Essay 2
Roland Barthes describes the ideal text as one that allows the reader to be not just a consumer but at the same time, also a producer of the text. Many teachers and authors of hypertext strongly believe that hypertext is the ideal text. To them, hypertext is an open-ended text. No meanings have been pre-defined by the author. There are no definite directions, which the author has planned for the readers to follow. The reader is free to choose his or her own paths along the text, through the links.
Hypertext, according to Nicholas C. Burbules, “is a means of allowing widely differing material to coexist in a computer system; access is controlled by creating networks, links, and branches, recognizing the spatial multidimensionality of written materials, their manifold interconnectedness.” (Knowledge at the Crossroads, Burbules & Callister). The reader is able to access the information from the links directly, through the computer. The reader no longer needs to visit the library or bookstore in search of relevant materials. By clicking on the links, the reader is exposed to all sorts of possibilities. At the same time, the reader obtains meanings through his or her own interpretations of the information provided by the text and links. At this point, it is possible to argue that hypertext is an ideal text because, as shown, the reader constructs his or her own meanings out of the hypertext. The reader 'writes' in his or her own mind. The reader does not just read the hypertext; he or she actually participates in producing a text in the mind, unique in its own way.
