Hegiarascope: Hypertext Critique

Hegiarascope is a hypertext with an interesting background. When the first page opens the website, you are already overwhelmed by the images and texts.

The middle of the page has a square box with the word Hegiarascope in bold black letters and the background changing constantly. The colors are bright and the images are overdone for the beginning. It makes the reader wonder what they are getting themselves in to but doesn’t really give them a clue to what it’s really about.  The fact that around it is empty white space focuses the audience more on the center but also makes it seem like the page might be missing something.

The bottom has an easy navigation tool with choices for an introduction, the copyright information, and a place to begin the Hegiarascope.  That made is easy to figure out what to do and helped the reader navigate the page easily.

Depending on what you choose to do; either read the introduction or begin the Hegiarascope, the effect is completely different.

Read introduction first

Begin without reading introduction


Either way....

Although the Hegiarascope appears to be chaotic, after a while the audience can sense some kind of organization to it.  In a lot of the stories such as the “catalogs of dreams” one, the writer uses “you” making the reader instantly part of the story and making the story more real.  Additionally, many of the stories are completely different but still have some kind of relevance.

A good example of that is “release” and “conclusion”. With the story structure and the color being green, the reader instantly feels it’s a continuation of the story even if it might not have anything to do with it. The style of text, writing, and similar use of image show a connection to the reader and provide a relevance that might not have been there if the color or writing style was different.

Additionally, the fact that “catalog of dreams” is titled by numbers and has different stories, the similar title also shows relavence and a connection for the reader.

A different outlook

In conclusion,    there is a reason this Hegiarascope can be considered a literary work of fiction although it seems like it doesn’t fit the typical template of what a novel or literary work requires.  Strangely, it finds other ways to work to tell a story and intrigue a reader so the reader can get lost in this other world and spend hours enjoying this mysterious piece of work.

Other questions to ponder…

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