Remixing a Classic: Communal writing, reading, and playing

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Maggi Delgado

Inspired by Author Miller’s classic play The Crucible(1953), the interactive story ISS (International Space Station) Salem features the same tension and drama but in a digital space. In Doing Things with Novels, we learned and discussed how the process of reading and storytelling has changed, allowing a more engaging and interactive experience as well as one where the roles of the writers and readers are intertwined. We see this intertwining in the 2013 mobile application and digital writer’s platform, Episodes Interactive. Utilizing Episodes’ coding and film scriptwriting style, along with its extensive library of customizable characters and outfits, I reimagined and remixed The Crucible into an interactive space tale with possible aliens instead of witches.

TO PLAY THE GAME PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK AND DOWNLOAD EPISODES

Leah Price’s What We Talk About When We Talk about Books gives a brief history of ways society use to read and how this practice has evolved yet remains the same at its core with every new piece of technology, “printed books were the first social media. They started conversation; they started fights, and connected each reader to others (pg. 14).” We are becoming more and more like our communal reading predecessors as we make digital stories widely accessible. As commented on by various authors in Community Reading and Social Imagination, “the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was filled with community reading: coffeehouses, literary salons, reading clubs, reform associations, tea tables, lyceums, sewing circles were all places where people read, and listened to others read, together (422).” Through discussion boards, forums, and social networks such as GoodReads, Instagram, and Tumblr, stories are still read and discussed publicly and communally. Through these digital platforms, audiences worldwide and those who are differently-abled (speech-enabled websites, audiobooks) discuss and annotate written and multimodal stories. According to Alan Liu, Web 2.0, like social media, has played a part in creating this broader scope in the audience and developing and maintaining their engagement and interactivity. In From Reading to Social Computing, Lui says, “Consider, to start with, the way that social-computing technologies are beginning to be used to experience—that is, to read, perform, and communicate (overlapping with “analyze” and “interpret”)—primary literature.” This communal experience gives readers the agency to influence a story and become authors and digital publishers themselves. Through sites like Wattpad, Tumblr, and WordPress, they write and publish original and fanfiction stories because “community reading is also, in important ways, community writing. These imaginative practices, collaborators in the production of social possibilities, are never far apart. (Berube et al. 422)” Episodes, through the use of their code, allows users to create interactive fanfiction and original tales. This interactivity also brings about the aspect of play, as explained by Lui, “Reading overlaps with the actions of modeling, gaming, role-playing, adapting, translating, rendering, and simulating.”

Since 1979, we have enjoyed “playing with stories” and having this illusion of choice as the reader; through the Choose Your Own Adventure Book Series by R. A. Montgomery and Ed Packard at Bantam Books. Giving readers the option to choose something as simple as the outfit a character will wear to their ultimate love interest is a way of not only engaging the reader but engrossing them into a world where their decision matters. The audience then feels as if they are not just being told a story. Still, they create a story alongside the author, which shows how “Collaboration allows for individual voice and shared vision (Bruter et al. pg418).”

Technology has also influenced the process of adaptation and retelling of classic stories; as Price puts it, “One constant in the history of books is the power to take new forms, and to prompt new ways of reading as a result. (page 14)”. Adaption is the ultimate way of “playing” with a text. An example of this is the 1938 radio play adaptation of H.G. Wells’s 1901 classic science fiction tale, War of the Worlds. We’ve also seen a modern take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in the 1996 film adaptation of the classic play by the same title. The 2016 novel Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff was adapted into 10 episode television series on HBO. The Crucible has been adapted several times in television and film, including the 1996 critically acclaimed version of screenwritten by Miller. These retellings are full of controversies, inconsistency, often dividing audiences into “true” fans devoted to the text and the others who accept the new medium and the newfound nuances it brings forth. These adaptions are not perfect, but they allow a wider range of readers and audiences to discuss a story. In the newer interpretation of such a play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016), the audiences were presented with a black Hermoine, a character usually played by white women. This caused a bit of controversy, but it ultimately acknowledged and included marginalized people of color who are fans of the series. Though the audiences do not always have a say on the casting of particularly loveable characters when it comes to film and television adaptations, they can make this choice in interactive games like Episodes.

