Blog # 4

Blog 4:  Write about your work on the Hypertext Assignment thus far.  Post a map of your site (so far) and your writing/plans for how you are going to create your hypertext. The more you post - the more your classmates and I can give you feedback on.

My plans are to create a hypertext assignment to target young adults.  My writing is about a teenage girl’s life.  I have created different headings which will be linked to different stories.  The plan is to give the reader the option of selecting the headings to experience the stories.  The headings won’t be in simple text.  I haven’t figured out exactly how I want to represent them, but I know I don’t want them to be plain words. 

I was toying with the idea of creating images to show what the story will be about if the reader selects it.  For example:  One story will be speaking about how the girl was a slave to her mother, so the image would have to show handcuffs or jail bars, something to show a lack of freedom.  My other headings are:  “Hypnosis, Birth, Hate, Identity, Peace, Death=Freedom, Prince Charming, Slaves, Religion, Unwanted, Dinner-Rice, DYFS, Responsibilities, Friends, Hateful Holidays, Birthday, Punching Bag, Virginity, Ready for it!”  If an image won’t suffice, maybe it will just be a sound that occurs once you hover over a color block. Not sure, but I want it to call attention to the reader so they can feel excited about what is “behind the curtain”.  Once they select the item, they will get the part of the story they selected.  Hopefully I could introduce the story in a creative way; instead of having the story appear on the screen, it could match up with the image the reader chose. 

There will be no sequence to how the story will be told.  The reader will receive the story based on how they make their choices.  (There is no “right” way of doing it.)  Hopefully it won’t be confusing to the reader, because the stories will be about one girl’s experience.  I am not sure if I should name the main character, because I would like the reader to formulate their own idea of who the character is.  I don’t want to give her any distinct features, so the reader will be able to place their own identities in the situation (hopefully this will make it more personal for each reader). 

Once the reader goes through the story, they will have to go back to the original screen to find another story to select.  However, I will continue to think about a way to integrate all the stories, so the reader could possibly get imbedded in the literature, and not have to return to the original screen to get more.