1. Montfort argues that interactive fiction is distinctively different from hypertext fiction, stating: “There is… nothing in the nature of the lexia or the link, those fundamental elements of hypertext, that allows the reader to type and contribute text or provides the computer with the means to parse or understand natural language. […] Hypertext fiction also does not maintain an intermediate, programmatic representation of the narrative world, as interactive fiction does.”In terms of understanding how these two forms relate to/differ from narrative, is this distinction significant? Or are they more closely related that Montfort would like to admit? Discuss.

Yup, it is significant because it is the MAIN distinction between IF and hypertext. Basically, I feel that the two forms of narratives are the same if it were not for the fact that interactors can contribute to the story in IFs, while they can only change the sequence of the story in hypertexts.

Using 'The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' as an example, if we were not able to pick up items, to throw them back down, or to kill ourselves for that matter, it'd just become a hypertext where one just explores a story but isn't able to do anything about it. There wouldn't be that level of interactivity that classsifies it as an IF.

2. Espen Aarseth defines cybertext as a perspective on textuality, which considers a work as a textual machine, and sees the reader as having to make a non-trivial effort to traverse the text. Discuss whether Scott McCloud’s “Carl” comic strip can be considered a cybertext.

It's a textual machine since its got WORDS which we can READ right? Erm... and I guess the non-trivial effort lies in the fact that the comic strip is awfully tedious to read. We've gotta put in effort just deciding which frame leads to where. And after all that effort we've still got to make sense of what it actually means. But that's probably due to the fact that it, in my opinion, isn't well laid out. And it's a form of cybertext because it's been published online.

3. Does a potential narrative such as Paul Fournel’s “The Tree Theatre: A Combinatory Play” satisfy Crawford’s definition of interactivity? Could it be considered an example of interactive media? Why/why not?

To me, it wasn't highly interactive since the choices of statements were really limited. It probably doesn't fulfill Crawford's definition either. Crawford states that interactivity is only achieved when there's the input, process, output sequence. In this play, since the statements have already been decided, the process stage is probably lacking because there isn't much of a need to process.

When it's being acted out in front of an audience, however, it could become more interactive. Actors often change their style based on the kind of audience they get, and processing could take more than just choosing which statement they want, so there'll be a continuous flow of thoughts between actors and audience.

In "Hypertext, Hypermedia and Literary Studies: The State of the Art", Landow and Delany suggest that “hypertext can be expected to have important institutional as well as intellectual effects, for it is at the same time a form of electronic text, a radically new information technology, a mode of publication, and a resource for collaborative work… Hypertext historicizes many of our most commonplace assumptions, forcing them to descend from the ethereality of abstraction and appear as corollary to a particular technology and historical era. We can be sure that a new era of computerized textuality has begun; but what it will be like we are just beginning to imagine."This passage was written in 1991, at a time when hypertext systems were available in somewhat limited forms such as Hypercard and Intermedia, use of the Internet was largely confined to academic institutions, and the term “World Wide Web” had only just been coined. Now, 15 years later, comment and reflect upon the impact hypertext has had on the world.

I feel that even after such advancement, there is only so much Hypertext can influence in the world beyond the computer. Within the "World Wide Web", Hypertext continues to play an increasingly important role. Now we have an easier time doing searches and stuff.

Beyond that, I guess we could say that hypertext emphasizes the interconnectedness of everything... you know that 'no man is an island' concept. But I don't go through my day thinking about things like how hypertext influences our life. It's just when I have to answer questions like these that I'm forced to think up something.= )

gosh this uploading of photos thing took me a whole afternoon thanks to my ultra slow comp. i'll upload more later if my comp lets me.

1. In his paper “Modular Structure and Image/Text Sequences: Comics and Interactive Media”, George Legrady states: “Meaning in the interactive work is a result of the sequential selection of components that the viewer assembles in the viewing process. The viewer can then be considered as someone who actively constructs the narrative through the assembling of fragmented or modular information elements. The sequential sum of viewed selections becomes the narrative.” This approach to interactivity is reflected in his work Slippery Traces.
Discuss how this approach to constructing a narrative changes the roles of the reader and the author in the process of narrative transmission.

I believe what narratives like comics can do which other narratives(eg. novels etc) may not be as good at is allowing readers to play a part in constructing the narrative. By filling in the gaps between frames, the reader is intepreting what could possibly be happening. This intepretation may or may not be different from what the author intended, and the author can't be there to tell the reader whether or not he is on the right track.

Using the example of the most simplified comic strip containing 2 frames of Carl telling his mother that he won't drink and drive, and later showing a tomb stone, one could make a multitude of intepretations as to why he died, which would most likely, at some stage, be different from the 52 complete slides shown. This would make every reader's experience different.

Because of this, I think it is even more crucial than usual for authors/artists to think of the best possible way to represent their thoughts so as to put across their intended meaning. However, the author's role later diminishes in the reader's intepretation of the text.

2. Choose a set of 5-10 images that you feel form a narrative. If they are not digital images, scan them into the computer (there’s a scanner available in the USP multimedia lab). Arrange them in a linear sequence on your blog. You may or may not want to include text captions with each image.Bring a physical copy of your images to class on Thursday. We’ll be using them as part of an in-class exercise.



3. Write about the narrative that your group has chosen for project 1. Why have you chosen this work? How might you approach the task of re-configuring it as an interactive piece? Be prepared to discuss your group’s choice of work in class on Thursday.

We're doing a combination of a few fairytales. -to be continued-