Ryan Valenzuela

English 10
Rita Raley
June 14, 2023

It is fair to say that in the past ten weeks the implementation and use of large language
models has been normalized. If even at the start of the term ChatGPT was surprising and
strange, now it seems, at least within the university, that ‘writing with AI’ is already part of
our everyday lives. The still-open debate however is what humans can particularly do with
language that is significant and/or imperfectly emulated. Address the question using at
least two works from the syllabus (they can be either foil or support for your thinking).
1. In recent years the use of large AI language models, such as ChatGPT, have skyrocketed
and made writing easier in many ways for many people. Although the growth of language
models have become very prominent, there are many things we as humans are able to
achieve that these models just can’t. Some aspects of writing that humans are able to
communicate are adding personality and emotion into their writing. This allows for
readers to feel the emotions of the human author and connect to the piece of writing on a
deeper level. Starting the year I had about no experience with ChatGPT, but now I am
able to see the benefits of utilizing this tool, and how you can work hand in hand with it
while still being able to produce your own work. One text from the syllabus that emulates
this idea comes from Joan Didion’s “Why I Write”, where she explains that writing gets
an individual's ideas out and tries to persuade readers why they should listen to the
author. Authors are able to create their own style of writing by using language in a way
that can communicate deeper feelings in a non formulaic way. Another work from the
syllabus that emphasizes this idea is “The Dreamlife of Letters” by Brian Kim Stefans.
We are shown many examples of different interactive images that lead us down a rabbit
hole of short stories/poems. The authors of these writings have created such a piece by
collaborating with AI models, to allow their creativity to flow while still creating
something worth viewing.

Watch a little bit of “MyHouse.WAD – Inside Doom’s Most Terrifying Mod” and explain
how it might fit into our syllabus, relate to what we have read and/or connect to some of the
discussions we have had. Note that the video is about 1h40m but you really only need to
watch a few minutes to understand what it is and what it is doing. In other words, the
question is not asking you to analyze the video but rather to make the connection to our
course.
2. After watching part of the video titled “MyHouse.WAD – Inside Doom’s Most Terrifying
Mod” uploaded by user Power Pak it clearly connects back to our syllabus because of
the style it's in and techniques we’ve seen before. The use of forums, where the mod is
posted, is similar to how we used a discussion forum for evidence to complete our close
 reading assignment. The game mod is very similar to the way the house in “House of
Leaves” is formatted. At first glance we are introduced to the House in the novel as
ordinary on the outside, but soon find out the house is constantly shifting and new rooms
seem to appear out of thin air. The mod we are introduced to in the game “Doom” is
similar to the house from “House of Leaves”, because as we watch the player go through
the map we can see rooms changing in an instant and doorways disappearing as if they
were never there. We also see objectives changing and are shown objects referred to as
‘DoomCutes’. These ‘DoomCutes’ are objects that can be found in real life, but have
been instituted into the game usually in a simplified form. Some of these objects you are
able to interact with which is similar to the way Danielewski adds easter eggs throughout
the novel that keep you engaged adding more to the story for you to uncover.

We have this term thought not only about some of the distinctive properties of four major
literary genres (the novel, poetry, comics, and plays), but also about their capacities—that
is, what they can do particularly well. Other genres, media, and technologies can however
certainly emulate their techniques and effects. In short answer form, outline what you
think would be good examples of this emulation, e.g. ‘X functions like a novel because…’
(where X=whatever you decide makes sense).
3. The four literary genres that we looked at have provided us, the audience, with word
context and stories that captivate readers by relaying the author's feelings and ideas.
These four are very prominent genres that have been around for years and have
distinctive properties that make it what it is. Television shows and movies are newer
forms of media that are also able to emulate these storytelling properties and techniques.
Shows are able to build character development and plot on a much larger scale by
creating a cohesive story where characters are able to fully interact with each other and
build personal relationships that many people can relate to. These characters are able to
show emotion through their actions and mannerisms allowing for audiences to feel
personal connections to the characters. Also with shows there are episodes within a
season, which can almost be seen as chapters in a book or stanzas in a poem. The correct
way to watch a show is from episode one to whatever episode it ends on, kind of how you
would read a novel from left to right or a comic from top to bottom. Another aspect of tv
shows is the background and how it can relay subtle messages such as art in a character's
house that reveals a little about their personality. These subtle clues allow us as the
audience to cast our own theories about these characters and let us interpret what these
tell us about a character.

