Text Types in Hypermedia

The discipline of narratology has long recognized the need to classify documents as instances of different text types. We have discovered that classification is as applicable to hypermedia as it is to any other document presentation. In this paper, following the work of Seymour Chatman, we shall consider three such text types: Description, Argument, and Narrative. The goal of a Description document is to describe some object or concept; this is usually achieved by describing component parts and then describing how those parts combine to constitute the entirety. An Argument document, on the other hand, is concerned with establishing some assertion or point of view; and it is based on supporting evidence, as well as possible refutations and justifications for defeating those refutations. Finally, a Narrative document recounts some sequence of events in time, addressing relationships, such as causality and contingency, among those events. We have analyzed these types through case studies...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1997
• Where: HICSS
• Authors: Stephen W. Smoliar, James D. Baker
• Keywords: Biometrics, Document, Document Presentation, HICSS 1997, Text Types