Author: francesca.a.parrillo@wmich.edu

Poem formatting with HTML

Hello! In this project I will be formatting the poem “The Great Hunt” by Carl Sandburg according to the original format available through poetryfoundation.org. I will use HTML through Codepen.io and build upon what I learned in optional project 10.

Step 1:

Open the free Codepen.io website and create a new pen. Once the three boxes open up for HTML, CSS, and JS you can start.

Step 2:

I start by creating a heading for this project, because the poem has a title and author that will be my heading and subheading. I formatted the title of the poem to appear larger by using the <h1></h1> tags and made the author’s name smaller by using the <h3></h3> tags.

Step 3:

I then copied the entire poem into the HTML section without formatting anything just to get the material down.

Step 4:

Next I format the poem by creating spaces, indentations, and new paragraphs where necessary. I also add <p></p> tags to the beginnings and ends of each of the three paragraphs in the poem.

Step 5:

Using the formatting I already created I add breaks after each line using the <br> tag. This tag is interesting because it does not have a closing tag.

Step 6:

Lastly, I use the tag <pre></pre> so the formatting that I have entered into HTML will appear on the page. This allows indentations and spaces to have meaning. I use the <pre></pre> tags for the headings and for the poem text so it will all appear centered and reflect the original formatting of the poem. This is the final form of my HTML writing.

Below is the final version of the page I created. I am satisfied with this result and believe that it accurately displays the poem in the same way as the original on poetryfoundation.org.

Recipe with HTML

For this optional project I will be working with HTML through Codepen.io. I have used HTML briefly in middle school but have not used it since then, and this is my first time using Codepen.io. For this project I chose a cinnamon and banana muffin recipe to create my ordered and unordered lists.

Getting Started:

To begin this page I used the default screen that appears after signing up for Codepen.io and going through the tutorial steps. I will only be altering the HTML screen, which is the first from the left. The other screens that could be edited are CSS and JS but I did not change these from the default so the colors and formatting is the same as the default page.

First, I created a heading and subheading using HTML. After watching the LinkedIn Learning tutorial the instructor described how to make headings. To do this you must use the tags <h1></h1> to create the largest heading. There are six sizes for headings and they adhere to a hierarchy of size. Due to this I wanted my subheading of “Cinnamon Banana Muffins” to be smaller so I used the heading tag <h2></h2>.

Then, I entered all of my ingredients into an unordered list. This means that there is no defining way of sorting the list and the items will just appear as entered.

To complete this you must begin your list with <ul> and enter all of the items within your list by surrounding each item with <li></li>, then you must end your list with </ul> to signal the end of the list.

This caused all of my items to appear with bullet points and they are listed on the website as entered in the HTML code.

Next, I entered my ordered list, which is the sequence of instructions to complete this recipe. This is an ordered list because it must be completed in a specific sequence for the desired result.

To do this you begin the ordered list with <ol>, followed by all of the items in the list, each surrounded by <li></li> and then end the list with </ol>.

This resulted in the listed items being put into a numbered list corresponding to the order you must complete the steps in the recipe.

Finally, the completed recipe is available on HTML and on a theoretical webpage displaying an unordered and ordered list.

HTML and Codepen.io are very beginner friendly and easy to use once you get the hang of using tags. It would be interesting to learn CSS and JS and get to add to these pages even more.

Safiya Umoja Noble’s book Algorithms of Oppression is an exploration of the prejudices that technology perpetuates as a result of the prejudices that those interacting with the digital space hold. Consequently, these flaws lead search engines to generate results that perpetuate harmful stereotypes and bolster the beliefs of hate groups, which have led to acts of violence against minority groups. This book discusses issues that are still relevant such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which can push certain narratives forward with their results, without checking if they are accurate or not. This can affect scholarly areas like the humanities where misinformation can quickly spread due to SEO pushing forward certain results. Noble reveals how corporate interests dominate SEO which ultimately undermines smaller voices. This creates a frustrating digital environment in which hegemonic voices continue to dominate the conversation. This disadvantages academics whose work does not get prioritized and instead bigoted and false information gets promoted.

The most striking chapter to me while reading was chapter three which details the racially motivated hate crime at “Mother” Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015 where nine people died in the attack. This attack was carried out as a result of the shooter googling “black on white crime” and the results leading to far-right conservative hate groups promoting anti-black rhetoric. This attack was only possible due to search results that allowed Google results to show hateful websites that perpetuate violence. Google does not take any responsibility in these cases and takes a stance of neutrality and distances themselves from the results of their search engine. In reference to search results that appear when looking up “black teen” or “white teen” that reinforce harmful stereotypes, Noble states on page 80 “In typical fashion, Google reported these search results as an anomaly, beyond its control, to which I responded again, “If Google isn’t responsible for its algorithm, then who is?”” Taking blame away from Google leads one to wonder who takes the blame and what can be done to change things? Again, this disadvantages academics whose goal is to learn and spread knowledge with Google promoting false information and hateful rhetoric this causes a barrier for students and professors alike seeking and distributing knowledge.  

Hello there!

Hello, my name is Francesca Parrillo, and I am a student at Western Michigan University. I am studying Public History with a minor in Art History and Global and International Studies. I am enrolled in Dr. Hadden’s Digital Humanities course for the Spring 2025 semester as it is required for my major. I have no prior experience in website building and am hoping that I will learn more about WordPress and other similar resources as the semester progresses and will build up my personal website. I hope the skills I learn in this course will help with future projects in school or in my career. Before enrolling in this course, I did not know what digital humanities was, but I am hoping to learn more about digital humanities and how it can be applied to historical preservation and research.