Covering the Basics

So as a collaborative team my english class is composing our own ebook based on the Kindle, Amazon, and Goodreads! We are still in the preliminary phases of putting it all together but we were asked to brainstorm and pull up a rough template together of another potential chapter based on our chosen book. I chose "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Click here to view the writing, research and drafting process.

BOOK PART
What general part of our book do you anticipate this chapter falling under?

I think it would work best under how we consume literature in the digital age.

CHAPTER TITLE

Don't Judge a Device by its Cover

TWEETHIS

Although Amazon's Kindle appearance is basic, the simplicity of the device revives the reader's reading experience. 

KEYWORDS

Kindle, Appearance, Smart Phones, Kindle App, Iphone, Ipad, Books, Ebooks

TOPICAL IMAGE

CONTENT PARAMETERS

DIGILITERARY VIA AMAZON-KINDLE-GOODREADS CONNECTION

Amazon's Kindle vs. Kindle App

LITERARY WORK

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

TRADITIONAL REFERENCES - (General Literary, Scholarly)

http://search.proquest.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/1348728211
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=86e50059-e64d-4ae8-aa2f-7882ded3db28%40sessionmgr4002&vid=5&hid=4204&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=82107618

SOCIAL REFERENCES (current conversations, social media, interviews)
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/buy-kindle-kindle-app-android/

CONTENT LAYOUT

When I was thinking of another idea for our ebook and how I could relate it to the the book I chose the common quote from "To Kill a Mockingbird" came into my head,  "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." When we were first required to buy a Kindle for this course I was a little flustered cause I felt like I could already complete the course requirements all on my phone or laptop on the kindle app. However, as I came to understand the Kindle I realized the impact it could have on our learning, and reading and I have grown to love my Kindle as simple as it is! In this digital world we need more simplicity. So I will tie this in with the character of Boo Radley. He is a pretty simple character that no one understand (digital age) but once they know who he really is he just wants to help! 

Let me know what you think!  

The Search

So I have been researching the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee for an e-book my class has been collectively writing  relating the modern digital age with literary works on platforms such as the Kindle, Goodreads, and Amazon. 

While researching there has been quite a few sources and ideas that have struck me and while trying to pin point a clear powerful thesis my mind seems to be running in circles around all this information. THERE IS JUST SO MUCH OUT THERE!
However, one of my ideas is focused on how the digital age is changing things for authors. Now authors are able to sit behind a screen and speak with thousands of fans. This has to have an effect on how they write, or even publicize their book. As an example of this, Harper Lee has announced a sequel to her well-known novel; unfortunately she has received some skepticism if this upcoming sequel is truly her work or if she was pressured into publishing it. I read an article written by Lisa Suhay on EBSCHOhost, and she seemed very unsure of who the true author is, but I also wanted a non-scholarly opinion. This lead me to do some research on Goodreads on "Go Set a Watchman." Some reviewers expressed wariness of the timing, but most had a pretty classic reaction: 

I literally found these images on some of the comments that people left.
Although I would say 90% of commenters had this reaction there was the few who questioned as to why now? The doubt may also lead many to read to see if the sequel reflects Lee's voice and "uncover the mysteries" of the sequel. How wonderful that we can express our doubts and excitement together on Goodreads!

I also thought of a new outlook on Harper Lee. She disappeared for 55 years leaving her fans with nothing, and I was pleasantly surprised to find fan fiction during my research based on "To Kill a Mockingbird." I have not gone through and read a lot of it, and I am sure that most of it isn’t very scholarly. However, I feel that it is an important topic for the digital age because it is becoming increasingly popular. While I was making a rough table of contents for our e-book I recognized that no one had talked specifically about fan fiction, but Jenna had related Cinderella to self-publishing. Are they too similar or would these chapters coincide well?

So that is just a little preface of where my searches have lead me to. It has been exhausting and exciting at the same time to find so much information that I will have to read and find a well-done thesis based on my findings. Let me know what you think!

Thoughts and Brainstorms: To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is a widely known novel that has been picked apart up and down, and it seems like everything has already been said. We as a class are creating our own e-book based on novels that have impacted us, but from a slightly different perspective. We are applying novels to challenges or the uniqueness of how we consume literature from living in the digital age.
Right now we are in the brainstorming phase and so here is a few of my ideas of applications that can be made in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird:

• Readers can follow authors blogs, and even be invited into discussions with the author, but is the consumers voice too loud? Authors could potentially be losing creativity by only writing what readers want to hear. Are prejudices of popular demand overcoming new text? This could be drawn into racism and the unfair court trial in the novel. Is there a reason to fight against what everyone wants?
• What to truly believe… the reviews on Goodreads and especially Amazon can be misleading and it can be frustrating filtering through it all. This could be a connection to Mayella getting beat by her father but Tom getting the blame, although completely innocent. What you see isn’t always what you get type of standpoint. This could also be linked to the recommendations we receive on Amazon and Goodread. This could also be related to Boo Radley in a more positive way and we could get more out of these reviews and recommendations than what we thought. 
• Also Harper Lee is coming out with a SEQUEL (Go Set a Watchman) to To Kill a Mockingbird after 55 years. The time that passed could be due to the skepticism that occurred after her success from her last novel. Will the digital age only worsen the problem and scare writers and their creativity away?
• One main theme of the novel is the loss of ignorance or innocence which could be related to spoilers we could run into accidentally while on Goodreads or Amazon. 

Let me know what you think. I had a hard time just pin pointing one theme. So I know I need help simplifying it all. I’m open to any suggestion! The book is surprisingly applicable to the rising digital literature age.

Moral Teacher

Literature is what has instructed, edified and strengthened the world since the beginning; no matter what the format. It encompasses the good and the bad and can lead us to want to become more than we are. It can become somewhat of a teacher to us. 

I fondly remember the first time I read the classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I enjoyed the character development of young Scout as she undergoes some trials beyond her adolescent understanding. I remember I had felt similar to her in my  own awkward adolescent stages and I can now appreciate some of the deeper life lessons so beautifully written by Harper Lee. She eloquently and bluntly chastens and teaches valuable lessons through a loving father Atticus who properly taught his children.

One of my favorite teachings illustrates the kind of man and father he was, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

Atticus was essentially teaching his children to love without judgment, and have the courage to stand up for what is right. He was a respecter of persons but would stand up for his beliefs: “They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”

Atticus stood up for the underdog, and even fearlessly fought a losing battle until the end because of his noble conscience, and instilled this in his children. It causes us to reflect on our own nature, and how we treat those who are “different” from us. We can change our own skewed perspective of our worst enemy to that of an innocent mockingbird if we come to understand them. In this Atticus strengthened not only his fictionally children morally, but me and I am sure many other readers.

We all together can protect the mockingbirds for as Atticus said, “ Remember it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.”