Digital Woolf
Digital Woolf was a course that I taught at Georgia Tech in the fall of 2013.
A student from the course presented at the International Virginia Woolf Conference and the artist and scholar Suzanne Bellamy also cited the course in her presentation. I have included some sample Mapping Jacob's Room and Woolf Apps projects below. You can see all of the assignments for the course here.
A student from the course presented at the International Virginia Woolf Conference and the artist and scholar Suzanne Bellamy also cited the course in her presentation. I have included some sample Mapping Jacob's Room and Woolf Apps projects below. You can see all of the assignments for the course here.
Mapping Jacob's Room
A selection of maps of Woolf's novel Jacob's Room. To read more about this project, see my article in TECHStyle, "Mapping Jacob's Room."
A selection of maps of Woolf's novel Jacob's Room. To read more about this project, see my article in TECHStyle, "Mapping Jacob's Room."
Chapter 3
Prezi by Monika Bray, Seunghyun Choe, and Tashfia Chowdhury
Prezi by Monika Bray, Seunghyun Choe, and Tashfia Chowdhury
Chapter 9
Map by Laurel Goldberg, Navjot Japra, and Hayley Keadey
Chapter 12
Map by Rukmini Mullapudi, Sam Pack, and Tyler Nguyen
Map by Rukmini Mullapudi, Sam Pack, and Tyler Nguyen
Chapter 13
Map and Caption by Jenna Robinson, Kelly Price, and Alex Perez
Map and Caption by Jenna Robinson, Kelly Price, and Alex Perez
"Chapter 13 is complicated because it shows many different characters on the same day, either on or leading up to the day that World War I begins. This chapter is significant because we learn about how each character views Jacob and the impact Jacob has had on their lives. On our map, the red labels represent places to which the narrator refers from Jacob’s perspective, with a blue line representing the narrator’s own path throughout the chapter. The chapter opens in Hyde Park with Jacob and Bonamy discussing Jacob’s trip to Greece, and follows Jacob until he arrives at the Opera House. The yellow labels represent places referred to from Fanny’s perspective, and the green path indicates where she travels throughout the chapter. In chapter 13, we learn that Fanny can’t stop thinking about Jacob because she loved him. The green labels and red line indicate Clara’s journey throughout the chapter, as she too is thinking about Jacob, even as she walks with another man.
This chapter continues many motifs of the novel, such as the tolling of Big Ben, characters thinking or saying 'Jacob, Jacob,' and a reference to sheep. Tension is created in the chapter as it becomes clear that the war is coming; Woolf creates this using short, abrupt sentences and sudden shifts in perspective. Because this chapter is so disjointed, the map helps the reader pinpoint where each character is and where their paths intersect one another; the main intersection being when Clara thinks she sees Jacob outside the Opera House."
This chapter continues many motifs of the novel, such as the tolling of Big Ben, characters thinking or saying 'Jacob, Jacob,' and a reference to sheep. Tension is created in the chapter as it becomes clear that the war is coming; Woolf creates this using short, abrupt sentences and sudden shifts in perspective. Because this chapter is so disjointed, the map helps the reader pinpoint where each character is and where their paths intersect one another; the main intersection being when Clara thinks she sees Jacob outside the Opera House."
Woolf Apps
Some images of the applications my students envisioned for engaging Woolf's fiction.
Digital Woolf with Google Glass
by Joseph Robinson
"The app will project Glass’s onboard camera, GPS, and internet capabilities to detect when the user is in special situations and respond with appropriate narration using Woolf’s voice. For example, if the app detects the user is on a bus, it could inform the user that 'oh yes, human life is very tolerable on the top of an omnibus in Holborn [or wherever the user may happen to be]' (Jacob’s Room 65). Or, if the user happens to glance at a tree in summer, Woolf would chime in: 'June [has] drawn out every leaf on the trees' (Mrs. Dalloway 8)."
Virginia Woolf Cam
by Nicholas Biasucci
"Virginia Woolf Cam is a photo editing application, where the user uploads a photo from his or her phone. Then using the arrow at the bottom of the application, they are able add a filter effect meant to show how a character from one of Woolf’s novels would view the same scene."
by Nicholas Biasucci
"Virginia Woolf Cam is a photo editing application, where the user uploads a photo from his or her phone. Then using the arrow at the bottom of the application, they are able add a filter effect meant to show how a character from one of Woolf’s novels would view the same scene."
Woolf Positioning System
by Samuel Blumenthal
"This app, the Woolf Positioning System (WPS), serves as a GPS for the novels of Virginia Woolf. The purpose of this app is to allow readers to keep a handy reference as to the physical location of characters throughout Woolf's many novels such as Jacob's Room and Mrs. Dalloway. It accomplishes this by parsing the text for locations such as street names and buildings. All parsed locations on the page are then underlined within the text. At that point, the user can click on any underlined word within the passage to get a satellite image of the location, through the use of Google Maps. The user is also presented with a small, cited fact or two about the location. As an added feature, users of the app are then able to toggle “Street View” mode. Unfortunately, Street View can only show the location as it stands today, rather than how it looked during the time of the novel. Still, the added immersion should prove a benefit to any reader of Woolf's works."
Virginia Woolf and Popular Culture
by McKinlie Ramsey
"Woolf is still an emblem today as a representation of a game-changer, a humanitarian feminist,
and a brilliant yet intimidating writer. The goal of my app is to introduce Woolf to this generation
through a medium they very much understand, pop culture."
