Evaluating the class, and the project, and the everything.

How does one begin to evaluate a group project honestly, in a place where the entire group can see it and know exactly who said it? Perhaps timidly, or with only praise. It can be difficult to be honest when your anonymity is taken from you. It is as Oscar Wilde said, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."

So with that in mind, when it comes to this project I will say what Slaughterhouse Five's protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, desired to have on his Tombstone: 

I admit it, I am being facetious. This project had its ups and downs. There were our moments of triumph, such as when the first edition of our eBook found its way onto our Kindles and we were able to read a collective work by all of us for the first time. It was an amazing moment. We also had struggles with timeliness, and struggles with formatting. I am guilty of both, and yet the project wasn't a total disaster. So if you are reading this from a future class struggling to get through your eBook project, keep good faith. You can make it, even if you screw up a few times.

If I had any advice to give to those who will embark on a similar journey in the future, it would be this: When the member of your team who is working with getting the eBook properly formatted tells you that some people have formatting errors, never assume that it isn't you. In fact, do the opposite. Assume it's you. Check and double check. It's probably you, until proven otherwise. Trust me, you will save them headaches from bashing their head into the wall. Additionally, get your stuff done on time. I understand that semesters are hectic. Do your best to be timely. However, I offer a caveat: If you truly need the extra time, talk to your professor and your group. Find a solution. Figure it out. You're not in it alone. 

Of course, this brings us to a few new questions. With all of the chaos that comes from doing a group project of this scale, is it actually worth the effort? We were asked, back when I was actually writing these words, whether or not group projects are just chaotic messes or if they are worth the effort. The answer, obviously, is "yes." They are both. They're pretty chaotic and messy, and near the end of the semester you might want to pull your hair out. But if everyone participates, tries to bring some kind of order to the chaos, and is focused on the end goal, you can make something amazing. And then the chaos and the struggle was all worth it. They say that nothing worth doing is easy. The same applies to projects like this. 

We were asked if the project removed us from literary study, or if it enhanced our literary study in some ways. Again, the answer is "yes." We were, in a way, forced to put on a very particular lens through which to study the literature we read. In that way, we were somewhat removed. And yet, the lens that was chosen is an important one and one that is not often explored. In that way, our study of literature was enhanced. 

Of course, there comes the question of what the long-term effects will be of our project. Will there be any at all? To this I answer: I have no idea. What we did is small. It's not backed by a major publisher. Since we're students, a lot of the major players in the world of literary criticism may simply scoff at our attempts. But we may reach the students. We may be able to reach those who are studying and who will one day be the major critics. The fruits of this labor won't be seen immediately. It may take years. We may only influence one or two people who end up becoming respected critics. And those one or two people may expand upon this work. Those one or two may become a dozen. And then 50. Then hundreds. It may take decades for the effects of this book to be felt, and even then we may never know that we were the spark that caused the flame. But of course, that doesn't make the project any less important. It just makes it an even nobler work, and worth even more than we esteem it to be worth now.