Questus Reviewus

Questus Reviewus

Russian Doll

Russian Doll is a new tv series which debuted on Netflix.  The premise is that a woman named Nadia repeatedly dies after attending her birthday party, and eventually she realizes that someone else is dying with her, and they begin trying to escape this reality together by stopping the loop.  Nadia is a bumbling, grouchy, macho woman.  Many of her deaths are feeble attempts at slapstick comedy, as the writers of this series decided it would be funny to show her snap her neck about seven times due to her inability to walk down stairs, which somewhat clashed with the fact that they were attempting to write her as some sort of badass female character.  Unfortunately this was also undermined by the fact that she fell into the same drain two or three different times because she was dumb and clumsy.  Her constant inability to walk somewhere simple without dying, combined with her brusque personality, and possibly some bad acting make her a very annoying and irritating character.  Many of the characters in the series seem to either be poorly written or acted out, as their personalities change greatly in each episode with little clear progression.  For example, Nadia acts rude for the first two episodes, and then acts very odd and standoffish until the end of the series.  Alan on the other hand (the man she is stuck in the loop with), seems very odd when in scenes with his girlfriend, very awkward around people he doesn’t know, and cool around people he is familiar with.  This happens in nearly every episode until the last two, where he begins acting confident out of nowhere.  This character development seems very choppy to me, and made for an unenjoyable viewing experience.  While the rest of the characters were oddly developed, that is to be expected as they are meant to be slightly effected by our protagonists strange behavior each time they go through the loop.   Overall, the idea behind the series seems like it could be fun, and similar movies such as Live, Die, Repeat with Tom Cruise, and Groundhog Day with Bill Murray carried them out much better than this TV series did, which is unfortunate.  I would think that with the ability and time to flesh out more of the story, a TV series would do a much better job portraying these ideas, not worse.  I believe that the acting and writing killed this TV series for me, but I could understand why someone else may find appeal in a series such as this.

Questus Libris – Tiffany Tran

Questus Libris

My narrative reflects a scholarly investigation, as seen via a research poster. It is both textual and visual, for I inserted a few paragraphs talking about different literature pieces and a graph displaying how often I use a particular source for this class.

Natalie Plahuta’s Questus Librus

The clues are the titles of the works and sources; the crossword answers are how I accessed the sources.

 

  • Anne Bradstreet’s “The Author to her Book”: Link on exlibris.web.unc.edu
  • Life is Strange: I played at a friend’s house on his PS4
  • “Visual Culture and the Word in Poe’s The Man of the Crowd”: Under “Resources” on Sakai
  • Herman Melville’s Pierre; Or the Ambiguities: Davis Library
  • The OA: Netflix
  • Russian Doll: Netflix
  • Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus: Audible
  • Fitz-James O’Brien’s “Our Young Authors – Melville”: Under “Resources” on Sakai
  • Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Man of the Crowd”: Link on exlibris.web.unc.edu
  • Brian Reed’s S-Town: stownpodcast.org
  • Stranger Than Fiction script: Under “Resources” on Sakai
  • Eisenstein’s The Printing Press as an Agent of Change: Under “Resources” on Sakai
  • Stallybrass’ “Books and Scrolls”: Under “Resources” on Sakai
  • Johns’ The Nature of the Book: Under “Resources” on Sakai

#questus libris Priyam Patel

My English 137 Guide for a Broke College Student

Step 1: Channel inner desire to acquire required texts for the class for as cheap as possible

Step 2: Check Sakai or the class webpage (http://exlibris.web.unc.edu/assigments/) for to links to required short readings for free (“Books and Scrolls,” “Nature of the Book,” “The Printing Press as an Agent of Change,” “The Man of the Crowd,” “Visual Culture and the Word in Poe’s The Man of the Crowd,” “Listening to Audiobooks is Just as Good as Reading,” “The Rise of Speed Listening,” “Games Telling Stories: A Brief Note on Games and Narratives). In addition, videos can be found in the calendar tab on the main website for the class next to the date it needs to be watched by (“The Eagleman Stag,” “Snooze Time,” “Cargo”).

