Lab Report #7

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16/16-h/16-h.htm

-The story of a boy named Peter Pan, an orphan or lost boy who now lives in Neverland. In this tale, he brings a trio of siblings Wendy, Michael, and John with him to Neverland where they encounter the rest of the lost boys, Captain Hook and his pirates, mermaids as well as other magical elements that make up Neverland. It deals with themes of: adolescence; abandonment; children; growing up/aging; abandonment; trust.

-Characters: Peter Pan; Wendy Darling; John Darling; Michael Darling; Mr. Darling; Mrs. Darling; Nana; Tinker Bell; Captain Hook; Smee; Tiger Lily; Lost Boys

-Key terms: British novel; English novel; children’s literature; Peter Pan; Neverland; London; pirates; adolescence; children

-Peter, Wendy, and Hook were the three most used terms

Upon entering the entire ebook into Voyant, I did see that some of the most popular terms were similar to the list of terms I came up with: Peter (382 mentions); Wendy (333 mentions); Hook (154 mentions). Other terms that appeared in the visualization that were also on my preliminary list were: John, Michael, pirates, and Nana. Random terms that I did not anticipate seeing in the most frequently used terms included “cried” and “time.”

Regarding the first chapter, the most frequent terms used were Wendy, Darling, and children. Upon reading it, I realized that my understanding and feelings about Moretti’s concept of “distant learning” were accurate. It was fascinating to see so much data and manipulate it with the click of a button. Creating data sets without poring over books for days, even weeks at a time. However, it felt too distant. The data visualizations, though helpful, did not seem to fully capture the nuances of the story, the implied double meanings, and context. It took the complex and made it simple, and analysis does not have to always be so simple and straightforward. Despite illuminating several important terms and ideas, it (still) felt as if the humanities aspect of the analysis grew dimmer.