Auto-generated poetry from vintage typing exercises
If you ever took a typing class, you might remember some of the exercises. Much of them were gibberish or random words; some were intelligible but unnatural. This latter text from Uncanny Valley attempts to create a realistic typing scenario while still testing the skills learned in a particular lesson.
I noticed this offputting text and thought it would render endearing poetry. The tradition of found poetry and AI's recent foray into poetic authorship inspired this project.
I wrote a program that randomly generates poetry from strings gathered from:
- Gregg Keyboarding and Personal Application (Lloyd et al 1987)
- Mastering Computer Typing: A Painless Course for Beginners and Professionals (Lindsell-Roberts 1995)
- Touch Typing Made Simple (Mark 1985)
- Typing: A Step-by-Step Guide to Keyboard Mastery (Croft 1994)
- Typing Made Easy (Bellavance 1997)
Any set of strings could be used, however, providing opportunities to create infinitely diverse poetry.
The results are humorous but also thought-provoking. Typing exercises are not intended for use outside of touch typing practice. De-contextualizing them highlights how technology can change what we type and, ultimately, create, including this project.
The source material also comes out of the home computer boom. The layperson's interest in computing swelled during the eighties and nineties. Quick Fox, Lazy Dog honors that trailblazing era.
From the 555 strings, there are 3.69 × 10208 poems possible, much, much more than there are particles in the observable universe. It's also greater than a googol squared. Guess we'll be here a while!
I used the following to calculate this figure:
where n equals the string amount. It sums the permutations formula with replacement. Poems with the line amounts from 1 to 72 are possible. The permutations of strings for each possible line amount comprises the total number of possibilities.
If one were to make poetry out of any word in a typing book, it wouldn't be a restriction. I sourced strings from the exercise sentences in monospace font (setting most exercises in monospace font became a de facto standard in typing books). The algorithm shapes the poems governed by the following parameters:
- I recorded strings exactly as written except for ending periods
- I took artistic license in editing the beginnings and endings of strings. The program does not put a string in the middle of another, like poetry fridge magnets
- Each string is a new line
- Strings must contain at least two words
These guidelines avoid mixing individual words to preserve the original tone.
the bright hues take form
her Ph.D. from Oregon State
fight the fire
now in reno
inadequate for our purposes
Rick loves that fame
Sessions for Teenagers
Does she realize what her FINE JEWELRY is worth
The bird floew way up in the sky to get away from the smoke
invest some time and effort
near the park
The women in a village
Hotels Inns & Resorts Worldwide
a new friend
School of Law
Hotels Inns & Resorts Worldwide
the name of the dictator
crazy quilts
Camp overnight
go for the bus--just in time to miss it
many jovial men
go to town for the pen
the houses on both sides
The FUN of Camping
The leaves have lost their brilliant green
the date
TAKE CLASSES IN BIKE SAFETY
she may take a walk
Eat at a country inn
"Isn't it fine!"
the lyrics to a song
Look at the sky!
to connect and to divide
a hold on things
I went in
TAKE CLASSES IN BIKE SAFETY
this is not absolute
the tax returns
Annual Homecoming
the plane to Houston
Because I'm a big ol' nerd, I recently purchased an Apple Extended Keyboard II. I started doing typing exercises to become acquainted with it (it's beautiful) which reminded of this hidden poetry.
I've also started to learn basic front-end web development languages, including Javascript. It occurred to me that Javascript would be the perfect language to write this poetry generator in. The rest is history.