Point Rash Judgment: the Exploration of a Wordsworth Text


The following is a transcription and brief explination of the three rooms created in MOOville for the poem "Rash Judgement."


ROOM 1: THE FIRST HALF OF THE POEM TAKES PLACE IN A VALLEY


Using cues from the poem, I've described it in the MOO thus:

Valley
There is a narrow girdle of rough stones and crags which make a rude and natural causeway. On one side is *water* and on the other a winding slope of thickets. There are some *objects* along the line of the water where waves had tossed them ashore.
An objects is here. You the following objects: water, a tuft, an Invisible Breeze, plants, a seed, and a heap of objects.

ROOM 2: THE SHIFT IN THE POEM COMES WHEN THEY SEE AN ANGLER


This shift is introduced in the MOO by entering a new space:

Point Rash Judgment
Far in the distance you hear a noise--the busy mirth of Reapers. As you stand on an indented shore, SUDDENLY a fog advances in on you. Through the thin veil of glittering haze, you see a jutting point of land.
You see the following objects: a Noise of Peasants, fog, and a Man.

ROOM 3: FINALLY, THERE IS A PLACE TO REST AND RECOLLECT IN TRANQUILITY


Here students encounter a cabin with books which have parts of the poem as entries from Wordsworth and Coleridge. They can discuss their experience in this space:

Cottage The happy idleness of that sweet morning travel has changed to serious musing. You return to your cottage:
It is a small room with a fire going in the fireplace. There is a pot of hot tea on the stove and some cups. A journal and a book and a pen are on a desk. Beside the desk are some chairs.
You see the following objects: a journal, and a book.


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