Wednesday, June 19, 2013

My Final Draft and How It Came to Be

To really get to the backstory of my paper, we've got to look back about...two years. That's right. Two years ago I began to embark on my journey of utilizing the internet for purposes other than Facebooking. I created my Tumblr and started actively using it. It took a little while, but I started making "internet friends," following people who were doing Cool Creative Things that I cared about, and occasionally doing a few creative endeavors of my own. I gained followers who I could share things with and it was really fantastic to discover this whole creative world on the internet that I had never known existed.

This is the point in my life at which the internet became something more than merely a homework helper or a time waster. After joining Tumblr, the internet became a place that was intertwined with my life.
Around this time I also became a much more active YouTube viewer, particularly watching vloggers. Though their YouTube videos weren't necessarily creative content, most of the vloggers I watched created other things in their "real life" - like YouTuber and bestselling author John Green, for example. YouTube became a place where I could interact with people who I admired, and who were doing Cool Creative Things that I could consume.
Add in some Twitter action, and the internet was a place that was really important to me.



So two years later... I'm in an English class, and we're utilizing the internet in ways I really enjoy. But there's some negative connotations floating around, and they irk me every time I hear them mentioned. There's vague mentions, not necessarily from any one person, of writing on the internet isn't as valuable as writing in print, or the rise of the amateur is bad because look at these annoying people who aren't even good poets, or how dare they put their writing on the internet when it sucks, etc. You get the point - people view work on the internet condescendingly, often with the attitude that it is less meaningful or important than published writing. Well, I just couldn't let that stand. I had already discussed internet works in a few posts, including topics like spoken word, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and the rise of the amateur.

I wanted to write a paper that would defend internet work as valuable while also noting the importance of it in the simple fact that it is more accessible, especially to people who might not take an interest in literary pursuits when not on the internet (i.e. people who aren't going to pick up a volume of poetry in their spare time, but who will read it if it shows up on their Tumblr feed).

I think I did a pretty good job, and because I used the projects and creators I follow as my case studies, I was passionate about my topic.

Here's the full finished paper, for anyone who wants to read it.

