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Neatline Experience

My experience with Neatline was pretty convoluted, it's definitely an asset for geographic and timeline representations, but it will take a lot of practice to really master. Depending on the project, Neatline can visualize and portray ideas very well—e.g., in my group's practice project in class we showed the walk Eamonn took to deliver the M&M's to Aunty Naseem. An important aspect of the first part of Eamon's chapter was how long this walk was. It came up multiple times how dedicated, unnecessary, and almost silly it was to walk so far for something that easily could have been mailed. Not being familiar with British geography, I had little perspective on how long the walk actually was. Neatline was incredibly impactful in creating that context beyond the book to fully understand what Eamonn did to hand-deliver the M&M's. Visualization of this dedication indicates how much he cares about Isma and how eager he was to see Aneeka in real life. I won't be using Neatline for this upcoming Research Excursion as geography and time don't fit well with my topic. However, with more practice on Neatline, I will definitely consider using it for future projects. I think it would be helpful if we did a smaller project in class with Neatline in order to become more comfortable with the platform before using it for an entire Research Excursion. Overall, I'm excited to use it in the future because it is unlike any other medium for projects I've used in the past.


Comments

  1. HeatherLOctober 6, 2022 at 12:59 PM

    Hey Noah! I completely agree with your observation about how Neatline can help give a new interpretation of the text. I also didn't realize just how long Eamonn walked to deliver the M&Ms until seeing your group's research presentation, and it made me recognize his dedication in a different light. It would be interesting to see the other paths that Neatline could map in Home Fire, such as Parvaiz's journey from the caliphate to the British Consulate.

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  2. Audrey SchroederOctober 6, 2022 at 4:42 PM

    Hey Noah. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Neatline. I agree that it will definitely take some time to master but, once you have it down, it seems like a very rewarding platform because it lays information out in such a cool way. I, too, was really surprised by how long Eammon's walk to Isma's house actually was! I think your group did a good job of laying that out in an informative way :)

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  3. AnonymousOctober 6, 2022 at 11:13 PM

    Hi Noah, I totally agree—Neatline will take a lot of practice to master. There definitely a learning curve but I think once you get it down, you can create many interesting exhibits! Seeing how long the walk was from your group's exhibit was absolutely amazing, because I too thought how unproductive his walk was. Eamonn had to have a good reason to take that walk! I hope we dive deeper into Neatline as a class and see what its full potential is!

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  4. Catalina DegnanOctober 10, 2022 at 12:07 AM

    Hi Noah! I definitely share some of your feelings towards Neatline. It took me so long to even become comfortable in the slightest with Neatline and I do agree I would need more practice before I feel comfortable using it for a research project. I hope there are more opportunities to practice using it so I can grow in my comfortability with it!

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  5. John SawyerOctober 10, 2022 at 4:04 PM

    Your groups presentation on the walk was very interesting too see presented visually. For most readers, to have a grasp of the length of this walk they would have to be familiar with the area the story took place. Without this knowledge, it limits the amount of dedication Eamonn put in to complete the walk that he did.

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  6. Critical Thinkers and WritersOctober 12, 2022 at 1:53 PM

    I really appreciate your apprehension of distance being materialized by using Neatline to map a small segment of the novel. This is very valuable!

    ReplyDelete

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