Episodes Interactive is a storytelling platform and mobile application that allows writers to become complete producers of their tales from start to finish while also immersing readers into a choose-your-own-adventure story style. Launched in 2013, the storytelling and networking platform is “features interactive Hollywood-caliber stories built from the ground up for mobile, not the passive entertainment of TV and movies.” This digital storytelling tool mixes Donacode, the type of code used in this platform, theater and film writing and directing terms and techniques (using words like props, screen left, upscreen right, enter from, zoom in, etc.) for both original and user-generated content. Through the writer’s portal, users become a complete creator as they write the story, create the characters, choose the music/sound effects, upload backgrounds (sets), and ultimately publish their work. The product is aimed at young adults, and most of the user-generated writing comes from these young adults who grow up watching teen angst films and teen drama television series. They know what they like, what their peers would like as well, and they use the platform to tell a story, engage with others, and learn what it takes to create an original tale. Users create and manage forums and Youtube channels dedicated to Episodes where they talk about coding, troubleshooting, writing/storytelling techniques, and even request assistance from other artists, leading to maximum collaboration, all happening online. Users are gamers, writers, producers, audience, and critics in one platform, rating and commenting on each other’s works. They also interact with one another by having their characters break the fourth wall and giving the audience the choice option on various scenarios, from choosing the style of clothing a character would wear or influencing their response to a situation. Proving once again that reading and writing have become more communal, collaborative, and interactive. Taking the Episodes’ tools, I decided to play with Miller’s original work and craft an original tale inspired by The Crucible.

In ISS Salem, Abigail Rosado, Mary Smith, and Betty Parris are young women of color. Instead of just clever young women full of teenage angst, they are part of an elite security force called The Salem’s Pythoness. Living onboard a ship in the future, instead of the 1500s Massachusetts town, the other characters are also very different than their original Puritan counterparts. For example, Reverend Parris is an Asian female Captain of the ship and the mother, not the aunt, of Betty, Reverend Hail is a black female Lieutenant and in charge of the Pythoness, and John Proctor is Joanna Proctor, the Chief Mate and second in command, she is also married to Chief Engineer Emil Proctor. Besides their ranks and the setting, Episodes allowed me to “cast” people of different shapes and sizes into roles usually portrayed by white, “skinny,” or “athletic” people. Besides gender and color, I also made Ann Putnam a pet mother. She is the first to suggest the ship has “aliens” who eat her cats instead of a town full of “witches” who murdered her children. The most significant change is the ending because even though Science officer Robert (instead of Rebecca Nurse) couldn’t figure it out, there was a cat-eating alien on board! Readers do make choices on characters’ reactions, but they also choose if the real culprit gets to leave freely or ultimately gets caught.

At the beginning of this experience, I was very focused on capturing the essence of The Crucible, which is, in itself, an allegory for the 1950s Macthysm. I wanted a high school tale of tragic love, a secret affair, and an incident that sparked accusations and betrayal. Due to the time-constrained and the learning curve that is Donacode, I had to forego my idea of telling the story with its symbolizing and metaphors. Instead, I embraced the platform, its limitations such as characters’ reactions, backgrounds, props, costumes, inside Ink and limelight (style choices), and its advantages such as character race. I did not write a profound and moving tale with hidden symbols. I used the themes in Miller’s play and hid “easter eggs” for those who have read/seen the original play. Through this experience, I’ve also concluded that Episodes could be a great digital pedagogical tool.

The biggest takeaways from “playing” with this theatrical play in such a way are the interactive opportunities and community engagement. It was a wonderful experience to see so many young people, particularly women, creating and sharing, helping one another publish a great story. Even though my story did not have as many interactive choices, I felt like I was writing this communally. The choices I did make and those I included in the story were influenced by the information I found in the forums and youtube videos. Though my retelling will never be on the big screening, this story will live and be replayed repeatedly on mobile phones everywhere.

