Creative Hypertext Project:

Timeline for Project: 

Nov. 9th: First Hypertext Draft Narrative Due (bring 4 paper copies)

Nov. 30th: Final Hypertext Narrative Due (bring 4 paper copies, along with digital version - or have access to digital version for workshopping in computer lab)

Dec. 7th: Bring digital version of narrative w/ any visual images you want to accompany your narrative for workshopping in computer lab

Dec. 14th: FINAL CREATIVE HYPERTEXT PROJECT DUE, along with 2 page reflection paper 

* IF ANYONE HAS FLASH DESIGN SKILLS, PLEASE SEE ME.   

Each of you which will produce a CREATIVE HYPERTEXT PROJECT of your own that will also become part of a larger collaborative community/class hypertext project, along with a two page (double spaced, typed) process reflection paper (see below). This creative hypertext project is replacing a second critical paper and a final exam, so I expect each of you to put a lot of effort into this project, but I also want you to have fun with it. The purpose of this project is for you to learn through experience - to actually engage in an activity that reflects what you are reading and learning about. 

No web authoring experience is necessary; however, if you have web authoring experience, you are more than encouraged to utilize it. Grades will be based on originality, concept, effort, and the connections  that you make between what you have learned in class and the project you produce, which will all be evident in your work and within the two page process reflection that will accompany your final project. 

When all is finished, the collection of hypertext projects will then be uploaded onto the class website as one community project at the end of the term. Your creative project is worth 30% of your final grade. 

This project, in its basic narrative structure, will mirror that of "City Threads," but hopefully will be more visually interesting and more creatively expansive in its storytelling ability. I encourage you to utilize your imagination to its fullest, as well as your visual and design skills. If you do not have (or think you do not have) any particular skill to offer visually, perhaps you can find a photograph or an image (or ask a friend to offer one for you) that you would like to accompany your text; or perhaps you would like to play around with the actual text itself, manipulating the text so that it becomes visually aesthetic. All of this, we will discuss as the project progresses, and you will have plenty of time to discuss your ideas and share them with your classmates. Much of what we will be reading and looking at over the course of the class will also give you numerous ideas, as well. 

In order for this project to work (and all come together as a community - linking together through various characters), we must lay out some basic story elements (i.e.: place/time). So as you write your narrative, place your narrative character within the city of Chicago, sometime between 3 p.m. on New Year's Eve, 2006, and New Year's Day at 3 p.m., 2007. It starts snowing around 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve, a light snow at first that then becomes more cumulative as the night wears on (the weather forecast was for up to 24-27 inches, 2 - 2 1/4 feet, by morning of New Year's day). As usual in Chicago, it's very windy. By 11 p.m., the snow is up to people's ankles, and there are drifts that are actually up to people's knees and above in places where the wind has blown the snow into piles. Buses and trains are extremely slow by this time, and cabs are becoming increasingly hard to find. By 2 a.m., the snow has reached people's knees . . . and it just keeps falling. There seems to be no end in sight to the snowfall. 

• For the first hypertext draft narrative: you will write up to two pages of narrative following the basic story setting I've laid out (above) - your "story" can have some non-fictional elements or can be completely fictional. You can use either your real or a fictional name within your "story," but you must write your narrative in first person ("I"). I encourage you to be imaginative and creative. In this draft, don't worry yet about who you will be "linking up" with - just write your own narrative. You can be any age, any gender, and be in any job of your choice (or jobless) . . . or you could still be a college student (or a child) - the choice is yours. You must turn in a minimum of two pages, but no more than four pages. And when you turn in your draft, bring a total of four copies (one for me, and three for those with whom you will be linking). You, in turn, will be receiving three other narratives to read (to which you will need to then add a few lines of text in an attempt to find a story link to their narrative).

• For the final hypertext draft narrative: you will have made contact (outside of class) with your three hypertext "partners" and will have inserted your story links to their narratives into your final narrative, as they will have done in order to link into your narrative. Your narrative, in terms of content, should be complete. 

• For the Dec. 7th computer workshop: we will be working on visual style and imagery. This is your opportunity to put the visual touches to your narrative, whether that means adding images, audio, or making adjustments to text (color, font size, placement of text, etc.).

• Dec. 14th: your final project should be complete, with all elements of your narrative (story and visual elements) added, and all links to other "partner" stories complete. Your two page reflection paper should also be complete, as well.

THE TWO PAGE REFLECTION PAPER will give you an opportunity to reflect on the process of creating a hypertext project, and it will give me a chance to find out more about what you learned during your creative process. This two page reflection piece should be really easy, if you just jot down a few notes about your process as you go through it (kind of like a mini-journal). I do not need a well-structured paper in essay format. Though it should be typed and double-spaced, I simply need a coherent reflection journal/paper that discusses your process and your response to the overall project. Below are some questions to keep in mind as you journal: 

• What part of the process did you find most difficult? Why?

• What part of the process was most rewarding? Why? 

• What did you learn from this project that surprised you? 

• Did the project help you further understand some of the concepts we read about and discussed in class? How so? 

• Do you think this project was more helpful to you in learning about literature and the culture of cyberspace than writing an essay? Why or why not?

• How was the process of working with other classmates? 

• Did you feel that you had the freedom to be creative? Did you enjoy working on the project? Why or why not? 

• What advice would you give for future creative hypertext projects?