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• 1 2019-11-14T13:50:25-08:00 interactivity and loss 9 or loss of interactivity? plain 2019-11-19T12:18:26-08:00     the interactivity of this digital work is interesting, due to the fact that there is not much traditional interactivity for readers to participate in.  clicking once on the main screen of "my hands/wishful thinking" brings up a pop-up window that contains the entirety of the story.  thus, clicking brings up the idealized situation that the writing follows: aka the ideal situation for a black person in society.  
  
       then, if you ever try to click again, nothing happens.  you are locked into the storyline, a mere passenger with no way to do anything against the switching slides of the story pop-up.  this is a direct contrast to the message conveyed in the story, one of freedom and the ability to choose different options with no repercussions.  the interactive element of this story locks the reader in to one path where they have no freedom to pace themselves or start and stop the story at their own times.  
  
       this form of minimalistic interactivity is extremely effective for a story of this type.  if there were too many elements for a reader to interact with, the storyline wouldn't be as linear, and the focus of the story would be elsewhere.  Through this very limited storyline, "my hands/wishful thinking" follows the definition of interactivity as proposed by mark meadows, that "increased attention has to be paid to what is being generated" (Meadows 37).  Because the changing of the text of the story happens on a set time change, readers must pay more attention to the story.  i found that it is almost essential to read the story at least twice in order to read all of the text, which adds to the meaning of the work. 
  
         meadows also describes interactivity as a set of rules, where "the rule sets are iterative and often unconscious, providing a framework" (Meadows 38).  Through this part of the definition, there is a clear connection with the unconscious interaction of the text and the prevalent theme of loss.  the framework of the story is supported by this interactivity; in other words, the fact that the reader physically cannot do anything to prevent the story from progressing is very similar to the loss that Amadou Diallo faced, and the characters in the idealized story, as shown in page 41 of the story, do not.  in the story, choices are made and things happen at the times which the characters want them to.  they are not targets for crimes, and face no losses of their own influence or their own lives.  for Diallo and the reader, they have no say against the changing circumstances around them, and are mere passengers and targets living with the loss of their own effect on the world around them.  
  
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  by: maddie tobias