The geo-spatial data helped us make sense of the history of our authors because it gave us a visualization we have not yet seen involving our memoir. We have used a timeline as a visual to allow us to understand what Elizabeth Grundy did over time, but a geo-spatial visual has allowed us to engage so much more into her life . The spatial element is a component of our memoirs that allows us to understand how Elizabeth Grundy traveled throughout her life. Bodenhamer described the spatial element very well as a “complex relativistic view of space [that] has reinvigorated geography”(14). He not only mentions that it is a view of space, but also that it plays an important role in geography. While transcribing and editing Grundy’s memoir, I never actually considered where this was all happening. I knew it took place in Northern England, but I could not connect the place names in my head; creating this story map allowed me to make those connections. Grundy traveled a lot throughout Northern England, but her stops were all relatively close. She was born in Chowbent, Lancashire, made a stop in Dukinfield, Cheshire, and then made three stops in Western Yorkshire (Baildon, Fulneck, and Huddersfield). I liked how in his article, Bodenhamer challenged humanists saying that they disregard geography: “[Geographic Information Systems] demands the use of spatial questions, whereas most humanists think rarely about geographical space”(24). The fact that humanists can do all this work and not take into account the locations where everything happens is mind-boggling. There are so many questions that can be thought up when considering the geography of a memoir: why is this space important?; is it well connected?; is it urban or rural? Questions like these can help readers understand the complexities of the history of a memoir. By simply finding the locations on a map, these questions can be answered. In Grundy’s memoir, her stops are all pretty well connected, not too far away, and they are a bit more on the rural side. From this information, I can deduce that this space is important because Grundy never wanted to move too far away from her children. She grew up with very strict parents and wanted to make sure that her kids never felt the same as she did throughout her whole life. This shows when she even went to visit her daughter in Huddersfield. Mapping is a great way to assign spatial-data to a memoir: “It aids but does not replace expert narrative”(Bodenhamer, 28).
https://storymap.knightlab.com/edit/?id=tracing-the-life-of-elizabeth-grundy
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Mitch Gavars is a student at Bucknell University where he is a part of the swim team. Mitch is from Barrington, IL and has one sister. His favorite movie is Aladdin.