Please turn in your final essays (#3) by the end of the day on December 5th via email!
For Monday, December 1st, please read: Shelley Jackson’s The Body & Stuart Moulthrop’s “Pax”
For EXTRA CREDIT: please blog a response on each of the above readings. Describe your reading experience: 1) how did you navigate through the story? 2) what, if any, is your understanding of the main theme or the “story” being told? 3) how it is similar to or different from any of the other readings we’ve done for this class? 4) After reading these texts, what is your understanding of what the author is trying to suggest about the body (both via content of narrative and via the way the story is delivered)?
For Wednesday, December 3rd, please read: Chapter 1: “Lord Burleigh’s Kiss” (p. 13-26) from Murray, Janet H. (1997) Hamlet and the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. This reading will be made available to you via handouts on Monday, the 1st.
Friday, December 5th: FINAL ESSAYS ARE DUE by the end of the day via email!
8 responses so far ↓
sableotey // November 28, 2008 at 10:28 pm |
1.) How did you navigate through the story?
Wow. Okay, so I navigated through Pax by clicking on the flying naked people. Lol. I was so confused. I had to first figure out how to read the story. I only saw a picture and I was trying to find a link to the reading, but there wasn’t one. I saw the flying people and then I said, “Wait are they naked”? Lol. So I clicked on the bodies and the story began to appear. After reading the story a few times I finally realized that there was a correlation between the ascending and descending bodies. While reading The Body I wasn’t as confused as I was while trying to figure out how to read Pax. The circled body parts indicated what that section of the story would cover. Once I figured out how to read The Body, it was much easier to follow.
2.) What, if any, is your understanding of the main theme or the “story” being told?
Honestly in the story Pax, I really didn’t know what was going on. I feel like the story like was all over the place. The ascending bodies where referred to as an epidemic of flying sickness. And then, the bodies where referred to as airplanes and frequent flyers. Lol. This story is funny. In The Body, the author describes each external body part and gives a description of the characteristics of that specific part. The descriptions of each body part are very detailed. An example would be, “My nose is pierced on the left side. The operation was quick and antiseptic, an ink dot placed, wiped off, replaced, a smooth little wooden rod up my nose, a deep breath, the needle plunged through. The ring slid in and pushed out the needle. The only raw and beautiful thing about it was the sudden hapless surge of tears to my left eye, which instantly overflowed down my cheek” which is way more information than needed.
3.) How it is similar to or different from any of the other readings we’ve done for this class?
I personally don’t think that these readings are similar to any of the readings that we’ve read for this class. I do feel as those these to stories could compliment one another. These stories are different in their own ways. Pax is self explanatory. It solely talks about what the body has gone through and how it feels from time to time. An example of what this person’s body has gone through or experienced would be the nose piercing and the bleeding. And one example of the way that the body may feel or want to feel would be having a penis. Assuming that this body is female since it has female genitals, she wants to know what it’d feel like to have a penis.
4.) After reading these texts, what is your understanding of what the author is trying to suggest about the body (both via content of narrative and via the way the story is delivered)? After doing further research on the story Pax, I found that the author center writing on the events of September 11, 2001. The hypertext provides images that the reader can chose from, and these images display thoughts. The more the reader continuously clicked on that specific component the deeper the thoughts appeared. The people may have been naked because of the helplessness each indivdual during this tragic time. There nothing that noone could do that was on those planes to save their lives. The falling people may have symbolized those that jumped from the building. In The Body the author provides images that reader can click on for a description of a specific body part. She talks about the different scars, tatoos and peircings. These body parts explain different chapters in her life.
cteran // November 30, 2008 at 4:43 pm |
The body was easy to navigate fairly straightforward i just started with the head n worked my way down. Pax was kind of confusing having to click on the falling people sometimes i missed a few.
It’s hard to grasp exactly what each other is getting at. Pax just seemed like a random series of thoughts, random thoughts some kinda seem like something one would think before death. The body just seemed like a telling of someone’s experiances.
