Megan Heyward - Week 12
b) With specific reference to Megan Heyward’s of day, of night do you think that the components of hypertext (text, image, sound, and interactivity) allow the contemporary creative artist to break through to new ways of engaging their audience?
I believe that the components of hypertext have the potential to engage a new type of reader. As a pre-service English teacher I look at Heyward’s Of day, of night in terms of its ability to engage adolescent responders. Of day, of night subverts ideas of composer and responder, of the concept of “text”, of the linearity of traditional texts. It is not a text that can be read from beginning to end. It is not a text that one can analyse after reading and say “this is what the author meant to say.” Far from dictatorial as most texts tackled by students today often are, of day, of night forces students to draw their own meaning from the text rather than rote learning the opinion of some scholar and regurgitating this onto an exam paper. They can no longer say “well the composer did this so that the responder would think this” because they are no longer passive responders to words on a page. The non-linear nature of the text mirrors the world such adolescent “responders” are living in. There is no longer a set chain of events leading from one’s birth to one’s death. The world is a complex network, a web of choices, decisions, opportunities. The weaving of such a network into Of day, of night allows “responders” to draw connections between the text and their world, a vital element of engaging an audience. Such a technologically driven text is more accessible for our students than it is for us. They will draw meaning from choices of sound, roll-over effects, positioning of images and other compositional choices that we will overlook. The interactivity allows the reader to imagine that the text was written for them. They are able to choose objects that interest them. The pace of the text is set by their own hand.
I believe that the components of hypertext have the potential to engage a new type of reader. As a pre-service English teacher I look at Heyward’s Of day, of night in terms of its ability to engage adolescent responders. Of day, of night subverts ideas of composer and responder, of the concept of “text”, of the linearity of traditional texts. It is not a text that can be read from beginning to end. It is not a text that one can analyse after reading and say “this is what the author meant to say.” Far from dictatorial as most texts tackled by students today often are, of day, of night forces students to draw their own meaning from the text rather than rote learning the opinion of some scholar and regurgitating this onto an exam paper. They can no longer say “well the composer did this so that the responder would think this” because they are no longer passive responders to words on a page. The non-linear nature of the text mirrors the world such adolescent “responders” are living in. There is no longer a set chain of events leading from one’s birth to one’s death. The world is a complex network, a web of choices, decisions, opportunities. The weaving of such a network into Of day, of night allows “responders” to draw connections between the text and their world, a vital element of engaging an audience. Such a technologically driven text is more accessible for our students than it is for us. They will draw meaning from choices of sound, roll-over effects, positioning of images and other compositional choices that we will overlook. The interactivity allows the reader to imagine that the text was written for them. They are able to choose objects that interest them. The pace of the text is set by their own hand.