Computers and the Poetics of Randomness

As we recover from the unexpected long weekend and return to our now-revised schedule, we’ll pick up a conversation on Monday, September 17 with some more Python and a conversation about the ideas Hartmann raises in chapters 3 and 4 of Virtual Muse.

This post has some reminders about what you should be doing in order to be fully prepared for class tomorrow and in order to make good progress toward completing your second project.

Python

First, review the suggestions from my previous post about what you should be focusing on learning with Python. To re-iterate: I’ll explain and demonstrate some things in class, but you’ll learn much better if you figure these things out yourself. That’s not to say I expect you to have mastered these concepts when you walk into class on Monday – just put some effort in on your own.

Virtual Muse

Read and be prepared to discuss the content of chapters 3 and 4 of this book on Monday. To help guide your preparation, here are some examples of the sort of question I will pose:

Chapter 3

• What is a Sinclair ZX81?
• How is a poetry composer (or poet) like a painter?
• What does Hartmann mean when he write, “we draw the clearest constellations from the fewest stars”?
• Why is randomness so difficult to explain philosophically?
• What is the relationship between randomness and discovery?
• How does randomness as an element in composition change the relationship between the reader, the writer, the program, and the poem?

Chapter 4

• Why are computers well-suited for certain tasks that are (possibly) useful for literary criticism, but (apparently) not others?
• Why is counting sometimes useful in a scholarly sense? And which characteristics of a text can be enumerated?
• Why are humans so much better at visual pattern recognition than computers (at least so far)?
• What is “meter”? What is “lineation”?
• Why do writers sometimes need a jolt, and how have writers sought that help before computers?

Your Project

I’ve moved the due dates for this project ahead by one class day, so this is now due Monday, September 24. You should start brainstorming ideas now so you can start implementing them this week.