Well the stories seem to deal with memories. Like in Beloved the memory of the unnamed child and slavery are the focus.Also, like written on the body, the body brings up images realted to the physical happenings of the body.
The body in both texts seems to be almost a book. The Body, the story, has you click on each body part and gives you a story of this person realting to that body part. Pax has the people flying bare naked, their stories are open to be read in this way.
izamojda // November 30, 2008 at 8:25 pm |
The Body:
I read each section starting from the head, and moving from right to left in descending order. Clicking on the various body parts engages the reader in a visual way that is not very common in typical literature (for obvious reasons!). To me, it seemed like the author was telling a story about her body: the struggles and joys. All of the books that we have read have dealt in some way with the body and how it is used as a tool in order to experience the world, and Shelley Jackson’s poem/ode is no different in that respect. However, this “story” seemed like it was straight out of her diary and not necessarily part of a formal/complicated story (like Written on the Body). That made it less intimidating to read. Even though she did not use words like “you”, in order to make the reader feel like they were directly engaged in the story, the story is so personal that you still feel like you are in the writers special bubble, like you are part of her personal life. Also, because the author is female (is there a male version of this poem/ode?), I felt a kinship with the author because I can relate to some of the issues that she mentions. I was able to even laugh about the scabs! To me, the author seems to be fleshing out (no pun intended) the good (muscular shoulders), the awkward (sweat!) and the unknowns of her body (intestines, organs!). Overall, this selection can be liked to an ode. Shelley is praising her dear friend, the body.
Pax:
Okay, let me start of by saying that I am left confused and grappling with those short phrases and falling bodies, trying to tie them together and make sense of what is going on! I have never “read” or experienced a story like this before. All I did was click on the ascending/descending characters as they flew by and hoped that my furious clicking would add enough phrases on the side bar so that I could understand what was going on. With the falling bodies, I got the sense that the author wants to emphasize the fragility of life. Perhaps the author is grappling with what happens in the afterlife and the ideas of heaven and hell. I think that there was a gunmen at an airport and he killed at least one character, Nathan. For me, Nathan was the easiest to understand within the framework of being gunned down and “going to heaven.” It seems as though he is speaking about his experience with the after-life as it was happening. Now, the other characters that added their parts of the story, I just really had no idea how they were adding to the story or the author’s message.
HB // December 1, 2008 at 12:05 am |
1) How did you navigate through the story?
Firstly, it was hard for me to figure out Shelley Jackson’s “The Body” story that how to get a story out by just looking on a picture showing different part of body in separate sections. Later I figure it out that each body section is a link to its story for the author/narrator body itself; where the narrator is describing its various body parts by relating and differentiating them with other people.
On other hand the ‘about’ text made story Stuart Moulthrop’s “Pax” easy for me to figure out how the author showing or telling story through different characters, but sometime it was hard to catch up all characters. After reading the ‘about’ text, I had started to read the story of the characters/ people who are flying and falling down in that 3D configuration.
2) What, if any, is your understanding of the main theme or the “story” being told?
In “The Body” clearly the theme was human body advantages and its drawbacks. Here in it the author or narrator usually compare her body with others and represents the perfection and lack over it.
In “Pax” the story shows the dystopian vision of the current world and its various inventions for the mankind. The author telling its story through various characters in form of a moving naked, each has its own view about this world moving toward its destruction.
3) How it is similar to or different from any of the other readings we’ve done for this class? 4) After reading these texts, what is your understanding of what the author is trying to suggest about the body (both via content of narrative and via the way the story is delivered)?
“The body” is much similar to the “Written on the body” where the author mentions the drawbacks of the human body, as in a form of the cancer, and also the most of our readings shows the idea of body embedded in them.
“Pax” is more similar to our last two readings of “Brave new world” and “Frankenstein” where the author also shows how the utopian vision of life or world turns to dystopian. What are various outcomes of all those discoveries like, guns, bombs, and all other destructives?
sbr291 // December 1, 2008 at 1:00 am |
1.) How did you navigate through the story?
2.) What, if any, is your understanding of the main theme or the “story” being told?
3.) How it is similar to or different from any of the other readings we’ve done for this class?
