Hypertext : Composition and Critical Theory

The purpose of this grant is to enable the author to study and develop applications of hypertext in the teaching of writing. Hypertext is a form of writing consisting of multiple sections (also known as "lexia", reading-unit), whose relations are nonlinear, multiple, and partially constructed by the reader. The most prominent example of hypertext writing is the World Wide Web, where links between pages and sites are created partly by the user. Different readers create varying combinations of lexia and links. Other hypertext forms exist as well, ranging from Web-based stories (such as the British trAce project, http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/) to narratives created by Eastgate Systems' Storyspace software (http://www.eastgate.com/), such as Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden (http://www.eastgate.com/catalog/VictoryGarden.html) and Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl. Most recently (2000), Mark Amerika's multimedia hypertext Grammatron (http://www.grammatron.com/) was awarded a showing at the prestigious Whitney Biennial. The careful study of hypertext in a teaching environment is important for several reasons. First, as a form of composition, hypertext offers unique challenges and advantages. Writing nonor multi-linear works allows students to rethink linear logic in their writing. The empowerment of the reader (as each reading creates a different "reading", making the reader more of a collaborator and less a passive recipient) can enhance student awareness of texts. Hypertext's focus on links and connections changes the composition process, emphasizing internal and external associations. Second, many students already use hypertext in the form of the Web and some CD-ROM games. However, few have been equipped with the intellectual tools to reflect in an informed way on their experience, and hence cannot make full use of the medium. Third, as object of literary criticism, hypertext is vital. Critics and writers such as Michael Joyce, Janet Murray, George Landow, Sadie Plant, and Espen Aarseth have opened up an exciting field; much work remains to be done in understanding and especially teaching the potentials of this form. I propose to investigate hypertext applications during the summer of 2001. My work will begin with a full survey of recent and current work in hypertext studies, building up a bibliography and set of materials aimed at student research usage. I will then study a series of hypertext works in different forms, from Storyspace texts to HTML-based narratives. Lastly, I plan to explore the possibilities of hypertext multimedia, starting from full-range Web sites (such as Grammatron) and ending with ActiveWorlds. These three-dimensional interactive environments easily enable hyperlinking and narrative (users become point of view characters, as in Myst), but have as yet not been developed for writing and "reading" purposes. My summer work will end with a set of teaching materials for the next academic year (2001-2002): selected hypertexts; critical readings; lesson plans; units within syllabi; assignments; at least one sample ActiveWorld text.