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English
165LT: Hypertext Fiction & Poetry
Assignments
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- The Eastgate disks
may be purchased from the UCen bookstore or directly
from Eastgate: http://www.eastgate.com.
- With the exception
of the Eastgate disks and the two books (Espen Aarseth
and Ana Castillo), all of our course reading is online.
- Online readings are
all reachable from our class webpage.
Some of the electronic reading may need to be done
on a relatively high-powered computer, and I recommend
you visit one of the computer labs for this purpose.
When it comes time to browse an index or site, I will
direct you to a few particular texts.
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Participation
Weight:
25% of final grade
Since
this course is mid-sized, it will balance lecture and student participation.
You should come to class prepared to answer general and detailed questions
about the texts on the syllabus. You will also have a chance to participate
in class discussions over our listerv. I will post questions and comments
to the list, but this forum should allow you to engage with the other members
of the class and pursue discussion topics that spring from our regular
class sessions.
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As part of your class participation, one substantive email message to the
class listserv <engl165> will be required. This can be in response to
one of my messages, a response to the reading, or a response to a topic
discussed in class.
- We will
also have one chat session to discuss a hypertext by Jeff Parker (we will
be reading his hypertext, "A Long Wild Smile," beforehand). He will be
a "visiting" speaker during this chat session, and you will all have the
opportunity to speak directly to a hypertext author.
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Close
Reading of a Hypertext
Weight:
15% of final grade
Length:
1 page, single spaced, narrow margins
Deadline:
varies
One
of the assignments for this course is a formal analysis of one of the hypertexts
on our syllabus. Your analysis should present an argument about the hypertext
that accounts for both its form and its content. Some of your close reading,
then, should concern the design and related elements of the text (e.g.
links and linking structure, layout, colors, fonts, maps, images, sound).
To begin developing your argument, you might ask yourself these questions:
How does the hypertext "work"? What are its primary themes? What motifs
emerge in the language of the text? What is the relationship between the
medium and the content of the hypertext? What are the effects of the formal
and technological design and would they be repeatable in a different moment
or in a different medium? What are the temporal and spatial perimeters
of the hypertext? To what extent does the hypertext depend upon your interaction
and response to it?
Please
note that you should attend to the scale of both the hypertext and of your
paper. Since the close reading is to be relatively short, you will need
to establish a balance between general and particular comments (between
the work or project as a whole and the work in its component parts). To
allow for focused and detailed analysis, you will need to single out a
few elements (thematic, formal, machinic) of the hypertext.
Close
readings are due the day we are to discuss your chosen text in class. So,
for example, if you wished to write about Dan Waber's Strings,
your paper would be due on November 20. |
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Midterm
Paper
Weight:
25% of final grade
Deadline:
10/30/01
The
midterm paper should be 4-5 pages. Questions and topics will be assigned. |
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Final
Project
Weight:
35% of final grade
Deadline:
12/13/01
For
the final course project, all students will compose a hypertext that is
placed online at the end of the quarter. You should all determine your
own topics, but you should do so in consultation with me. If the project
is a standard seminar paper, then the approximate length should be 8 pages
in print. If the project is not at all designed in linear terms, however,
then the guiding quantifiable principle should be subsumed to conceptual
scope; that is, the project should be equivalent to a final course paper
in argumentative range and ambition. This project will allow you to demonstrate
the extent and quality of your engagement with the material and issues
covered in this course.
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Hypertext fiction and poetry projects are also welcome, but they should
be accompanied by a short (3 pg.) critical analysis of the composition.
Creative projects should be original to this course and should not simply
be a mark-up of a previously composed piece.
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On October 18, a Transcriptions RA will visit
our class to present a tutorial on the basics
of HTML, WYSIWYG editors, FTP, and umail. Also,
there will be drop-in hours in the Transcriptions
Lab in South Hall, and there are a number of
technicians in the campus labs who can assist
you.
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On December 13, you should send me an email
message that includes the URL of your final
project. I will link all of the projects to
our class webpage.
If your critical response does not already comment
on the technical specs of your site (e.g. the
number of pages), you might want to mention
them in your email message. If some of your
links are buried, for example, mention this.
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