Wednesday, February 17

Tonight you spoke up for the texts from the Electronic Literature Collection that you wanted to review. We looked over the assignment sheet (posted on this blog, on the Somestory site, and as an attachment)to review the expectations for the assignment, and you spoke up for the following pieces.

Ryan = Nio
John= Bad Machine
Yvonne = Faith
Sam = Red Ridinghood
Nic = All Roads
Lisa = Dawn
Justine = Storyland

Ania and Melissa - let me know.

We discussed Disappearing Rain - noting how the exhaustively clear navigation both eliminated the frustrations and ambiguities we experienced reading some of the other hypertexts, and (as observed both by the class and critics) seemed to make this work almost like print text - in that it could be read clearly from beginning to end with little doubt about how the pieces fit together.

We then summed up the structure of the texts we've read so far:

12 Blue presents a home page with links to eight pages, each of which have 12 links. There are also links embedded within the texts on the 12 linked pages that take the reader deeper, and may cross to one of the other eight pages (in limited ways).

FAQ about Hypertext, like Disappearing Rain, allows the reader full access to all available links. In contrast to Disappearing Rain, some features that gives this text increased electronic literariness is that it parodies both an existing electronic genre, and critical traditions for discussing those genres.

The Jew's Daughter is not really a hypertext - but a flash document that gives the illusion of a linked text. The structure is pretty much linear/overlapping, though the reader has freedom (as in a print text) to read forward and back by screen.

Disappearing Rain is an example of networked fiction, in that the story connects the reader to the internet itself both in its plotline and in its form (though since the work is old - most of the links are broken).

We then walked through the main features of google.sites, and you did some more thinking about how you were going to create your hypertext piece. Again, we reviewed the assignment requirements.

For Monday:
Do some work on your hypertext! Keep the requirements of the assignment in mind as you work. In class you will have some time to talk about your project - and to work on it - so be sure to save it some place you can open it in class.

Blog 6: Post a map of your site (so far) and your brainstormy writing/plans for how you are going to use this structure to create your piece. The more you post - the more your classmates and I can give you feedback on.

I will be reading/providing feedback for blogs by the end of the week - meaning if Blogs 3, 4 & 5 are not posted by Thursday night you probably will not be getting credit.

Have a great weekend and it sounds like you have some great ideas for your projects! See you Monday.