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Facade

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     "Façade" is an attempt to go beyond the traditional hyper-linked narrative, to a fully-realized interactive drama. In this interactive narrative, you get to choose your own name to go by. You get invited over to hangout by a married couple named Trip and Grace. Unlike other e-lit pieces, "Façade" allows the reader-player with directly interact to both characters in order to uncover what is going on between them. When Trip or Grace talks to the reader, they can "talk" back to them to respond by typing on the keyboard. The AI then processes what was typed and Trip or Grace react accordingly. The reader is free to type anything, but if what is typed becomes too inappropriate, the AI will recognize this and "kick" the reader out of the house. Since the reader is free to type anything, it is almost impossible for two different readers to have the same experience while playing, making it very nonlinear. This story has a multitude of endings, and many different ways to get there. The reader will get completely different responses depending on whether they are speaking to Trip or Grace, which makes "Façade" even less linear than a regular book.  It may feel like a game, but "Façade" definitely reads like a narrative that the user is in complete control of. The narrative of "Façade" presents the issues that often pop up in relationships. Such as an affair by one person, or the feeling of not being wanted anymore, or one person putting more effort into the relationship. All of these issues are presented in one of the different paths in the narrative.
     This piece of e-lit is very unorthodox in how it presents the six elements of narratives as described by Pratt in "Natural Narrative". The abstract is meant to, "encapsulate the point of the story" (Pratt, pg 7). In "Façade", it is up to the reader to delve into the narrative and figure out what the point of the story is. The reader will figure out the abstract when he/she figures out what ending they are leaning towards, and what relationship issue is at hand. The orientation is the only part of this story that is consistent with every readers' experience. This is because the setting, as well as all the characters are the same each time. The complicating action and resolution are very hard to pinpoint, mostly because of the freedom that the reader has to say whatever he/she wants. There are six different endings, which limits the different resolutions that each reader can experience, but the path in which one gets to these endings can be very different. The coda however, is the same for every reader; you leave Trip and Grace's apartment.
     The interactivity of this piece of e-lit makes this story a very nonlinear work, and really allows the reader to experience what it's like to mediate a relationship facing problems. There are many different things that can go wrong in a relationship, and "Façade" gives the reader a chance to experience just a few of these. 
Link to "Façade"


In the picture below, you can see Trip and Grace looking very annoyed with each other. 

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  1. Facade Skyler Wadas
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  14. Introduction Abigail Bukovinszky
  15. The Dynamics of Relationships in Works of Electronic Literature Abigail Bukovinszky

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