Our proposal is a Digital Humanities (DH) approach that is going to help others understand the text in The Beaver Coat. In clarifying and simplifying it out, our product helps people who have read The Beaver Coat and people who understand better by visualization.
For our proposal, it is a point-and-click visualization program using the different settings of The Beaver Coat.
In sketching out our project proposal, there will be two main settings: the Wolff residence and the courthouse. These settings were chosen because most of the storyline was carried out in these settings. In each of the settings, there will be highlighted items that the user can click on. These will be the important items that appear or are mentioned in The Beaver Coat. Once the item is clicked, the screen is divided into two parts. The left side of the screen zooms in on the object, and the right side of the screen opens a separate window containing a list of page numbers with a snippet of their corresponding quotes referencing that particular object. The user can, then, click on one of the page number/snippet links. The right screen then changes to a pdf version of the book and takes the user within the book to the quote. The quote about the object will be highlighted. (Our program will be based off the purple paperback copy of The Beaver Coat.*)
This point-and-click visualization program is viable and efficient. It's meant to be used as a quick reference. People don't have to flip through the book randomly in search for quotes, nor do they have to remember the story based on which Acts the items or quotes have been in. The pictures of the important items in the setting are meant to "jog the memory" of the users, so they know which item to click on to find the quote. In justifying our choice, not only will our program allow users to easily and quickly locate textual references, but it will also strengthen the users' memories and the users' connections of the important items with the items' stories.
For the interesting aspect, it's similar to the "Explore Harry's Story" section on Pottermore.com in that users can click on items in the settings, but the textual information (quotes) and the setting will be displayed differently. The way we display it will be better. On "Explore Harry's Story", the items are not highlighted for users. Even when the item is clicked on in "Explore Harry's Story", a box containing general or textual information pops up, and the words overlaps with the setting in the background. This section of Pottermore.com is meant to be a game and for entertainment.
However, our program for The Beaver Coat is NOT a game. It is NOT for entertainment because it's meant to be informative. It is meant to be an easy, quick reference based on visualization. That's why the items in our settings will be highlighted. We also decided to divide the screen into two parts so the textual information (quotes) could be displayed in larger font on the right side with its OWN background because it's easier on the eyes. (For example, have you ever had to read white subtitles off a foreign movie when the background of the movie kept getting light and lighter, making those words harder to read?)
However, the program will only narrow in on passages about the object that we the creators think are important. Therefore, the users of the program may not be exposed or highly aware of the rich descriptions of the settings through-out the story unless we are able to depict it well in our graphics and pictures of the setting. Also, since we the creators choose what we think are the important items, we sort of create a bias approach towards the book because it's like we're telling everyone that THIS object is important and THAT object is not. For that reason, does anyone want to pitch in and give us suggestions of what they believe to be the important items?
Ai Lin Chin
Alice Ta
Work Cited
Hauptmann, Gerhart. Three Plays. Long Grove: Waveland Press, INC, 1951. Print.
Rowling, J. K. Pottermore. Computer software. pottermore. Vers. 15.1. Pottwemoew Limited, n.d. Webs
I like your project and hope that it turns out the way you want it too. I agree that this would be a very useful tool to students in literature classes. Found it odd that you felt the need to point out that this was not a game, though I could see how someone who is not fully aware of the purpose of your project could confuse it.
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