Hypertext: hype or text?
Hauptstudium. Di 13:15-14:45. GW2 B2740

If you have ever stared at a website in non-comprehension and wondered just where the information you are looking for is hiding, then this course is (partially) for you! The course explores systematically how information is presented in texts and how models of text structure extend to deal with 'newer' forms of textuality such as hypertext and the web.

We will consider linguistic models of rhetoric and how they can give insight into how information can be presented so that its potential consumers can find it. We will also explore how modern web methods can be used to deliver rhetorically well-constructed texts.

Finally, we will be seeking to put the boot on the other foot: rather than assuming that we are too dumb to find the information that must be there on a website, we will instead practise linguistic methods by which we can demonstrate objectively that it may well be the webdesigner who has messed up! Note, however, that this is NOT an introduction to EDV or basic usage of the web! We will be concerned more with the linguistic analysis of webpages and other similar documents.

Course assessment will be by project: each course participant will work with a small collection of documents, apply our methods for rhetorical analysis to them, and describe how the documents could be improved on the basis of the analysis. Prior participation in a basic web and/or computer usage course will be an advantage but is not essential.

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