4.) After reading these texts, what is your understanding of what the authors trying to suggest about the body (both via content of narrative and via the way the story is delivered)?
I think The Body was a bit easier than Pax. In the body you can tell which parts were a story line and in Pax I had to click on every flying person. I was a little confused on if I have already click on it also them flying was a bit wired and naked come on what type of story does that tell.
Well while reading Pax just seemed like a random series of thoughts, random thoughts that someone seemed like something would think before death. The body just seemed like the author was telling a story about her body: the struggles and joys of someone’s experiences. All of the books that we have read have dealt in some way with the body and how it is used as a tool in order to experience the world. In the Body it seemed not interesting, it didn’t capture my attention. As like Written on the Body did. Written on the Body made me lust for more and The Body didn’t. It seemed like a diary. And Pax didn’t interest me at all, having to do with thoughts of death and sorrow. I didn’t feel like I was amused or wanted to keep on reading about the afterlife on heaven and hell. I do believe in god and in heave but how can someone go into telling or talking about heaven and hell?
fazizi2 // December 1, 2008 at 7:21 am |
1.) How did you navigate through the story?
2.) What, if any, is your understanding of the main theme or the “story” being told?
3.) How it is similar to or different from any of the other readings we’ve done for this class?
4.) After reading these texts, what is your understanding of what the authors trying to suggest about the body (both via content of narrative and via the way the story is delivered)?
The Body and Pax were both displaying the human body in unique ways. The Body seemed alot easier to understand because one could could just scroll down and look at each body part being dispalyed. It almost looked kinda creepy, it seemed like it was showing a dead body and all the parts to it. The Pax however was a more cyborg futuristic type. Clicking on each body was gettin a lil frusturating at times but it was really cool seeing the face of each body in a close view, they looked very realistic. The Body reminded me of Frankenstein and how each body part is vital in making a creation. The Pax reminded me of Brave New World and how the vision of a perfect society and perfect humans could be created. I believe that both of the authors are trying to show the beauty of human creation and how we all created in the same way but have different qualties.
vsanad // December 4, 2008 at 10:33 pm |
Ok so navigation was a little annoying but maybe its part of the process; i dont know. But here is what I got from Pax:
-The naked people were slow coming so I couldnt navigate as fast as I would have liked. I have to admit that it took me a really long time to figure out that I have to click on the animations to read the story.
-Some of the general ideas that may have been covered by the story is old age or the corruptable body. Immigration, current affairs, political isolation, and conflict. The main point seems to be that reality is scary enough we don’t need delusions to spice it up.
- The body was interesting and even more annoying. I felt I was going through a maze. Links led to links and those links often took you back to the section you were reading. A couple of things were interesting about this reading
-This might sound weird but she brought her body parts to “life” she gave them their own persona.
-She reveals bits and pieces of her life through describing her body parts. But the informatio she reveals does not allow the reader to walk away with a consenses.
parkhannah // December 6, 2008 at 5:45 pm |
how did you navigate through the story?
I was having such a difficult time trying to find a link when all I had to do is click on the body parts or body which took me couple of days to figure out. For me, “the body” wasn’t as difficult as “Pax”
what, if any, is your understanding of the main theme or the “story” being told?
“The Body” and “Pax” both seem to be displaying human body. “The body” is describing its body parts followed by background story from one character. “Pax” is from various characters.
how it is similar to or different from any of the other readings we’ve done for this class?
I can’t really relate story with any of the other readings we’ve done in out class. Shelley Jackson’s “The Body”and Stuart Moulthrop’s “Pax” are different than the ones we read in class. For example, “The Body” doesn’t begin with introduction like any other books, it just links one part of the body to another. For “Pax,” I feel like whenever I click onto naked people, random messages of their thoughts appear on the rightside.
After reading these texts, what is your understanding of what the author is trying to suggest about the body (both via content of narrative and via the way the story is delivered)?
Both authors reveals their thoughts through the body. “The body,” author seems to believe that she can do anything she wants through her body and “Pax” author seems to focus on after life rather than the body.
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