Name: ________________
Date: __________
English 2
Mr. Lehmann

                     Thinking about Reading and Writing

     We take reading for granted some times. Let's take a look at how
     we read.

     How do we think about reading? How do we read? What order do we
     go in? What happens when we want to know more? How do images and
     words compliment one another?

     How do reading and writing inform one another? Is there one
     implicit reader that a writer writes for? Victor Martinez talked
     about how he ordered the chapters of his book very carefully, and
     many of you have asked about how the order your own
     autobiographies should be ordered. What would happen if readers
     could decide the order in which they could read the book? Should
     they be able to?

     So now you are all wondering where I am going with this, and yes,
     there is an assignment at the bottom of this. With all the new
     technology we have in front of us, it is becoming possible to, as
     a reader, make more decisions than ever before about how we read.
     The idea of hyper-text, which is ele ctronic text that, when
     chosen, takes the reader to different places, changes the way we
     read. The World Wide Web, with all its "links" is built around
     this idea. What I want us to explore is how that can really
     affect creative writing. What would happen if the reader could
     choose what scenes they wanted to read, what characters they
     wanted more descriptions of, what characters they wanted pictures
     of... how does that change the idea of who "authors" or "owns"
     the document? How does that change the meaning of the story? 


     Assignment (Part One): Everyone can free write a short story on
     any topic they choose. You should then get into a peer group of
     3-4 people. Share the stories. Revise them together, but most
     importantly, whenever you see a place where you think a
     description should be added, write it on a separate piece of
     paper. If you can think of another way a character could act,
     write it. If you want to expand on a scene, write it. We will use
     all these additions when we "hyper-text" this story.