New Media’s Literary Expansion: Everyday Accessible
Why do we read? Why do we watch drama performances? Why do we memorize poetry? Why do we consume any form of literature? On the one hand, we do it for entertainment. A comedy that brings us laughter, poetry that helps us relax, a happy ending that helps us to feel hopeful – it is easy to understand why we pursue literature that brings about positive emotions. But what about the other side of literature – the works that lay bare the less joyful aspects of life? It is a bit more difficult to understand why we choose to partake in literature that reminds us of the less than perfect events and endings that exist, so why do we still do so? What do we gain from literature, regardless of the positive or negative emotions that it can evoke from us? The answer is quite simple for anyone who values literature in their life – it allows us to see from the perspective of others, to understand complicated situations in ways that our own personally limited worldview might not provide, to gain greater empathy for others, and by the combination of all of these things, to become better people. If this result can be brought about by the consumption of literary works, then should we really look down at works that are made available by the internet? Fanfiction? We scoff. Poetry in YouTube videos? Sounds questionable. An amateur posting their own work? It must not be of high enough quality if it is not printed on paper. But the truth is that this condescending attitude toward literature in new media is unhelpful to both the creators and consumers of such content. Here is the important part: new media has allowed literature to grow and remain active in many people’s lives, and whether or not the literature made available is of higher or lower quality is inconsequential, as absorbing literature at all is beneficial to the consumers of it. The rise of literary content presented through new media makes it more accessible to people who might otherwise turn away from it.
Since the internet’s inception, it has been providing new platforms with which to share everything in one’s life. The way people interact with their friends, family, and mere acquaintances has been affected by the world wide web, so it is not surprising that the way in which people create and share content is changing as well. From vloggers to poets to actors, the internet has provided a forum for creative growth and expansion. Naturally, a huge part of this is literary in nature. Viewing three differing aspects of creative work, new media has allowed for growth in the way creators present content, and in the way society views and consumes said content, and this growth is inherently beneficial in keeping literature an active part of people’s lives. This new media allows for the creation of new genres and subgenres, new formats, and new levels of experience.
One way new media has expanded is in the rise of the amateur on new media platforms that allow creators to publish their own work. This has allowed for the creation of new genres like “fanfiction,” and has given bloggers, poets, and novelists new ways to present their work to a relatively large audience without the struggle of getting it in print. Does this mean that a vast amount of the work one encounters on the internet will be of novice quality? Undoubtedly. But does that mean it is inherently negative? No. If one views literature as a means of becoming engaged in the lives of others, experiencing greater empathy for those around them, and growing into a generally better citizen of the world, then any exposure to even awful, unrefined, amateur literature proves beneficial for the consumer of it. If people, especially the rising generation, are suffering from a lack of literature in their lives, then the expansion of literary pursuits on internet forums serves an extremely valuable purpose by bringing it closer to their everyday lives and making it more accessible.
One example of the rise of the amateur can be seen in Tyler Knott Gregson, a poet made famous by the popular blogging site Tumblr, on which he publishes typewriter poems and daily haikus on love. While Gregson is an amateur in the dictionary definition of the word (writing isn’t his day job) his work certainly merits the literary respect that many published poets receive. Better still, this amateur has what many published writers still seek – a large and engaged audience. Gregson’s followers “reblog” his work and his daily poetry posts often easily reach thousands of “likes” and “reblogs.” Do we look condescendingly at Gregson, as he pursues what he loves and has succeeded in finding supporters of it? Some people might, but looking from a broader perspective we can see that Gregson success does not only benefit himself – thanks to the unique blogging platform of Tumblr, his work reaches thousands of people who might not otherwise be exposed to poetry regularly. This means that the rise of this amateur is helping keep people engaged in literature, which is the valuable pursuit we are concerned with.  
New media likewise allows older content to be recreated in new ways, as seen in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a modern day adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, in which the story is presented in vlog format on YouTube. The production provides audiences with a new way to connect with a classic story, and teaches the same lessons as the original novel, along with a few new lessons of its own. The audience consists of people who had never read Pride and Prejudice and those who have read it too many times to count. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries was the first of its kind, creating an entirely new subgenre that has yet to be named. Not only is it a modern adaptation, it is also a fictional story conveyed on a medium that was not created with fiction in mind. So do we look condescendingly on this new subgenre of drama? Do we insist that this production is only ruining the classic that is Pride and Prejudice? Some might, but from a broader perspective one can see that The Lizzie Bennet Diaries actually served to make many audience members more engaged in the already classic story. It taught new lessons, had new focuses, and ultimately presented literature in a way that made it accessible in the everyday lives of its viewers.
While new media has also allowed for genres to expand and subgenres to be created, it also allows literature to be elevated to new levels of experience. This is most seen in the expansion of performance poetry, which the growth of has been enabled by online video sites like YouTube. Performance poetry heightens the level of immersion of the listener by drawing them into the poem and allowing them to view the full emotion of the poet performing their work. The act of watching a poet can feel much more participatory than simply reading their words on a page, which allows an entrance for people who might otherwise feel put off by poetry. Performance poetry has also allowed for even more growth within itself, including poems performed by more than one person. The expansion of traditional poetic genres built by new media is beneficial in its access level for consumers. For many, genres like performance poetry bring literature to those who would otherwise not be willing consumers of it. The ability to simply share a link with our friends makes spreading work that a person loves extremely easy, giving people more ways to connect with each other. And if one considers the way poetry, especially performance poetry, allows people to gain insight into the lives of others, then it is easy to see how consuming this particular brand of literature can help people become more engaged and empathetic towards those around them. Do we look condescendingly at the idea that a poem in a YouTube video could be worth our time? Some might, but those who take the time to gain a broader perspective know that even amateurs who step onstage can bring something valuable to the table. Not only is performance poetry now widely accessible thanks to the internet, it is always widely accessible thanks to its own style and platform. A teenager might think of poetry as “overly dramatic words with senseless and pretentious spacing and indenting,” until they watch a video of a poet that makes their eyes water or causes goosebumps to rise on their neck. Reading fifteenth century sonnets and looking for rhyme scheme does not hold appeal for a vast majority, but listening to a person on stage rant about any aspect of their life has the ability to pull a person into their world and keep them there for a minute.
New media has brought about the expansion and growth of literature in both expected and unexpected ways. While some people may look at this growth with condescension, it should actually be valued and praised. The growth of literary pursuits through new media are beneficial to everyone because they have made literature of every quality accessible to those utilizing new media, which is a number that will only grow as the years pass.

Works Cited:

Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, 2006. 440. Print.

August, John. "Johnaugust.com." Web log post. Johnaugustcom RSS. N.p., 1 Mar. 2006. Web. 18 June 2013.


Rubenstein, Grace. "Kids Feel the Power of Poetry in Performance." Edutopia. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2013.

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