Resources:

BÉRUBÉ, MICHAEL, et al. “Community Reading and Social Imagination.” PMLA, vol. 125, no. 2, 2010, pp. 418–425. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25704442. Accessed 20 Dec. 2020.

“History of CYOA.” Chooseco LLC, 2020, www.cyoa.com/pages/history-of-cyoa.

Lui Alan, (2013). From Reading to Social Computing. Literary Studies in the Digital Age An Evolving Anthology.

Price, Leah. What We Talk about When We Talk about Books: the History and Future of Reading. Basic Books, 2019.

“Witches” at Play

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Maggi Delgado

If Doing Things with Novels course taught me anything, readers will find the best way to consume amazing stories. One of my favorites that has been told in different ways is Authur Miller’s 1953 play, The Crucible. This tale inspired by the Salem witch trials is the perfect balance of drama and intrigue that would be great to experience through the storytelling application Episodes.

Created in 2013, the storytelling platform comprises over eighty professionals working in technology, television, publishing, and games. Along with community writers, the mobile application allows users to be immersive in engrossing and highly dramatic stories. The consumers play multiple roles here: producers: as they have the ability to contribute stories and plotlines, users: as they interact with the application, and readers: as they peruse through the story presented. The stories have images and text, and they are presented almost as text messages conversations. Users/readers can either read through the juicy drama or partake in action and choose what happens next.

Being a tale full of intrigue, mystery, tension, and drama, The Crucible seems to be the perfect story for this medium. The play has many memorable characters and plotlines that can be recreated on this application. This exercise also can be a possible pedagogical tool that can engage students in reading the original material. The application is already accessible through both IOS and Android application stores. The interface is easy to navigate, especially for those with experience choosing your own adventure or the SIMS game.

Through my retelling called Witches at Play, I’ll bring Abigail, John, Tibuta, Ann, and many other memorable characters to this modern way to interact and retell a classic. As a creative, I’m excited to use this modern platform to create a choose-your-own-adventure story. As an educator, I’m even more excited to see how can Episodes assist in teaching language, storytelling, world, and character-building but also overall understanding of the major plotlines, themes, and motifs in The Crucible.

Work Cited (in progress):

“Episode Interactive.” Episode, Warner Bros, 2013, home.episodeinteractive.com/about.

Miller, Authur. The Crucible. Penguin Books, 1976.

Class readings:

What we Think About When we Talk about Books – Leah Price

Playable Media and Textual Instruments – Noah Wardrip-Fruin

Persuasive Games – BogostIan Wright Will

Annotating Jeans Toomer’s Cane

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Maggi Delgado

The Office Gingers decided to use pop culture references to bring insights and to further understand Jean Toomer’s iconic novel, Cane. The annotations are filled with paintings, photos, music, films, and a colorful look at Toomer’s world and possible inspiration and influence over specific sections, scenes, and vivid images throughout his piece. The 1920s was a time of transition, innovation, and a cultural boom for African American artists. Therefore we noticed and took notes of motifs and how artists took inspiration from one another.

I took on Karintha, Reaper, November Cotton Flower, and Becky. Karina and Becky spoke to me as an intersectional feminist, and through that lens, I noticed the stark contrast in the way women were viewed, perceived, and portrayed at the time (and frankly even know.) For Karintha speaks to the desire to obtain a woman (even at a young age), I utilized a photograph by African American Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee. Zee focused on portraits, and one in particular Untitled, 1924 piece showcases a young woman in flapper wear. The photograph takes on the essence of what a woman like Karintha might have looked like when Toomer published this piece (1923). The Flapper was young, beautiful, sassy, and carefree. Women’s loose clothing style at the time allowed for more freedom in what she did, such as sports, driving, and riding horses, as well as the freedom to move her hips and dance. I also included Juanita Cooper, an African American actress who was part of one of the first race films, 1921 ‘s Right of Birth. She also exemplified the flapper girl style of the decade. Moving on to Becky, this tale reminded me of a much earlier work, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. While Karintha objectified a woman, Becky shames women, especially those who are unwed mothers like Hester in Hawthorne’s piece. Is as if Toomer moves a bit forward with Karintha, embracing the questionable morals of the time and speaking about a woman’s body, then takes a step back, back to puritan times where women were shunned and isolated from their communities for various sins, including single motherhood and interracial relationships.

