Sonnet Transformation:
This assignment asks you to choose a sonnet, read and annotate it, and conceptualize a digital presentation that will convey a particular interpretation. You will divide the sonnet as you wish, select images and music that convey a particular meaning to you, and design the layout, including selecting the text and effects.
The instructions below are for PowerPoint, but you may also use i-Movie, Pinnacle Studio, or any other digital format of your choice to present your sonnet.
Steps:
1. Choose your sonnet.
2. Read your sonnet several times, thinking about what it means overall. Do any particular images come to mind? Music?
3. Look at the parts of the sonnet. Shakespeare's sonnets naturally divide into quatrains, but are there other groups of meanings?
4. Put each text grouping onto a separate slide in PowerPoint [click here for a basic PowerPoint tutorial].
5. Think about the images you want to associate with each text grouping. Some excellent sites: Google Images; Flickr; American Memory Collection.
6. Put your slide show together: add the pictures to your slides; think about backgrounds and transitions
7. Decide how long you want each slide to show (normally 3-4 seconds). For PowerPoint, click under the “Slide Show” menu to “Slide Transition,” then choose “Advance Slide Automatically,” and select the number of seconds you want each to show.
8. Add music and bring in the cd or music file. [Click here to find out how to add music]
9. If you're using PowerPoint, save the music and presentation together in a PowerPoint Package (choose "save as PowerPoint Package").
10. Be prepared to discuss why you made the choices you did in class.
11. Send the transformed sonnet package to my dropbox in Blackboard.
Examples:
from Hamlet (PowerPoint: music not included).
Want to hear the music, too? Here it is as a zip file.
Flash Examples:
Deena Larsen, “Firefly”
Digital Poetry, Visual Media
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