We have traced an historical arc that extends from the origins of modern literary culture
(the first novels), to the present (when deep reading is said to be no longer the paradigmatic
mode of consuming culture), and into a somewhat-distant future, which could mean
co-writing with computational systems or writing a novel for a library that will only be
open in 100 years. How would you characterize this story: is it one of loss and/or expanding
possibility, or are there other ways to describe it? Use at least two examples from the
syllabus in your answer.
4. These means of writing in the near future can be seen as opportunities of expanding
possibilities and new modes of communication. Although there potentially can be some
loss, imagine all the possibilities of being able to work alongside computational systems.
When authors are able to co author with technology, they can let the language mode or
other media fill out the information and facts, while the author gets to dive deeper into
the text and give a much more thorough analysis of what they are portraying in their
writing. This can be seen in the syllabus through the writing with AI assignment, where I
was tasked with working alongside a language model (ChatGPT) to create a cohesive
piece that explained how a language model can be used efficiently. Another work from
the syllabus that showcases expanding possibilities is the “Future Library” by Katie
Patterson. This is a library that is set to be open in the year 2114, that holds a book for
every year, written by a different author each year. This started back in 2014, so there will
be 100 books in the library when it is finally opened. This can lead to expanding
possibilities because people who are there to witness the opening will be able to
understand writing from the past and how it changed yearly. The authors are able to keep
writing alive and show how writing can be used, but also keep their legacy alive in this
new intriguing library.

We have spent a fair bit of time thinking about the aesthetics of appropriation but what, in
your view, are some of the ethical and political questions that this creative practice poses?
Use at least one example from the syllabus and take this question in any direction you wish.
5. When talking about appropriation the assignment we did on creative plagiarism comes to
mind and how “appropriating” writing has been considered wrong in the past, but I
believe it can be used to relay new meaning to old ideas. Some ethical questions proposed
are whether it is morally right to take other people's works and play it off as some of your
own work, or whether or not they deserve any credit at all. Although these questions can
be taken into consideration, plagiarizing someone's work is not always necessarily a bad
thing. Creative plagiarism isn’t exactly just copying and pasting someone's work, but
rather using an author's work as a base to formulate new ideas that emphasize the existing
notion that has been presented. It's the process of being able to give readers something
new to think about. A work from the syllabus that emulates the idea of appropriation is
the video documentation of the “Shakespeare Machine” by Ben Rubin. Ben Rubin was
able to use William Shakespeare's poems and break them down into two word phrases, on
panels, that give the poems a new direction and meaning. Overall I believe that
appropriation can lead to newer innovative works that engage readers/consumers on a
more thought provoking level.
Your task for this question is to assess ChatGPT’s output below. Does it make sense? Does
it reflect an understanding of the three essays and their arguments? Does the model pose a
good question for a university-level course? Does GPT’s question align with our course? If
you don’t think the generated exam question works, how would you revise the prompt?
6. After examining the prompt generated by ChatGPT, it is safe to say that it can be passed
off as a university level question. There are multiple parts to the question which make
you think and delve deep into the three texts to extract key information. The question
emphasizes the importance of making connections between the three readings. It is well
written and makes sense of what is being asked. The prompt aligns with our course by
highlighting the main question, being how can we use different modes of writing to
understand the true meaning of storytelling. The prompt has you questioning the
relationship between writing and the author, and how they are able to create a piece of
work with deep meaning.

Extra Credit
7. Throughout the quarter of this class, I have been introduced to many new
technologies/media, as well as efficient techniques when reading and analyzing. I did not
have much experience with analyzing a specific piece of text and relating it to the novel
as a whole, so the close reading assignment on “House of Leaves” was tricky but helpful
in understanding why deep analysis is important. One of the works I really enjoyed from
the syllabus was the article “Hyper and Deep Attention” by N. Katherin Hayles. This
article helped me understand that not one mode of attention is more important than the
other, but rather it is beneficial to cultivate both these modes of attention. Growing up,
schools made us cultivate more towards deep attention, but I found myself often
struggling because this was not my personal best mode of learning. When I learned about
hyper attention, I looked more into it and found this mode of attention is what I am better
at, which helped me understand how I should go about assignments and overall has made
me a better student for it. Also going through the different mediums of writing has taught
me different aspects of writing and how to create a piece of work that not only scratches
the surface but gives key analysis and the audience something to think about.

Disclosure Statement
While working on this exam I used an AI model to help generate the start of some
sentences, as well as proper transitions between sentences. I also used ChatGPT to replace some
words with more academic writing. Another tool that helped me accomplish this exam was the
use of spell check provided by google docs. Google docs also provided me with generating the
next words in a sentence that might be useful as well as the word count feature to help me stay
below 300 words.