In the more poetic sections November Cotton Flower and Reaper, I took inspiration from the cotton industry’s historical changes at the time. For November Cotton Flower, I choose to showcase this industry’s importance in the 1920s through two songs, one by Bessie Brown entitled, Song from the Cotton Field (1925-1929), and the other by Brook Benton, Boll-Weevil (1961). Brown’s song is an emotion representing the black slaves who worked in cotton fields. Once enslaved, some were renters and landowners in the 1920s. The poem also mentions the Boll-weevil, an insect that destroys the cotton. In the 1920s, this animal migrated from Mexico to the United States, and with it came the destruction of many crops and fear of production loss by those who owned and cultivated cotton. Many songs have been written about this beetle during the 1920s, including Mississi Cotton Boll – Weevil Blues by Charley Patton. Brook Benton’s 1950’s song Boll-weevil may not be part of Toomer’s time but the catchy and popular tune is all about this pest and the damage it caused the cotton farmers. Another important aspect of the farming industry in the 20s was the rise and evolution of machinery and other technological tools available to farmers, such as tractors instead of individuals having to “reap” the crop with a scythe. Game designer Jakub Rosalki knows all about this as he imagined an alternative 1920s in Iron Harvest. I noted a digital rending of one of his games to represent this shift in production, process, and mechanism that loomed over the roaring 20s farmers.

Though our plans to use the annotation tool Manifold did not work to our annotation (multimedia heavy), Hypothes.is proved to be a solid and versatile tool to showcase both text and multimedia. The tool’s simplicity allowed us to focus more on the content instead of how to use the tool itself. Hypothes.is gave us freedom and ease of use, letting our colorful annotation shine while also bringing essential insight to Toomer’s unique storytelling and writing styles.

Thinking ahead by looking to the past

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Maggi Delgado

While reading Vannevar Bush’s piece As we May Think, I couldn’t help but recall Leonardo Davinci’s famous notebook collection, Codex on the Flight of Birds. In the 1500s, the renaissance man stetcked flying machines that couldn’t be constructed/properly executed until the 1900s. Though I’m more of a secretive notetaker myself, this shows that nowhere is it more important to preserve and share one’s notes/thoughts than in the area of STEM. Yes, we can also credit science fiction writers for other human-made inventions like Jule Vernes’ under the sea and flying machines that inspired the submarine and the helicopter, but it’s the experimental logs and notes from women and men in science and technology that takes an idea and transforms it into reality.

“Science has provided the swiftest communication between individuals; it has provided a record of ideas and has enabled man to manipulate and to make extracts from that record so that knowledge evolves and endures throughout the life of a race rather than that of an individual.”
Vannevar Bush, As We May Think

We have an enormous capacity to capture and store information (notes, logs, etc.) through digital tools and machines. However, it takes more than just that to use the notes its full capacity and make something out of them. With all of the methods we have now to preserve even the most miscellanies of notes, we must also consider accessibility and agency. Not everyone has the ability to read, interpret, and develop/carry forward important information. We have digital archival tools like the WaybackMachine and DH projects such as the bookshelf of W. Ross Ashby’s Journey that try their best to capture at least some of our history digitally, but are these methods of preservation enough?

The article left me with these questions: Are we doing our best to preserve important records to be used by others later? Most importantly, who is in charge of preserving these, and what is considered “worthy” of archiving? Whose notes are we allowed to read, and who’s being educated/trained to read and transcribe these notes? And lastly, are we thinking too much in the future instead of taking note of what’s happening now and repairing our systems before forging ahead?

