Rhizomes and Hyperlinks

Before coming to class on Tuesday, I had read Landow and his thoughts on hypertext. He mentioned that hypertext was the function of the reader and this really stuck out to me. I had never thought of hypertext as that way. This motivated me to do more research on the subject and make me think of what I thought hypertext was before coming to this class. I knew hypertext was digitally based but I didn't realize how much exposure hypertext was getting.

The fact that this thing can link topics on the screen to any other related topic or picture or graphic, is kind of impressive if one sits back and thinks about it. It seems pretty cut and dry but as I have read more about it, I have realized that it goes much deeper than that. You don't even realize that the author who adds hypertext, is creating even more originality to his or her text. He found that information useful to his text and added it in there to provide more helpful information for the reader to follow. I also believe that not only is the function of the hypertext of the reader, but I think it is for the author as well. I do believe that most of the responsibility is in the readers hand but I also think the author deserves a little bit of that responsibility as well.

Most of my research led me to believe that hypertexts or rhizomes add intertextuality and supplies the reader with a more interactive based text. I think it also gives us a way to interpret things on a whole new level. The idea of "rooting" is prominent in Landows discoveries and shows me how hyperlinks provide a way into someone else's work. It links the two together in order to provide a even stronger message and background and I also believe that people will be able to convey their message even better with the use of hyperlinks.