Writing Assignment: Reflections on Hyperfictions

Assigned: Tuesday, 21 September 1999
Draft Due: Thursday, 30 September 1999
Paper Due: Tuesday, 12 October 1999

This is a writing assignment. You should reflect on my notes on writing assignments before undertaking this assignment.

Write a 800-1000 word essay that compares your experience reading one of the hyperfictions (afternoon, a story, Patchwork Girl, Quibbling, or Victory Garden) to your experience reading a traditionally published (in printed book form) novel or short story. Include some discussion of

• passive versus active reading;
• intended audience of both works and whether with either work there will be something that each reader; and
• your response to the fixity or fludity of the text, its sense of or lack of conclusion.

Finally, discuss which experience you enjoy more and why. How much does your response to the hyperfiction have to do with habit and learned expectation, or your own innate personal preferences?