Editing the retelling of Bartleby, the Scrivener

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Maggi Delgado

As the editor for The Office Crew audiobook project, I was committed to adding an extra layer of complexity to the already intricate short story of Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville. Our three readers randomly assigned themselves their favorite bits, and those were then sent to me, the editor. I used the reader’s voices as a guide to set the mood and tone.

The Voices:

Using Adobe Audition editing software, I compiled the voices. First, Ostap’s reading, showcasing the setting and establishing the story, Lisa’s dialogue between all the men in the office, and Semon’s take on the narrator’s inner monologue. Due to his repetitive dialogue and machine-like actions, we collectively decided on a robotic voice for Bartleby. To achieve this, I used an effect called flanger; I boosted the male voice enhancer and stripped the audio of any “noise.” The effectively made Lisa’s voice cold, distant, and mechanical. I also played with the narrator’s inner turmoil. For this, I took the audio Montage already filtered through a program and enhanced the audio piece with convolution reverb effects like memory space and infinite tunnel. These gave the narrator’s voice an echo, an effect that proved fantastic for “inner thoughts.” Through these distinct voices, listeners, unlike the readers, are given a 3-dimensional narrator.

The SoundEffects:

After editing the voices, I added sound effects by foley artists. In my Youtube Creative library, I found sounds like: walking on wooden floors, writing on paper, writing with an inkwell, newspapers, and opening/closing drawers. I combined these via a processed called “mix paste,” which combines selected sounds into one “mixtape” the individual I did the same process for ambient sounds like horses, cobble streets, distant voices, and walking on roads. Both mixes added to the sense of setting both inside and outside of Bartleby’s office.

The Music:

Music gives meaning to pieces by setting the tone and pace for the story. For Bartleby, I debated between two styles: one more upbeat and wacky and another more soft and sad. When Ostap’s voice came in, describing the setting, and the wacky office characters like Turkey and Gingernut, I choose the piece entitled English Country Garden was perfect for reflecting this. It also gave the story a sense of pace, and it made, at least in my opinion, the narrator a bit more likable and relatable. This music also added to the sense of weirdness, awkwardness, and mystery surrounding the office. Once we moved to the darker, more somber setting of the tombs, I changed the music to Allègro. Allègro altered the tone of the piece, foreshadowing Bartleby’s quiet end. It also added to the sadness we can infer in the narrator’s voice when he learns of Bartleby’s previous job.

Final Thoughts:

For the final presentation, I used the Headliner App to add the final touch: a visual representation of the sound waves. Overall my experience in sound editing and podcast production proved to be a great asset in piecing together this amalgamation of voices and sound. Is this collaborative workflow that separates the audiobook from the written book. Here we can literally hear not just the individual voices, but each person’s idea and interpretation of the text given Melville’s work new life and style. This adventure reminded me of Orsen Welles’ 1938’s War of the Worlds’ radio play. Adding sound effects and music grounded the tale, engaging the listener, and creating an immersive experience and a rollercoaster of emotions (even if Bartleby didn’t have any).

The Infamous War of Worlds Broadcast

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Maggi Delgado

For this week’s audio project, I didn’t go too original. I choose the original 1938 broadcast radio for World of Wars by Orsen Welles and the Mercury Theater. The ensemble of cast/characters, audio producers, and technicians retold the story of the fictional alien invasion and the unnamed human survivor written by famous science fiction novelist H.G. Wells. The audio adaptation by Howard Knoch changed the story from the original English town to a town in New Jersey, here in the US. Another alteration took place at the beginning of the broadcast for a more dramatic yet realistic effect over the radio. The change consisted of fictional news bulletins that interrupted regular programming. These reported on the events taking place during the invasion. It was supposed to play out as if it was happening right now.

Though the original broadcast didn’t reach a substantial amount of people, the legend of it provoking panic and total evacuations of its listeners after thinking the broadcast/invasion was “real” is a wild and overly exaggerated tale all media students learn about in Media 101. The point of telling us media scholars about this “event” is to demonstrate the power and reach of the media, a great story, and of course, an excellent storyteller (both Wells and Welles).

