abstract

background

theory

praxis

models

course

multilinearity
visual rhetoric
theory in practice

references

Where hypertext pulls the author in a nonlinear direction through dense interlinking, the academic essay places a premium on a clear, linear structure. The author of an effective academic hypertext embraces this tension by building a rationale into the selection of hyperlinks. The result can be a hypertext that enables the reader to construct her own reading as she navigates individual nodes, while simultaneously containing a sustained development of ideas common in an academic essay.

In a multilinear hypertext, "The author constructs the text so that it can be read in a variety of orders, and the reader approaches the text with that assumption" (Bolter, 1998, p.5). In their discussion of "multi-writing," Davis and Shadle (2000) include hypertexts among their list of projects that "resist, suspend, and/or decenter the master consciousness or central perspective inscribed in the essay as a unifying voice" (p. 431). A hypertext need not be completely open-ended, with each node leading to all other nodes in some hyperlink free-for-all. The author of a multilinear academic hypertext retains control over the range of nodal choices available to the reader without locking the reader into a linear structure (Cripps, 2002).

The design of the present node (constructing multilinearity) is but one example that illustrates this point. While the node contains more than ten hyperlinks, the design constrains the options. A reader uninterested in exploring multilinearity might select one of the other areas in the cluster of "theory" nodes by following a yellow link in the left-hand column. A reader less concerned with theory than classroom practice can select an appropriate link from the options across the top of the page. For the reader interested in hypertext theory, the nodes addressing multilinearity are presented in a (somewhat) linear fashion, indicating a train of thought. For this node, in-text links are minimal. Other nodes include in-text links that add information, provide supporting illustrations, or signal potentially interesting points of departure.

multilinearity | the problem of nonlinearity

abstract | background | theory | praxis | models | course