My examination of a book.

Go to a library, bookstore, or your own book collection and look through the books. Please do not read any. Just pay attention to what catches your eye.

• What is it that stands out to you?

1.       It’s a green shiny book called The Fire Within.

• Why?

2. Simply because it’s a very reflective color and it has a dragon eye on it that reminds me of another book series I loved reading in high school.

Choose a red book and open it to page 6. Close your eyes and put your finger on the page somewhere.

• What did you find?

3. My finger landed on the word stream, it was used in the context that a stream of water was healing someone.

• If your finger landed on a paragraph, how many times does the letter P show up in that paragraph?

4. Surprisingly not a single P was in the paragraph I pointed at.

• If it landed on a picture, how many straight lines are in the picture?

5. No pictures are present on this page.

• If it landed on white space, what is the white space surrounding?

6. No white space, the page was fairly full of words.

• Can you imagine the white space as a sea and the other parts (words, pictures, etc.) as islands floating in white water or space?

7. No but something about the shape of the words on the page reminded me of Tetris pieces.

Using your other senses, explain what the paper feels like.

• Is it slick or rough?

8. The paper feels fairly rough.

• What does the cover feel like?

9. In contrast, the cover is very slick and smooth.

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• Can you feel the ink of the words if you close your eyes?

8. I feel a lot of irregular bumps on the pages but I’m not sure if it’s actually the words or just the paper itself.

• Do different colors feel different with your eyes closed?

9. No, they do not feel any different to me.

• What else can you discover about the paper?

10. It has a very distinct looking texture on it and when I look closely I can see the individual fibers intertwined together that helps create the paper as a whole.

• What about the cover?

11.  The artwork stands out to me, it looks very holographic, and by looking at the cover I can assume it is a book for someone that’s at least 10 years old, it just looks kind of childish to me.

Without destroying the book, unless you own it and want to, see if you can figure out how the book was constructed.

• Is it stitched?

12.  No it is not.

• Is it glued?

13. Yes its clued, I can see where the pages meet its spine and there is a small visible amount of glue holding everything together.

• Is there any cloth on this book or is it all paper?

14. The book is completely made of paper for the most part.

• Is it a hardback or paperback?

15. The book is a paperback book, though in a pretty good condition than I would expect.

• Does it have signatures? (Hint: you may need to look up what signatures are in the context of making books…)

16. No, I have a basic understanding that signatures have to do with how the pages are stitched and the book appears to be simply manufactured.

• If it has signatures, how many pages are in each and how many signatures are there in the whole book?
• If it does not, look at the glue on the ends of the spine and discribe what you see.

Flip through the pages and look at the end papers.

• Is there any writing in the book, other than the printing?

17. Nope, I can’t find any writing in the book.

• If so, what does it say?
• Why is it there?
• Who wrote it?
• If you do not know, then imagine who might have written it.
• If there is no writing in the book then how does it make you feel to know you are the first person (possibly) to think about it?

18. Not really sure how I feel, however, It makes me wonder about the stories behind the book, such as where it’s been, who has read it, and even who was the first person to touch the book. Aside from the creation of the book, I wonder who was the first to handle the book.

Examine the book more.

• Are there any stains on the book?

19. No stains that I can see.

• Are there any fingerprints?

20. No fingerprints either.

• What do they look like?
• How might they have happened?

Look at the pages of the book.

• What is the color of the pages? I bet they are not really white.

21. The pages are a beige color.

• How would you describe the color? Is it warm or cold? Bright or dull, etc.

22. It may be the lighting, but they’re kind of giving off an orange warm color.

• What other visual things can you explore with the book?

23. I notice when its closed, the edges of the paper all met together create a different color from the pages overall beige color.

Think about the history of this book.

• Can you see any other evidence that someone else has handled this book?

24. Yes, the spine is bent through the middle as if someone had read through it, wearing down the spine.

• What are the edges of the pages like? Describe them.

