Essay 2
In most hypertexts, the authors include some forms of multimedia, i.e. music, graphics etc. The authors decide carefully what to pick and what not to pick. This is because graphics, especially, will influence the reader on his or her point of view and perceptions. (Hypertext Literacy, Sue Barnes) For instance, a reader may have never encountered a hurricane before. However, the hypertext, which the reader reads, happens to incorporate a video on hurricanes and pictures showing the disastrous effects of hurricanes. While reading, the reader gets an image and notion of what a hurricane is and what it can do. If the reader just read a hypertext reporting on hurricanes without any graphics, the reader will be unable to for images in his mind. All he or she sees are words on the hypertext. Hence the author is the one who is actually controlling the way the reader thinks and understand a hypertext.
Therefore, I cannot agree that hypertextual documents are a realisation of the writerly text. The hypertext will not exist if there is no author. The author is the one who plans and structures how a hypertext will develop. The reader cannot produce any text of his or her own without the author. The texts the reader produces are actually prescribed by the author. The author has placed links and information in the hypertext to guide the reader. The author selects these links and information to suit his or her intentions. In another word, the author has decided on what information shall the reader obtain from the hypertext. By restricting where the user may explore within a hypertext, without allowing the possibility of supplementing these associations with new discoveries, hypertexts restrict not only what to think, but, potentially how to think. The reader is actually at the mercy of the author. Hence the reader remains the consumer of the text.
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