When having to make the decision to take an English class here on campus, I was seriously dreading it. My schedule is so hectic already, let alone adding on several books to have to read and writing papers. When I walked into our class, I knew it was right for me. Being able to use many types of creative outlooks to express our interpretations and understanding of literature really made my semester a lot more interesting! I have always wanted to have the opportunity to learn more about the computer and all the things it can do, and this was the perfect place to do it. After I left the first class I even called my mom to tell her about it. When she heard the details she was so excited that she asked me all about it so that she can try to do something similar for some of her classes.

I think one of the key aspects to this class was being open-minded about new things and new interpretations, which I definitely strove to accomplish. I think that getting the chance to take works of literature and turn them into something as comprehensive as a collage or video was much more beneficial that just a class discussion and a paper. Projects like the playlist about a character, made me really stop and think about all the aspects of the person, and what they might think, say, or like, to be able to make an effective outlet with which to express them. It took interpretation to a new level and really challenged the mind to think outside the box. The collages that we were asked to make about a character in a book and about a poem were very intriguing. This caused me to have to look into a specific character and find things that would define them from the story as a whole. I also had to look into the character and think of things that would define their outlooks and thoughts with something as simple as a one-dimensional picture. I also had to interpret a poem as a whole and try to figure out what images would best represent the mood, tone, and theme. I had always remembered discussing these things in my English classes and never really taking them to heart. But by actually having to come up with my own interpretations as well as having to find a way to express them using images, was a whole new ballpark. The podcast brought together several students to create an interpretation and present ideas on the subject of the "family" from the early 1990's into the 2000's without any visual aids. We made a mock radio show, which we had to plan out, yet still remain spontaneous as we talked. And finally the video compiled all the ideas from the previous projects, such as photo arranging and music protraying an idea, into an interpretation of one of my favorite books, Fahrenheit 451, using a visual and musical form. I had to truly think about what the author wanted the audience to gain from reading his book and how he truly felt about the subject in his life. Both of the latter projects required me to think about the topics in-depth and present them with a unique new-age media representation.

One of the things I loved the most about our class is that it was a very open and welcoming environment. Everyone got the chance to voice their opinions and to discuss how they felt about each aspect of the readings. We had the chance to see and comment on each other's posting, which allowed us to get new and better ideas for our revisions. This class has also allowed me to realize how important revisions can be. I have gotten so used to college being a place where you turn in your work and things are taken and graded as is, and when you’ve finished it, you were done with it. After I get a grade on things in school I would rarely ever go back and look at them again. Here, I have gone back many times whenever I had a spare moment or wanted something to take my mind off other things, and been able to work on things like adding a new image to my collage, or re-reading the stories to make sure that I had represented all aspects of it. I have learned to not always be happy with your first project and through the help of those around me I continued to make my projects better and better.

There have been many useful skills that I have gained from just being in this class. I have been able to take one of my favorite books, Cold Mountain, and really get to the bottom of its meaning and be able to relate to one of the characters, Inman, on many different levels. By reading many new poems, such as Denver and the Emily Dickinson poems, and having to interpret them, whether for the collage or for the annotations, I really have gained some valuable skills on how to understand and appreciate what the author wanted to get across to the reader. The podcast was one of the best group projects I have ever been involved in. I was given the opportunity to work with other classmates to be able to create something that was unique and fun. It's really rare when a group of strangers can come together to make something and have everyone just as excited as I was to work on it. We all were challenged to find something we could all agree on, take each others ideas and opinions to heart, find something in literature that was on all of our levels, and produce something that was cohesive, yet spontaneous at the same time. The video about one of my favorite books, Fahrenheit 451, was the one project I was constantly talking about and re-excited every time I thought about working on it. By having to take the time to think about what the author wanted the audience to know and learn from his work, while find pictures and songs to represent his idea was an amazing challenge. I even got to incorporate one of my other loves, classical music, into this creation. All the while I was getting the chance to continue to learn and grow in my English skills and critical reading, as well as continually editing and playing with new programs that I had never even seen before in an attempt to learn better outlets of expression.

This is one of the only classes I could say I absolutely loved going to. I didn't miss a single class, not because I wanted to be able to have perfect attendance, but because I always had the work done and was excited to see what each day and class has to offer me. I was so worried that one day we would learn something new or get to work with a new device and I would sorely regret not being able to be a part of it. Not only was this class was one of my favorite classes I have come across at Carolina, but the environment which we worked in was helpful, cooperative, and instructional on a different level than any lecture hall could ever be. We had an amazing teacher who was truly helpful in all aspects of the class. He helped me to open my eyes to a new side of English and to appreciate it once again, and for this I am truly thankful. This class has brought English alive in ways that I never fathomed possible and put a new twist on how I feel about the suject as a whole. I came into the class timid and full of doubt and have left with an amazing new friend and a bond with people I never would have expected. I have even found myself using these programs and this knowledge in many other aspects of my life, (I used the photo editing program to make a Christmas card for my family.) It’s truly sad to see this class draw to a close and have to wrap up our projects we have been working so diligently on. I'm appreciative for such a wonderful experience and I hope that at some point everyone can say the same things about a class that they have been fortunate enough to come across.