I enjoy science fiction and horror, but I prefer these in the audiovisual medium. Though the novel, War of Worlds, is well written, there’s no doubt that’s a great story; I can empathize with the impact, engagement, and entertaining factor that it has in the audio realm. What’s great about the written word is that readers can take their time with the material; they can put it down if it becomes too overwhelming. Readers can also look back through the pages and recall details or confirm doubts. Listeners, on the other hand, are taken on a wild ride of audio sound effects. In this case, for example, the urgency in the actors’ voices and the rhythmic tick-tock of a clock added to the listener’s engagement. However, at that time, if you missed vital information or the name of a place or thing, you would be lost. In order to enjoy the story, one must have great attention and listening skills. This is why SOME folks that missed the introduction to the piece, tuned in during the middle of the broadcast, lost and inferred that an actual invasion was taking place!

LISTEN HERE

Thoughts on Reading Groups – Blog Post #1

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Maggi Delgado

As an adult, I prefer the comfort of reading alone, making annotations, and developing my own conclusions before discussing a book/story with others. This wasn’t always the case. Growing up, as a Latina immigrant and ESL student, nothing made me happier than reading in a large group. I prefer listening to my English teachers pronounce the words the proper way, I liked following along on the page, and of course, participating in the collective: wow! gasp! what?! with my fellow classmates. When I was in 7th grade, I attended a struggling public school in the Bronx. There, English and reading, in general, were taken as a joke. That all changed when a new sweet but stern English teacher came along and challenged us all to read together: To Kill A Mockingbird. She refused not to challenge us intellectually because we were ESL students, nor did she gave up on us when she was warned about our tough group. This was the first time in my public school experience that an entire class full of the rowdiest, loudest, easily distracted ESL students, not only listened and participated but collectively immersed themselves into a story. We even refused to go to lunch until we found out the verdict during the court scene! Linking this anecdote to our reading of Leah Price’s book What We Talk about When We Talk about Books, this amazing English teacher didn’t follow the prescribed curriculum for our class based on preconceived notions about who had the right to read this American classic or who had the intellectual capabilities to understand it and appreciate it. She took a chance, and we read the same book as the high English performers in our school.

As a writer, I should love reading/writing groups, no? Well, as much as I learned a lot from them as a student, as a professional, I see them as elitist, always trying to box people in. This is especially true online. I felt empowered and as part of the creation process when I started writing fan fiction. Like Alan Lui’s article (From Reading to Social Computing) suggests I was part of this Web 2.0, and I loved it! However, in other sites like Twitter, and even Goodreads, I didn’t feel like part of the reading/writing community that I once loved. Web 2.0 also allowed for one single thought, sentence, one piece of dialogue, not only be overly analyze but attacked from thousands of bots and faceless handle/usernames. One of your comments might be liked and commented on by a “regular Joe” who also enjoyed reading the epic tale. But this same comment will also receive a disturbingly aggressive response from an elitist bibliophile who believes, similar to the students in the Community Reading and Social Imagination article, that tale was “too imaginative” or “too unrealistic.”

For this reason, I was content reading the epic fantasy tale of Harry Potter, on my own. I never read it as a young child, but as an adult, I had the opportunity to read the first four books on paper, and the last three books via a free PDF and free audio narration. This mixture of these reading utensils allowed me to escape to a magical world while on my commute. I had this intimate yet communal experience similar to that from the 7th grade. I listened to a great narrator, I followed along with the page, and occasionally had auditable gaps! It’s a series I cherish. Strangers of the different ethnic groups, socioeconomic backgrounds, and even different intellectual levels came up to me while on my commute. They not only to wish me luck on my reading journey but also to foster a passionate conversation that I wouldn’t be able to have online. I guess reading while on train/commuting is the best of both worlds for me.

DH 720 Fa 20 Doing Things with Novels

course site for ENGL 720, Textual Studies in the Digital Age, Fall 2020

Author Archives: Maggi Delgado