Author: Annie Swafford

Questions to Ask About Locations

~ Annie Swafford

Are you unsure about how to analyze the significance of locations in a story?  Try answering these questions:

  1. Are there many or few place names in the story?
  2. Are most of the locations real or fictional? Is there a pattern?
  3. Is the description of the area realistic or has it been fictionalized? Why?
  4. Does each location have a similar number of pages dedicated to it?
  5. What is discussed at each location? Is there a pattern to what is discussed where?
  6. Are there connections between a location and the theme of the story at that location?

Welcome!

~ Annie Swafford

Welcome to “Virtually London”! This class uses digital humanities–the practice of using digital tools for scholarly purposes—to study London through the literature of the Victorian era (1830-1900). We will use digital archives to examine Victorian poetry alongside paintings, digitally map the paths of characters throughout London in Victorian novels, and build a digital archive of Victorian LGBTQ writers. The course will show the vibrancy and multifaceted nature of the Victorian period through an interdisciplinary approach that will appeal to those interested in English, History, Sociology, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Course Materials:

All readings except for Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop can be found online through the course website.

Levy’s novel can be found in the bookstore, can be purchased online in print, PDF, and ePub format or Kindle format.