Lecture 7: New Media Art and Stories

In the lecture we talked about new ways of creating art in a digital environment. For the seminar we're going to explore an example of a new media fiction called Inanimate Alice. We're most interested to find out how the medium (the internet with its possiblity for sound, image, video, text and interaction) affects the story of Alice in episode 1: China. This is a short episode (about 5-10 minutes) so you'll have plenty of time to read it a few times and answer the questions.



Before reading Inanimate Alice you might like to review these helpful resources:
Subject = Digital Literacy: “Literature in a Hypermedia Mode: An interview with Marjorie Luesebrink” by Thomas Swiss and “Electronic Literacies” by Caitlin Fisher

Subject = Modes: “Examining a Picture” by Dr. Martha Driver, “On Gold and Silver Ages and the Elements of Hypertext” by Jennifer Ley (see page 2) and “Hypertext and the Art of Memory” by Janine Wong and Peter Storkerson

Student Objectives:

After completing this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify and become familiar with multiple modes of representation.
• Critique the effects of various modes on the narrative.
• Give examples of explicit calls for participatory reading in Inanimate Alice.

Students should refer to accompanying handouts for further explanation and questions.

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Student Handout: Reading Inanimate Alice, Episode 1 - Student Reading Reflection

NOTE: Students should answer at least ONE of these questions as a comment to this post.

Now you have finished reading “Episode 1: China,” Inanimate Alice. Write a short blog (or journal) entry to think about your reading experience. Be sure to answer the following:

What I did (Explain how you read the story – did your eyes scan each screen from left to right? How did you feel about the sound, images, and words that would appear all at the same time on certain screens?)




What I enjoyed (Write about what you liked most about Episode 1)



What I found difficult (Write about the most difficult part of reading Episode 1)



What really worked (What was the best bit about the story and why)




Next time (What will you do when it comes to reading Episode 2? How will you prepare? What tips might you share with other readers for their first digital story reading experience?)

Thanks to all the students of MEDS 2007 for participating!!!