ANALYSIS
OF NARRATIVE TOOLS
This hypertext is formed by eight reading connected
spaces.
Color,
type of letter and pictures:
When you firstly access to the initial page that
includes the story, you can see the title in italics, in red-colour, and the type of letter is Times New Roman. What it
is most highlighted is the words Changing Room, that are the main part of the
title. Then we have a short sentence that gives us an idea of what we are going
to read: Fanciful Tales
in Hypertext (©http://www.wordcircuits.com/gallery/changing/).
Below, we have the name of the
authoress that links to the main
page where a lot of authors and stories are included. Under her name, we
have both links, one on the left side called Introduction
and another one called Begin Reading.
If you click on Introduction, you observe another page where it guides you through
the reading; it explains how and where to start and what the meaning of the symbols is to follow the story as you want.
To start, you can click on a fleeing figure, that you will see through the
reading, in some parts of the tales appears and makes you come back Home. Moreover
you can click on You may enter now and the story
begins.
Now we are in the main screen, before the beginning of
the tale; we have a table (3 x 3) where you can see the name of the character
who tells every story; each of them has a different color and type of letter,
depending on his story and dreams or sensations.
The first of the characters proposed (the first
because it’s on the top left-hand corner, but you can choose any of them) is
called Angelo.
His name is in blue, as well as the sentences that every character has under
his name, and behind it, appears a sort of face, it cannot be clearly seen but
it is deducible because the rest of the characters have it. The color of the
name is very representative because in this tale, Angelo wants to be a cloud
artist; his inspiration is the sky and the clouds flowing over him give him the
inspiration he needs to really find what he wants to do with his life.
Moreover, the name, could not be more revealing, he seems to be an Angel living
in Earth.
The second story (continuing from left to right and
then from top to bottom) is about Clara. Her
name is in navy blue color and the image that appears behind the name is two
faces looking each other. I think that the blue color represents the situation
of this girl. She cannot be reflected in any mirror, which is the reason why
she feels uncomfortable with herself and, what’s more, at the end of the story
breaks the mirror of her employer, bleeding herself and finally she pushes
Gifford and he disappears. So the dark color represents her soul and
sensations, and the picture is obviously making a summary of the main idea of
the tale; finally, the sentence gets the most important idea of Clara’s
thought.
The third one is Doris. Her
name is in green color and the picture is a crazy head, with disheveled hair
and green strange eyes.
I think that green color, that represents hope, is
what Doris represents too; she thinks that if she takes care of her father, he
would get over, although finally he escapes through the window; the same
problem with her husband, Kevin, but the difference is that he escapes on his
own free will, because, though he felt a great attraction for the moon, he
could have come back home on foot.
The picture represents the chaotic situation that
Doris is living, that wants to take under control, but finally is impossible.
And the sentence obviously represents what she desires to have the both men of
her life next to her.
The fourth one, Elizabeth,
has a rose-pink color and the written is like a melancholic or even romantic
type of letter.
I think that the color defines her character; she is so loving with her husband that tries to find out why he
is suffering, why he’s disappearing, what he feels when he disappears; she
wants to know everything to help him. If he forgets their silver wedding
anniversary, she does not care, because he is with her. In the end, I think
that the romantic image of his heart being transparent sums up the relationship
that they had. As if he wanted to show her that everything he did in life was
with the heart and wants to show her that is the most important thing to
appreciate in him.
The picture, a face with long hair extended in the
air, maybe could represent her insistence on being always beauty. And finally,
in the sentence we can see a representation of Gifford in the fireflies, as if
the light that they give off could be the light of him trying to guide her in
life.
The fifth one is Gifford.
The way that the letters of his name are written, spongy and looking like
clouds, represent the essence of Gifford. Moreover, the color, grey, as if it
was clearing Gifford, which finally disappears, although reappears being a
different person. Then, the sentence is another excellent summary of the tale,
because Gifford tries not to fade, but in the end is something unavoidable. The
picture that represents Gifford’s feelings is excellent because is a face where
we can only appreciate the general features, not the whole face, so directly
and subliminally, the authoress is telling us in advance, what is going to
happen to the character.
The sixth tale is told by a man called Hank. The
color used when referring to him is purple, but I think that in this case the
most important could be the similarity between the name and the verb “hang”
that refers to the real situation of him. Along the tale he is on the top of
the house, avoiding gravity, so he is like a hung object, in certain way. The
sentence represents his situation as well as the picture, where we can observe
that is faced down. Moreover the face is almost smiling, the same as the
character that did not suffer about his situation what’s more, he was very
proud of being different.
The seventh tale is about Kevin. Maybe
the color, orange or the type of letter does not say anything to us, but if we
pay attention at the sentence or even the picture, we can understand more
things.
The picture is a face looking like a monster or a
werewolf, with bright eyes as showing his fascination and submission towards
the moon. He feels extremely attracted by it, until the point that he abandons
her wife Doris, and follows her light.
The last one tale is told by Rita. I think
that the color, pink, does not represent anything special but the way of
labeling a woman with the typical feminine color. Finally, the picture, looking
like a person imitating a bird flying, is the main idea and fear of Rita, which
dreams with tropical birds. Maybe they are the conveyor of her soul. And the
sentence reflects the worry of Rita trying to recover it.
Then if you click on Begin Reading, that
is an extremely useful tool, you have a list of the parts of the tales that
have you read, and the last one you read. Then there is an option of continuing
reading where you left it or start again with the stories and the Menu.
[Back] [Reading Model]
Academic year
2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Diana Descalzo Conde
diades@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de València
Press