Step 3: Check Project Gutenberg for a free downloadable copy of Herman Melville’s Pierre; Or the Ambiguities

Step 4: Find Night Circus audiobook for free on YouTube

Step 5: Use your own Netflix account (or your ex’s Netflix account, your choice) to watch The OA and Russian Doll

Step 6: Find link to Stranger than Fiction screenplay for free on Sakai

Step 7: Listen to S-Town podcast on the podcast app on iPhones

Step 8: Find someone you know who already owns a download of Life is Strange or buy it off steam when it is on sale

Step 9: Enjoy the course!

#questus libris Luyang

[New command released]

iLoveENGL137: Okay! Let me have a look!

(Robot moves to the screen)

[Loading…..]

[New commend: Search the texts for ENGL137 in 15 minutes]

iLoveENGL137: You guys know I am always the best. This job is so easy for me!

Come on, guys! Give me more challenging work!

[Time left: 14:59]

[Time left: 14:58]

[Time left: 14:57]

iLoveENGL137: Well, let’s start. Connect to Sakai. Go to resources and filter all the texts with online links.

Emmm… Books and Scrolls Check!

The Nature of Book Check!

The Printing Press as an Agent of Change Check!

[#@!%^*]

iLoveENGL137: All are saved to my online drive for further use. See? I told you this job is easy for me. (Sigh) The direct links on Sakai make the searching job convenient but I also lack the opportunities to choose my favorite version from other possible alternatives. Also, it makes my job seem to be boring and tedious. I want to enjoy the fun of searching! (Sigh) Let me see what is next.

(Robot moves several steps)

Wait! Shall I print them? Printed materials are easy for notetaking. Also, reading printed texts fits perfectly with the subject of these materials. Good idea! Let me print them!

[#@!%^*]

[Printing job completed]

iLoveENGL137: I am a so considerate robot! The next are those without links. Emmm… Let me try The man of the Crowd. Connect to Google and click search.

[Search failed…]

[Access denied…]

iLoveENGL137: What? Google, my sincere friend, please!

Okay. Let me try another way.

Connect to UNC Library. Type The man of the Crowd and click search.

[Loading…]

iLoveENGL137: UNC Library, please!

(Robot enters his username and password)

[Access allowed…]

iLoveENGL137: Awesome! UNC Library is always my final resort. Love it! Whenever I could not get access to some academic resources searched on Google, UNC Library will never disappoint me! Also, the library gives me more options. I could compare them and find out my favorite version. This process brings me lots of fun as well as a sense of accomplishment.

[Time left: 9:03]

[Time left: 9:02]

iLoveENGL137: Okay! No more compliments! What is next?

Emmm…. Pierre: or the Ambiguities

[Online resources accessed from UNC Library]

iLoveENGL137: Great! The task is completed. So easy!

Wait. What is on the screen?

[Double points for the hard copy]

iLoveENGL137: Hard copy for Pierre? Challenge accepted!

Search UNC Library for location.

[Davis Library 8th floor PS2384.P5]

iLoveENGL137: Okay! A short tour!

(Robots moves to the library and goes to the 8th floor)

Well. What does PS2384.P5 mean?

[Time left: 2:47]

[Time left: 2:46]

iLoveENGL137: Time is running out!

Look for the letter “P”!

[Book shelf detected]

iLoveENGL137: P…

PS…

2384…

(Robots turns around his head and search the shelf from left to right)

[Time left: 0:24]

[Time left: 0:23]

iLoveENGL137: I get it! Pierre: or the Ambiguities! Hard Copy!

Awesome!

[Task Completed]

[Double Points]

iLoveENGL137: The hard copy searching is the hardest, which is like a treasure hunting. I need to find out the location online, interpret the location correctly and come to the place as soon as possible in case that other robots come in front of me. You need some luck! But, I told you! I am always the best! Harder task next time!

(Robot moves away slowly)