In Robert Kendall’s digital poem, Faith, I think the biggest thing that I noticed which coincides with what we talked about in class is the aspect of the visual that can be captured much more vividly in the digital realm compared to any other period of literature. The first thing we come across when looking at the poem is the word “logic” literally bouncing off of the title, “Faith,” of which is at the top center in big, elegant font. Soon words fly on to the screen and the first part of the poem appears in different parts of the screen, saying “logic can’t bend this.” While much could be drawn upon the meaning of that statement in a still literary sense, contrasting logic to faith and their respective roles in society etc, I think it’s interesting that Kendall instead uses the digital medium he’s been given to invoke an entirely different meaning. By this he also means that logic literally can’t bend faith, as the words bounce off and faith is the only word that remains completely still. The movement of the words becomes the most important facet of the entire poem. As you click onward, more words continue to fly on the page, words that are very strategically placed upon the page in order to create layers of meaning for each time you click. One comparison I thought of in classic literature is in the use of alliteration. When we come across this in poetry, the first use that I often think of is the audio nature of the words in similar sounding syllables and so forth. But another aspect of alliteration is visual: when we actually see certain words that look similar on the page, we can recognize the importance of them without necessarily having to read them out loud. I think Kendall takes this part of alliteration a giant step further by having the words themselves move in different directions and coincide with the words’ meanings themselves. Another example is in the third layer when we see the words “red,” “winking,” and “neon,” flashing in place and in the next layer when the word “Leap” literally expands in size and moves up as if to jump out and actually take a leap of faith. Thus it’s clear to me now more than ever that the digital realm gives writers a unique opportunity by providing a limitless amount of options to play around with meanings of words in entirely different ways, particularly visually.

“Flight Paths” (http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/pullinger_flightpaths/index.html) is a form of participatory media that allows the audience to not only interact with but create text for the project. It is a “networked novel” detailing the story of two lives both literally and figuratively colliding together. A man who is trying to escape Pakistan falls from a plane onto the car of a woman who is grocery shopping for her family. “Flight Path” describes the different paths that these two characters take (and their paths ultimately collide), yet alternatively illustrates and symbolizes the different paths the story can take based on the reader’s input. The authors include contact information in this series of stories where readers can send their own stories or memories to be added to the ongoing project.

This interactive project speaks to the theory that words constitute meaning through which reality is created. The message or the rhetoric of the piece changes based on the words audience members choose to add to the project. In essence, the audience creates the rhetoric or the meaning of this electronic literature through the stories they input. The authors compile reader’s stories into a coherent message of text, images, and sound for the audience to be fully engrossed in the rhetoric of the piece.

As this project details the narrative of the Pakistani immigrant, the design and music are somewhat dark and foreboding. The images are muted tones of grey, yellow, and black, illustrating the impending incidence. In the next scene, detailing the woman grocery shopping, the images are much brighter with vivid colors. The two stories slowly merge as the man’s text is on one side of the screen and the woman’s is on the other, demonstrating how their paths are about to cross. “Flight Path’s” authors show a proficient understanding in the use of text, sound, and images to create an overall tone, mood, or meaning for the piece as a whole. The rhetoric that is created by the incorporation of text, sound, and images illustrates the inevitability of human paths crossing and the different courses these encounters can take. Ultimately, the audience determines the rhetoric of this project by choosing the course of such encounters and determining the route each character takes.

“Tao”, the digital poem and multimedia project by Alan Sondheim and Reiner Strasser recreate some sense of the spiritual tao. The word means way or path in both a physical sense, as a street a road, and a metaphysical sense, as the path to truth and enlightenment. This second definition has a spiritual reference to Daoism – dao is another spelling of tao – and to other religions like Buddhism which teach a path to enlightenment.

As a matter of history, the music that accompanies the visual and the text is a traditional Japanese folk instrument with roots in China called shakuhachi. Buddhist monks played this flute as a type of meditation, making the instrument part of their spiritual path.

The video is a path as well, in a concrete sense and an abstract one. The parent material of the videos is the same, the camera moves along a road, overlooking a lake and a land mass. With editing, two different videos emerge. The floating form takes a different path with different video filters. This asymmetry equates to the paths of life. These forms are souls or lives. Each starts out similarly in conception and birth, as the forms start in the same position, but change paths as life progresses. This connects with the philosophy of “continuous self invention” present in Daoism. There is no completely correct path.

This idea of self invention also resonates with the interactive portion of “Tao”. The flash player allows the viewer to flip either video image. This re-invention or change of life reiterates the idea that there is no perfect path, but rather many to choose from. Another reading might suggest that the interaction suggests control over life and control over the viewer’s own path.

The poem, more so than the video, suggests the passage of time. The words appear very slowly, especially in comparison to the video. The three lines equate to three parts of life: first birth, then living, and death.

Largely relating to the principles of Daoism and Buddhism, “Tao” as image, text, sound and interaction relates to the tao, both spiritual and concrete, that a soul makes in its life.