"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't being said" (Shannon L. Alder).

All excellent questions. All things I didn't think I would have to care about... until I did.

Having enrolled in this class, I had expected it to be like every English class I've had prior--full of writing assignment, papers, and book analyses (oh my!), but that was not the case. We were told we weren't going to write any essays which I immediately thought was strange. No essays in an English class? Weird. But it got weirder. 

The emphasis of this class was to focus on how sounds and images impact a "reader's" experience with an essay. Boostlit aims to challenge the convention of a black-on-white essay and shifts the focus from words, syntax, and diction to sound, emotion, and perception. We wanted to focus on how specific soundscapes impacted a listener's experience after our first assignment was to reflect on one ourselves.

It's amazing the difference hearing something makes versus seeing it. The audio essay we listened to by Steph Ceraso was about her move from the countryside to the city. On paper, it doesn't sound to interesting but to hear what she heard--what really defined the transition for her--changed the perspective. To read "the chirping cicadas" is one thing but to hear them is another. To listen to a story full of layered of sounds that create this unique environment is truly the most intimate experience I have ever had with an essay.

We were tasked with the recreation of this experience. Our task was to layer sound upon sound so that they complemented each other and this franken-soundscape flowed with the topic.

These Boostlit assignments range from a literary soundlist based on Hamlet to a multimodal and sound-oriented interpretation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. 

I. Annotated Soundlist

II. Personalized Audio Essay

III. Screen-recorded E-poem

IV. Final E-poem

V. The Sounds of The Road Video