Hypertext

Perhaps it is easiest to define hypertext in terms of what it is not rather than what it is.
When one reads a printed book, one tends to read from the beginning to the middle to the end. (at least, this is how we're expected to read it!).  We call this way of reading "Linear", because it follows a pattern much like a line.
Hypertext is "non-linear". It may start at the beginning; it may start at the middle. In fact, in a hypertext work, one begins to wonder if there really IS such a thing as a beginning, middle or end.

Think of any experience you have had on the World Wide Web.
How many times have you actually read a web page in its entirety?
More often, you likely read until you see a "link" that interests you, click on it
and get carried away to some other page, some other subject, and sometimes, some other reality!
That's hypertext!

Back to the Shakespeare ISU Projects

More about Hypertext:
 
The Theory:
The Electronic Labyrinth

The growth of the Technology
Technological Timeline
Literary Timeline
 
Sample Works

Marble Springs   by Deena Larson

More samples of published  Hypertext Fiction can be found at
Eastgate Systems
 

Part of the inspiration for these projects came from a project being conducted at an aletrnative highschool in New York City called The Beacon School.  There, students in a "Cyber English" class, write their own stories and present them in a hyper-text format. The underlying philosophy of the projects is similar.
To read about the projects click here.
To view some sample student work, click here.