Dear reader/watcher/listener/consumer,

As a senior English major and Creative Writing minor, I've read and written a lot of a diverse literature. I've never been very tech savvy and there hasn't been much mention of it in my classes beyond postmodern characters bemoaning their TV-deadened souls. I've only tweeted thirteen times in my life and all but two were for this class. However, I believe in the power of literature, and I do not believe that to be limited to the paper page, like any art in the twenty-first century.

The web-writing revolution is more than e-books and instant journalism, but a whole new way of stirring emotions, amalgamating ideas, and explaining a thought. Whether it's a podcast or a mashup music video, a multi-modal work says something more than just words. There can be new dramatic irony, new emphases, more translations. You can share and edit it easily. It's more accessible, and people can usually comment and build on it as they wish.

Sometimes I struggled in this class. I'm a perfectionist, and a perfectionist learning how to use two new applications is going to have to sacrifice a few things. I often found myself with the problem of having too much information, a typical internet-user issue. Why use this clip and not the other? Why not put in both songs? Why not use this animation? A lot of the artistic agency was restraint; learning to write less, and be very deliberate in choices.

But I found myself writing with an abandon and speed that I couldn't find on paper. Even in analyses, I was able to have new goals: to haunt the reader with this image, or tie a connection through this song's swell. These are not usually formal options in college, and breaking out from the double-spaced Times New Roman paper was very freeing.

I hope you enjoy my portfolio, listed below. Since the soundlist needs its own text page and the audio essay needs one for its long transcript, they each have separate "Author's Corner" pages that talk about my decisions and intentions for the works.

I hope you enjoy, and are inspired in both ideas and craft!