Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 34, No. 49.
            Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London
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        Date: 2020-05-23 00:24:13+00:00
        From: Francois Lachance 
        Subject: Feints

Willard

In Mark Bernstein "Patterns of Hypertext" (1998) one is treated to a typology of
patterns, one of which is Navigational Feint. I thought it might interest
Humanist for the split addressee implied in its deployment.

[quote]
Feints often appear in the guise of navigational apparatus. For example, a
hypertext may begin with a map or table of contents that provides an overview of
the entire work and provides direct access to selected places within the
hypertext. While the navigational function is not unimportant, the rhetorical
importance of the overview itself should not be overlooked.

Prominent and detailed navigational Feints are especially useful for
establishing the scope and shape of a hypertext. Just as important, Feints may
help establish what the hypertext omits. Notice that the feint need not always
be strictly accurate; it is sometimes useful to deliver more than what was
initially promised. For example, the classic HyperCard 1.0 Help presented a
thumbtab overview that suggested to new readers that instructions on programming
were only a minor part of the hypertext; readers who might be deterred from
using a complex product were reassured that programming appeared to be a minor
feature. In fact, over half of the hypertext was devoted to a programming
reference manual. The navigational feint on the cover concealed this from
programming-averse users, while those who wanted to consult the programming
section were pleasantly surprised by its unheralded scope.
[/quote]

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/~mwra1g13/msc/comp6045/pdfs/Bernstein%20-%20Patter
ns%20of%20Hypertext.pdf << accessed May 22, 2020

Are such rhetorical moves necessary in this century?

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~
François Lachance
Scholar-at-large
Wannabe Professor of Theoretical and Applied Rhetoric
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~lachance
https://berneval.hcommons.org

to think is often to sort, to store and to shuffle: humble, embodied tasks



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