Spring and the Fall Collage
http://www.teachmix.com/litartgreen/node/242#comment-288

12.
None.