Interactive Hypertext for Interactive Readers :: Hypertext Internet Reading Essays

Interactive Hypertext for Interactive Readers With every new advancement in technology the roles of the writer and the roles of the reader are changed; sometimes it is a small change and other times it can be a drastic transformation. In this modern age it seems the role that the reader or the audience plays is shifting significantly. I don’t think there has ever been a point in history where there was as much interactivity as there is currently. The main reason for this change in the reader’s role is the rapidly growing amount of hypertext being used. In the 1960’s, Ted Nelson was the first person to coin this popular term â€Å"hypertext† but I prefer to reference Bolter’s description. Hypertext, as described by Jay Bolter in Writing Space, is layered writing and reading, where you can click on links within a narrative or article. These links work as reference points and can work as footnotes or as references to what you were reading. They can also take you to an entirely different type of webpage all together. Bolter also points out that it is important to realize that the second webpage you are linked to is not always subordinate to the first. On page 33, Bolter describes hypertext as being similar to â€Å"prewriting† which kids learn to do in school. I think prewriting is what I’ve always called a mind map, which is just a map drawn out like a spider web to show how each idea is interconnected to all the other ideas. Hypertext can be related to, but is not the same as, intertextualit y(178). Intertextuality is the interrelation of all text on the same topic, language or culture, while hypertext is references within a text and allusions between texts. I think it is important to see the changes in the role of reader in hypertext fiction and reference web pages that incorporate hypertext. The reference web pages that use hypertext give the reader more interaction and power, and which in turn, gives the author much less supremacy. Hypertext in reference websites can be very helpful, it enables someone to click on one website and have numerous links to an unlimited amount of information and knowledge. This makes me wonder if the people who have ready access to the internet will become smarter, over time, due to the accessibility of hypertext.

Did the Church Help or Hinder the Progress of Medicine in the Middle Ages?Did the Church Help or Hinder the Progress of Medicine in the Middle Ages?

Did the church help or hinder the progress of medicine in the middle Ages? In this essay I will be looking at the different aspects of medicine in the Middle Ages and accessing how the church helped or hindered their development. As there was a lot of unrest at the start of the middle Ages the church is important because it preserved a lot of things. It also provided a way of life, so it was very influential. The Church did not encourage the development of new medical ideas, it was not in their interest.When Roger Bacon (a thirteenth century priest) he suggested that a new approach to medicine was needed he said that doctors should their own original research instead of learning from the books of ancient writers such as Galen. Church leaders put him in prison for heresy there is an engraving showing him smuggling his work out of prison. The church banned dissection for a time, however from 1492 the pope allowed dissection as long as the body was that of a criminal. The first medical school was set up in Salerno in 900 AD by the church.By the Montpellier in France was the most famous but there was a number of others at these school students listened to lectures where the teachers read out passages from the work of Galen and other ancient writers. The church did provide some training for doctors as they gave money to the universities. Without this money, the universities would not have been able to survive. Students would be able to listen to a lecturer talk about the work of Galen. In France, the church allowed the students to dissect one body a year for research.However, the doctor would only watch as the dissection was done. The church taught that Galen’s ideas were correct so that idea that dissection could be used to check his ideas did not cross anyone’s mind. Dissection was used to illustrate Galen’s ideas about the body. The church had taught different types of cure for illness. Thousands of people flocked to Canterbury because it was said that Becket’s blood could cure blindness, leprosy and deafness. The church taught that prayer could cure illness. Holy oil and water were used to treat people.Many people carried parchments from the bible to warn off disease. The church paid for hospitals to be built. It taught that it was your Christian duty to look after the sick. In the 13th century over 160 hospitals were built. The monasteries had libraries. However, only monks had access to the books. The church could ban books that it did not like. The monks would teach children to read. Some religious houses had very strict rules because the most seriously ill people would need a lot of looking after. No lepers or lunatics, or person having the falling sickness or contagious disease. No pregnant women, or suckling infants, no intolerable persons even if they are infirm should be allowed in the house. † From the rules of a religious hospital in 1219. A cure for toothache in the 1300’s recommended by John of Gaddesden a leading English doctor â€Å"Write these words on the jaw of the patient. â€Å"In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen. † The pain will then cease at once. Monasteries were used to care for the sick.Many had running water and provided fresh food and rest to the poorest people. â€Å"Care for the sick stands before you all. You must help them as Christ would. Let it be the chief concern of the Abbot that the care of the sick be his main concern. â€Å"From the rules of Benedictine monasteries. The monks were not trained doctors and were more likely to pray for you than give you effective treatment. The church had also taught that kings had a link to God that gave them the power to heal. Alms-houses gave shelter to the poor, the elderly, widows, young children and pregnant women.They were run by priests but no real medical help was given. Many monasteries had herb gardens. The monks used their knowledge of medicine from the books in their lib raries to make herbal remedies. However, there is little evidence of them being able to make new cures for disease. Because of the church, doctors had to have a licence to practice medicine. This is the beginning of qualifications for doctors. After the 13th century it was illegal for a person to call themselves a doctor without having formal training.

Meanings Behind Motiffs of Death in Hamlet by William...

Throughout the play, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death due to his determination for vengeance for his father and death seems to follow wherever he goes, and his, â€Å"pursuit of an essentially immoral act of revenge killing†¦may result in his eternal damnation† (BOOK 2). Shakespeare uses the motif of death to show how if one obsesses over an idea it can eventually cause the corruption of the environment around him. The motif of death in Hamlet is used early on in the play when the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears. His friends warned him about how listening to the ghost could be a bad idea, most likely due to the fact that ghosts were seen as bad omens. With the ghost initiating Hamlet’s curiosity in how his father died, the unhealthy interest in the death of his father, â€Å"prove(s)dangerous to him, and his genius†¦(to exaggerate a little) become(s) his doom,† as he starts to he meticulously plan the famous play within a play scene to expose Claudius. (BOOK 1). Even though he had successfully affirmed that Claudius had indeed killed Hamlet’s father, the side effects of his faked insanity causes his life, as well as those around him, to crumble as well. Hamlet’s irrational behavior of thirsting for revenge causes those around him to die. When Polonius is stabbed by Hamlet because of Hamlet’s insane craving for revenge on Claudius, whom he thought he was stabbing, â€Å"Hamlet, acting blindly through impulse, slays the wrong one; the result is — guilt. This warning, therefore,