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About This Visualisation
This visualisation is designed to support character-centric discussion and analysis of the novel, The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison. All textual data/summaries in the visualisation have been generated by AI.
 | Hold left-click and drag on the background to traverse the layout. Use the scroll wheel to zoom in or out. Double left-click to quickly zoom in on an area. You can also left-click and drag the menu to move it. |
 | Character profiles indicate which character each storyline represents. Hover over these to read short character bios or left-click one at a time to reveal all of the chapters each character appears in. |
 | Each character is represented with their own uniquely coloured storyline. The thickness of the storyline represents the dialogue lines spoken by the character for the following chapter. Storylines are made solid when a character clover or profile is clicked. |
 | Each chapter is marked with its respective number. Hover over the number to read a summary of the chapter. |
 | Chapter boxes represent the book's chapters. Left-click these to reveal the social relationships between characters, and then left-click again to close them. |
 | Clovers represent the changing states of characters across chapters. Changes to the clover labels reflect changes to four personal traits: their goals, actions, motivations and emotions. Left-click a clover leaf or clover leaf label to highlight all instances of the same trait in the story. Left-click again to revert to previous state. |
 | Within a clover, this icon represents a character's salient goal for the chapter: What the character is trying to achieve or are told to do. |
 | Within a clover, this icon represents a character's salient action for the chapter: Their key action, behaviour or state. |
 | Within a clover, this icon represents a character's salient motivation for the chapter: The underlying reason for their actions and behaviours. |
 | Within a clover, this icon represents a character's salient emotion for the chapter: What is verbally or physically expressed or demonstrated by them to be their primary emotion. |
 | Hover over this icon to view a list of a chapter's settings. These are the specific locations and/or time periods in which the events of the chapter take place. |
 | Hover over this icon to view a list of a chapter's key events. These are the significant incidents or occurrences that drive the plot forward within a specific chapter. |
 | Hover over this icon to view the plot function of a chapter. This is the role and purpose of the chapter within the overall storyline, such as introducing characters, building tension, or resolving conflicts. |
 | Hover over this icon to view a list of the advanced technologies mentioned in a chapter. |
 | Character social interactions are represented using arcs. The colours of these arcs represent the source characters of the social interactions. These are the same colour as their storylines. The thickness of the arcs is based on the total number of dialogue lines spoken by the character to its target(s) for that chapter. |
