February 3
February 17
S-A papers due prior to the beginning of class, submitted to your Dropbox folders.
As we read Hayles' Electronic Literature, we will be learning new theoretical concepts that help us make sense of works of electronic literature. In an attempt to apply those concepts, we will write three short Summary Analysis (S-A) papers.
Paper Assignments
Paper 1 (2/3)
Define Hayles' concept of "intermediation," and use it to conduct an analysis of Stuart Moulthrop's Reagan Library.
Paper 2 (2/17)
Hayles says that electronic literature "revalues computational practice." Summarize what she means by this phrase and use this idea to analyze Emily Short's Glass
Keep the following things in mind as you write your S-A papers:
Summary
The summary section can be no longer than 250 words in the three short papers. Fairly and adequately summarizing a theoretical concept is a difficult task, especially when space is limited. The summary section of S-A papers should very concisely and carefully provide a summary of Hayles' theoretical concept. Please note that you are providing a summary of a particular concept and not the entire chapter. Because your summaries are limited to 250 words, you won't be able to mention every single point the author makes. Your job is to decide what's important and to provide a reader with a clear, readable, fair summary of the concept. While you may decide to provide direct quotations of the author, you will need to focus on summarizing the author's argument in your own words.
Analysis
The analysis section can be no longer than 500 words in the three short papers. In the analysis sections of these papers, you will focus on applying the theoretical concept described in the summary section. You will use the concept you've summarized to explain how a piece of electronic literature works, and you will explain how one of Hayles' concepts allows us to make sense of this piece of literature. Just as Hayles does throughout the book, you will provide a close reading of a piece of literature (we will study examples in class).
While I will not be grading your papers, I will be providing feedback. Here is what I will be looking for:
* Is your paper formatted correctly (double-spaced, observes the word limit, name in upper-left-hand corner)?
* Does your summary fairly and concisely summarize Hayles' theoretical concept?
* Have you used your own words to summarize the concept?
* Does your analysis use Hayles' theoretical concept to explain and interpret the assigned work of electronic literature?
* Have you devoted the appropriate amount of space to the two sections of the paper? Remember that the word counts I provide are just guides (not strict word limits), but also remember that both summary and analysis have to be adequately addressed in the paper.
* Is your paper written effectively and coherently with very few grammatical errors?
* Was the paper turned in on time? (Reminder: I do not accept late work.)