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Chapter 8 |
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Exercises and Assignments |
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An Exercise in Understanding Links and Navigation
One of the most difficult transitions between writing a traditional academic paper and a hypertext is understanding the difference between composing a linear and a non-linear argument. You’ve probably already done some work with non-linear arguments; perhaps you’ve done a visual mapping or flow-chart exercise in preparation for writing an essay. However, typically students convert their web into a more conventional document that moves progressively from introduction, through evidence, to conclusion.
One of the most helpful ways to understand the different possibilities and parameters of non-linear argument is to perform a close reading of the structure of a hyperlinked text. For this assignment, you should create a retro-map of an existing hypertext – that is, you will be using visual mapping not to brainstorm an idea, but to chart the structure of an series of interlinked web pages. You can create your retro-map by hand or using a computer program such as Inspiration; what is important is that you carefully reproduce the structure of the text.
For the purposes of this assignment, you should concentrate on a research-based hypertext, one that makes an argument based on the use of primary and/or secondary sources. You can find excellent examples of these sort of hypertexts through the hyperlink below, an archive of collaborative class projects from a Stanford University computer science class.
When turning in your retro-map, be sure to include a page long cover memo, in which you discuss how the exercise influence your understanding of the structural demands and differences of hypertexts, as well as your critical evaluation of the rhetorical effectiveness of the hypertext’s argument and structure.
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