Character Playlist
The playlist for a character in a book was very interesting to create, yet very challenging at the same time. It forced me to try and think in new ways, and truly get to the heart of what the character was thinking and feeling throughout the book. I chose Inman from Cold Mountain because I remember reading this book and seeing the many sides to all the characters and thinking about how versatile and emotional they all were portrayed to be. It was hard to take what was written on the page and find the deeper meaning, as well as to be able to translate it into a song that the character might have wanted to listen to. I think that the many sides and emotions to Inman were easy to think of songs for, but to find the right one for the progression of the playlist was challenging. This assignment really taught me to think deeper about what I was reading to be able to interpret it on more of a meaningful and representative level instead of a strictly literal interpretation. I really enjoyed being able to do something new with English that still shows you understood the point of the story and the identity of the character after reading the book. Being able to collect different forms of media and group them into something as unique and current as a playlist you might find on an IPod was a really interesting twist. I really felt like I could get into the project because it encompasses many things that I really like doing, such as reading and music. I liked being able to take many sources, such as ITunes and YouTube, and be able to compile something that you would think someone else would want to listen to based on their character analysis. I feel like I could truly represent Inman through songs that might mean more than just words could. Also, to see what other people had chosen and their song choices and preferences were interesting to compare to my own and see what they came up with versus what I might have chosen. I think that being able to use not only words and lyrics to define the character in the song, but tone and flow of the songs was an important aspect I developed with this project. When I was going through and doing my editing, the main thing I did was take out the personal comments and make it more of a formal presentation of ideas. I also made sure that the grammar I used was proper and cleaned up.
Original Playlist
Revised Playlist

Collages
The collages were very challenging, once again, because they require you to take things from a page and represent them in a different form. Trying analyze an entire book and focus on the main theme and story line, while trying to focus on one characters feelings and thoughts about it, then trying to turn all these things into one standstill image was a pretty big challenge. The first thing that I tried to do with both the character and poem college was read through them and get a general feel for the mood. I then tried to take that mood and set it as the overall background of the collages. I did this with the picture of Cold Mountain, which was both Ada and Inman’s sole representation for happiness, and the dimly lit bar image where the poem Denver might have taken place. For the character collage I took the two characters which I wanted to focus on and thought about a single image or idea that would define their character, for Inman I chose the picture of the tattered flag in battle, and for Ada the picture of the barn house to where she is confined and becomes a woman. Then I took the central them and idea of the story and represented that in the middle with things like the path and the images on the path. In Denver I broke down the poem into three interpretive stages and ideas and put them on shot glasses that you would find on a bar in a progressive manner. I think the hardest thing to do was to pick images that would define your ideas the best, and then figuring out how to edit them and fit them into your collage. The colors were hard to blend and work with when figuring out what should go on top of the other and how to make certain things stand out more than others. I tried to think about an image that the author might have put on the cover of their story or poem that incorporated the main ideas and capture them in my image. Each of the specific meanings of the objects in the collages can be found in the links.
Original Cold Mountian Collage
Revised Cold Mountian Collage
2nd Revised Cold Mountian Collage (Final)
Original Denver Collage
Revised Denver Collage
2nd Revised Denver Collage (Final)

Emily Dickinson Poem Annotations
The annotation project was really interesting because it was a good opportunity to really interpret some poems that are considered a big part of today's society. Emily Dickinson is a well-known poet, which makes our Wiki site something that can be very useful to others. It allowed the class to collect their thoughts and feelings about the poems in one place and then build and help each other around them. I really enjoyed this project because I really enjoy Emily Dickinson's poetry, and this even introduced me to a few poems that I hadn't had the opportunity to read yet. I think the fact that it was done as a class was really helpful because there were several situations where someone else's interpretations were helpful to me as far as understanding the poem and making my own conclusions. It was also interesting, once again, to see everyone’s different thoughts about the poems and to read the discussion section to see the different interpretations. I think that being able to look all over the internet at what other people had said about these poems, as well as seeing what my classemates thought, made this assignment very interesting. I also really enjoyed being able to put my computer skills to the test and learning about something as helpful as Wikipedia. This project really opened my eyes to what a great resource this site can be, and I really like knowing that we are helping to add to this extensive database of information.
Emily Dickinson Annotations