25. Like I mentioned before, they seem darker, and kind of orange.

• Can you imagine what someone else might have been thinking as they read this book?

26. I can only imagine that their mind was in another place, (if the book was good enough) and were imagining they were within the story. This is how I read books if I’m truly enjoying them.

• Do you think anyone else has used this book like you are right now instead of reading it?

27. Something tells me no, I’ve never met someone who has performed this sort of examination of a book before.

Flip through the pages quickly.

• Can you hear the sound? If so, describe it.

28. Yes, it sounds like a motor.

• If not, what is your experience like?
• Can you feel the breeze?

29. Yes, since its kind of hot, it actually is working out to be a great fan.

• Can you move something with the wind generated from the book?

30. Not anything that’s near me right now.

• Could you use this book to win a game you created using the book's wind power?

31. Possibly, I imagine having some sort of paper made object where two people would flip the pages of the book and whoever could make the object fall off the table on their opponents side, they get a point, sort of like hockey or soccer.

Drop the book on the floor.

• What did you experience?

32.  Shock, it made a louder noise than I expected…………..

• Did you sense the vibrations the book made?

33. Yes, the thud was pretty apparent under my feet.

• Did you feel it in your feet?

34. Yes

• Take your shoes off. Now drop the book. Was there any difference?

35. I could feel the air of the book as it landed near my feet. This little book had more force behind it than I thought it would.

Hold the book between your hands with one hand on each cover and the book closed. Close your eyes.

• Is the book cold? Hold it like that for at least one minute.

36. Yes

• Now feel the cover. Can you feel the temperature change from where your hands were to where they were not?

37. Yes, I can practically feel the shape of my hands through the heat emitting off of the book.

• Have you ever been aware of this before when you were holding a book to read it?

38. Sort of, sometimes when I used to read a lot, if I wasn’t feeling well, I would place the cool side of a book against my head, and swap it around like one would with a pillow.

• If your heat transfers in this situation and you noticed it because I asked you to, why do you think you have never noticed it before?
• If you have noticed the temperature of a book you were holding before, describe why you noticed it.

39. I already answered this above, another situation that caused me to notice this was in high school, I practically used my books as a pillow when I was really tired and nothing was happening in class and I would always use the cool side.

Smell the book.

• What does the smell make you think of?

40. Oddly enough, the book smells like vanilla to me.

• If you can't think of anything, describe the smells you can sense. (Interesting fact: Did you know that I have friends [many librarians, actually] who choose their books partly based on how they smell? Honestly.)

I do not recommend tasting the book for health and safety issues… :-)

Now, finally, read the first page. If it is just pictures, read the story of the pictures. 

• What is the title of this book?

41. Isle of the Dead

• Based on the first page, explain why you think the book was titled that.

42. It described a palace with guards which tell me this book may be of fantasy origin. Not to mention the character mentioned on the first page had a real creative name, Doom.

Reflect back on this entire exericise.

• What is your experience like with the book now that you have experienced it differently?

43. Well after reading the first page I know I don’t want to read it. It seemed kind of corny to me based off of that first page.

• Do you still find books to be boring, assuming you did in the first place?

44. I used to be a big reader, but college for some reason has caused me to move away from books. However this assignment has me wanting to start reading again because that was one of the most relaxing things I used to do.

• What, if anything has changed for you in regards to books?

45. Only thing is I want to try and read books a lot again like I used ot.

Now think about this class.

• How did I "fishbowl" this assignment?

46. By giving us a giant list of questions which I instinctively followed one by one. Everything was precise and clear on what you wanted us to do.

• What do you think the point is of this exercise?

47. To make us see beyond what is in front of us. I mean, we were just looking at a book, but my mind started thinking so many things about the book, I would have never thought of before if I didn’t do this exercise.

• What can you take from this exercise that might help you with future projects?

48. Sometimes finding small details can help with projects. Some of the best games ever made, had mechanics based on the smallest detail that your average user would have never thought of, or noticed.