Module Project 2 & Writing Assignment 2

October 26th, 2015

Module Project 2 & Writing Assignment 2:

Distant Reading

The goal of this project is to give you hands-on experience of identifying patterns in texts and images with the aid of digital tools and help you understand better the strengths and limits of “distant reading.” Choose one from the following two options.

Option 1: Distant Reading of Texts

Choose two sets of texts (or two texts of considerable length). Create a visualization for each set of texts with one of the Voyant tools (such as Cirrus and Links), and then read these texts (or a sample of them, if they are too long) in the traditional way. Reflect on how you understand the texts differently when reading them “distantly” (i.e., with the aid of visualization) and in the traditional way. Share your visualizations and reflections with the class in a short presentation, and report your reflections in a short essay.

The presentation should be 3-minute long. The essay is expected to be 3 pages in length, typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and proofread for errors of grammar and spelling. Include citations in Chicago/Turabian format.

Option 2: Distant Reading of Images

Choose two sets of images. Create a visualization using ImagePlot, and then study these images in the traditional way. Reflect on how you understand the images differently when studying them with ImagePlot and in the traditional way. Share your visualizations and reflections with the class in a short presentation, and report your reflections in a short essay.

The presentation should be 3-minute long. The essay is expected to be 3 pages in length, typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and proofread for errors of grammar and spelling. Include citations in Chicago/Turabian format.

Important Dates:

  • Oct 8: Visualization and presentation due in class. Prepare a simple PowerPoint with your visualizations and submit it to the online drop box by 2pm.
  • Oct 15: Concept map due. Submit a copy of your concept map to the online drop box by 2pm; and bring another copy (digital or printed) to class for discussion.
  • Oct 20: First draft due. Submit it to the online drop box by 2pm, and bring printed copy to class.
  • Nov 2: Final draft due. Submit to the online drop box by 5pm.

For this project, you may, but are not required to, choose texts and images from those listed in the Datasets page of the course website.

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