Mapping Out the Story
The Body was a personal exploration, at least partially fictional. It was easy to connect to because everyone has things they like and dislike about themselves, and Shelley Jackson was no different. Each part of her body reminds her of something that happened in her past, or some aspect of her future. It was an interesting experiment that shows the way we associate events with objects, I think.
The Body came closer to having a plot than the University of Yellow Wallpaper did. It was easy to follow because everyone has a body, or at least part of one, so a reader knows what to expect, what pattern to follow. I suppose calling it a plot would be wrong, because that implies an ongoing story, a beginning and and end, but this was another hypertext circle. So let's just say it had structure.
It wasn't completely confined to reality, though. There were hidden pages not on the "map", and there were unexpected body parts: the phantom limb, the tail. I think this takes a step closer to what I was talking about in my last entry. Hypertext prose doesn't have to be chaos. I felt kinder towards the writer because she mapped out her main idea on the first page.
Kilian really did have a point when he talked about writers being obligated to make their sites as understandable as possible. When I understood the structure, it was like a weight was lifted off my mind, and I could fully focus on enjoying the prose.
kthxbai
The Body came closer to having a plot than the University of Yellow Wallpaper did. It was easy to follow because everyone has a body, or at least part of one, so a reader knows what to expect, what pattern to follow. I suppose calling it a plot would be wrong, because that implies an ongoing story, a beginning and and end, but this was another hypertext circle. So let's just say it had structure.
It wasn't completely confined to reality, though. There were hidden pages not on the "map", and there were unexpected body parts: the phantom limb, the tail. I think this takes a step closer to what I was talking about in my last entry. Hypertext prose doesn't have to be chaos. I felt kinder towards the writer because she mapped out her main idea on the first page.
Kilian really did have a point when he talked about writers being obligated to make their sites as understandable as possible. When I understood the structure, it was like a weight was lifted off my mind, and I could fully focus on enjoying the prose.
kthxbai
I really liked the structure of her page as well. It made sense to be able to click on each section of the body to read about it. It gave the reader more freedom in consciously choosing where to go next. For example, when I wanted to read about the nose, I just had to click on the nose. Jackson made it simple. Enough said.