The means of expression authors have had available to use in their literary works have traditionally been very limited. In novels, poems, and short stories authors were limited to using only skills, such as language, verisimilitude, simile, and metaphor, to try and express to their audience the message of their work. Recent authors, such as Deena Larson, who have embraced the new online media, now have all the classical tools of expression, but also an entirely new set of tools at their disposal to use in their pieces. This new type of online media is known as hypertext. Hypertext, like Larsen’s Firefly, gives authors the capability to incorporate sounds, images, videos, links, and many other tools into their works. All the new media available at author’s fingertips gives the author the capability to not only use classical literary tools, but also new media tools to express to their audience their intended message. Deena Larsen’s piece can most closely be related to a poem because of its language, form, and content. Larsen’s inclusion of videos, links/choices, and backgrounds, however, take her piece into the realm of new media. Larsen’s use of a combination of classical literary tools and new media brings her audience into an interactive role with her piece, and also further expresses the mood of separation and depression.
| Introduction | Language | Choices | Ending | Conclusion |