ESTRUCTURA

Structure

Regarding the structure of the work, I will consider the external structure in the form of the web design used and its internal structure in the system of links and contents.

Initially we are presented with the cover which offers the reader a series of four different options from which to choose: Begin, Aztecs, Related and Help; begin takes us to the beginning of the work, the second link provides us with more detailed information regarding Aztec culture, the third refers us to another page containing useful links if you are interested in researching the Aztecs online and the final option links us to a page which provides help in reading Sister Stories. Furthermore, the cover also contains the three authors of this hypertext, Rosemary Joyce, Carolyne Guyer and Michael Joyce. When we click on these names, we are given the hypertext bibliographies of these authors. Once we have passed the page of presentation, the author introduces us to the space in which the work is set, with its series of paths or itineraries which the reader can choose to follow throughout the development of the work, thus enabling us to create our very own storyline. With each new page, characterized by its simple design of a white background with a small icon which changes as we move from one page to the next, we can follow the development of the story in a non-hierarchical fashion. Despite the freedom which this hypertext format allows us, the different options which we can choose from in no way vary the development of the events according to the option taken. Yet each new page corresponds to a temporal evolution within the story or, more specifically, each page left when taking one new path or another leads us to the next page. Although it is true that a link on one page may take us back to another previously read and vice-versa. It is also of worth to note the presence of the following image, the work’s characteristic icon, which appears throughout Sister Stories.

With regard to the internal structure, this system of links characteristic to all hypertext works, is particularly complicated in Sister Stories. To enable easier reading, the author has employed a series of navigational tools. The authors make use of navigation maps in the form link lists, which favour the localization of information on Aztec culture, and also makes use of guided tours, “back” mechanisms and images, which although often confusing, can help us to familiarize ourselves with the text and, in so doing, gain a better understanding of its contents, as can be seen in the following example:

Home - Aztecs - Related - Help

"And when the baby was born, they read the day signs. They summoned the diviner, they told him the instant it had arrived, the instant it had been born. Then he looked at, he opened the writings. The diviner studied the day signs... Then he chose a good day, not just the fourth day hence, that it be bathed. He still skipped; he sought a good day, or a good one of its companions which governed there."

All the links inside the story are connected between them, as a spiderweb. We can start reading the story in two ways: pressing Begin or going to Aztec and then press in any of the links in the text.

INTRODUCTION HYPERTEXT STRUCTURE TOOLS CONCLUSION SECOND PAPER

Universitat de València Press