ELO, Three Digital Anthologies

The Electronic Literature Organization  was founded by people who later went on to create Grand Text Auto. There are dozens upon dozens (maybe hundreds upon hundreds or even thousands upon thousands) of websites dedicated something that we awkwardly call "digital poetry" or "e-poetry". Links to both sites are on the permanent list to the right of the top of the blog.

Our exercise in the first half of the class will be as follows:

We break into three groups.
Each student in the first group will choose a different e-text from the first ELO anthology.  
ditto ....  second ELO anthology.
ditto ....  third ELO anthology.

Divide the columns (or rows) so nobody duplicates another student's choice. After you have chosen your e-text, play it (activate it, etc), experience it. One word of warning, some of the links no longer work or their software is out of date. This can be frustrating. It's also a weakness of the genre. There is often immense mediation between the maker (writer? coder?) and the reader/viewer. Talk with your group members briefly about your choice and then answer the following questions with or without your group members' assistance:

What does it do that couldn't be done in a static or traditional form (think ink on paper)? How does it work? Does it force you into a new kind of reading or thinking? Describe what's different. Each student will have about five minutes to talk about his or her choice. 
Each student will make an informal (5 min) presentation to the class.