Podcast
The podcast was one of the more interactive projects we have done this semester as well as one of the more interesting ones. When we were paired up into our groups I was really excited because I knew that the people in my group would be just as dedicated and excited to get going as I was. We began by decided what we were going to focus on and getting out ideas in order. Everyone was very excited to put their thoughts and ideas into the mix and we all began rolling on the project pretty quickly. Everyone was willing to take some of the assignment home with them to be able to have the most productive class periods we could manage. We had our script done by the second day and were excited to get to practice it with all the advanced technology as the microphones and mixing equipment. After hearing ourselves on the practice run we all got together to decide what would make us sound better and have a better outcome, then worked that out by the time we recorded the final product. I think the best part was sitting at the table and recording in front of the class, but still having a good time with it. We were all able to laugh and flow together as a solid group, yet shine in our respective roles on the podcast.
This project allowed me to get to know some of my other classmates and for all of us to be more open to helping each other. It was, as always, really interesting to get to take everyone's input on the same subject and be able to make it flow into one cohesive project. It even surprised the people in my group when we started looking into the material for the project that there were such drastic changes in the media examples of “a perfect family” from the early 1990’s to the more current shows of the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I also really liked how we all came together and enjoyed each other’s company when we all have come from different backgrounds due to the diversity in our ages and media experiences. We decided to do something that would be interesting and wasn’t stiff and rigid in the way it was delivered. By modeling ours after a radio program we were able to have more leeway in things like a caller and an MC who directed the show instead of just talking back and forth. We didn’t have any fights or disagreements; instead we just focused on making it the best we could and finding things that would contribute to the group and our project. I was really happy with the way it turned out, and through getting to know the ladies in my group we have been able to help each other in other aspects of the class.
I learned that group projects don't always have to be something where one person does the brunt of the work while the others simply look on. Most of my previous group projects have consisted of stangers who truly didn't care about the project doing as little as possible just to get by. I also learned a little more about the people I had been in class with for so many weeks and barely knew by name. I got to learn a little about their strengths and weaknesses, as well as information about how families have been presented in the media and everyones view of the subject.
Final Podcast

Movie
When we finally got to the movie aspect of the class I knew that the semester was beginning to draw to a close, but after hearing about the project I was just as excited to get started as I was all the other aspects of the class. It took me a while to try to come up with a good theme for the video because I wanted something that wouldn’t be too broad, yet not too narrow either. I also wanted to pick something that I felt not a lot of people would think about. I began by thinking about all the books I had read over the past few years and thinking about all the ones that had made a big impact on me. One of the first novels that came to mind was “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. I think that he is one of the more important American authors that I have studied so far because he really took aspects that most American don’t think about and shed light on them in the States. I decided that the most important aspect of the book he wanted to reveal was the idea of Censorship.
The first thing that I did for this project was start looking through pictures, and the more I researched, the more the flow of the video came to mind. I found some interviews that had been done with Ray Bradbury a few years ago and they really sparked my interest in him even more. I spent a lot of my time searching for pictures that would be appropriate for the movie and ones that would flow together to get the desired effect I was looking for. At first it was just a jumbled mass of photos, and the more I worked the interviews into the movie, the more it came together and I let this guide my video. The instrumental music was also a challenge for me because I love the sound of it and I feel like almost all emotions can be expressed through music, (I have played an instrument for 8 years). I spent a lot of time looking for bold, dramatic music that would convey how passionately I think Ray Bradbury felt about the horror involved in the burning of such important parts of society and history as books.
This project really helped me to think about the meaning and point of the story in a new light and be able to get it across in things like music and pictures, instead of in words. I spent a lot of time on this project and felt myself really getting into the idea of it. Everyone around me could tell when I had fit something interesting in, or been able to figure something new out because I generally expressed my excitement aloud or shared my most recent classical music finding. I also found small pleasures in things like coordinating the intensity of the photos to the intensity song or interview being played.
I learned how to use something as unique as a movie maker to express how I felt the author would want his ideas and meanings to be displayed, which brought the deeper meaning and spirit of the book alive to me. I also learned more about Censorship and banning, such as the Nazi book burnings in the early 1900's, which I had no clue had happened until researching for this project. This project also sparked a new interest in some of the other great American authors that I have simply overlooked up to this point, such as Ray Bradbury. I really enjoyed being able to take many aspects of my life, like reading and music, and put them together in something as enjoyable to the senses as a movie. Also, using something useful like a movie maker will be helpful in other aspects of my education to be able to break away from such formal presentations as papers and simple PowerPoint productions.
Censorship/Ray Bradbury Movie
Censorship Movie Links

Blog Postings
The different explanations about each blog are under the link to get there, but this has been one of my favorite parts of the class so far. I have enjoyed, while tedious sometimes, getting the opportunity to put my feelings about the things we read online. I think this is a helpful way for me to express my feelings and not worry about being judged, or going against the grain of the class. I also really like getting to read and hear the other student’s opinions on the same topics. I think it's an awesome opportunity for all of us to express our feelings and even have some debate on what we think each story means. By having them online we can go back and read the story, maybe a few days later, and have a different feel for it and still be able to see what classmates had said. This way gives you time to actually think about what you want to say and to write it all down instead of having to answer debate questions off the top of your head. I think this also encouraged everyone to read, watch, and listen to what the other students had done and make helpful comments.
Blog Collection