“The Last Leaf”A New Computer Assisted Literary Criticism

Prepared byVaidehi HariyaniBatch 2015-17

Semester 2Paper 7

Smt.S.B.Gardi Department of English,Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

Digital Humanities• Digital Humanities

currently incorporates both digitized and born-digital materials.

• Combines the methodologies from the traditional humanities disciplines.

• With tools provided by computing and digital publishing.

What is Digital Humanities doing in English Department???

• Text – as the most tractable data type.• Long association between computers and

composition.• The Pitch-perfect convergence.• Hypertext and other forms of Electronic literature.• The openness of English Departments to Cultural

Studies.• Interest in e-reading and e-book devices

“The Last Leaf”

• “The Last Leaf" is a short story

• Author: O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)

• Published in 1907 in “The Trimmed Lamp and Other Stories”.

Paint - 18

Window, one, leaf - 15

Last, old, Doctor, Fall - 9

Street, painter, Sick, Chance, lay, Morning - 5

Finish, Spring, Afternoon, Dark, Well and many more - 3

No. of times words used

e-text of “The Last Leaf”- O’Henry

• The word ‘Paint’ recurring more than any other word.

• It’s recurrence is symbolic.• “Oh, my dear, it is

Behrman’s great masterpiece—he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell.”

• This is possible only if the text is in digital format.

Method

• The feature as simple as ‘Ctrl+F’ gives us opportunity to find recurrent ‘words’.

• The study of ‘words’ gives us an idea to have critical reading of the text.

• It was a pleasant surprise to find recurrent images of Winter, Window, Night, Dark etc. in the story which opportune us to explore deeper symbolic connection with the archetypes.

Bollywood Movie Adaptation

• Lootera - 2013 Indian period romantic drama

• Directed by Vikramaditya Motwane

• Partly based on author O. Henry's 1907 short story The Last Leaf.

Thank You

Open for Questions and Suggestions

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