Entry Points
staged entries
A user chooses when and where to exit a database narrative. The entrance is always fixed and designed. Whether the opening interface is a broad, restricted or randomly generated set of data and paths, the user must pass through a staged entry. Entry points can establish narrative frames and genre, present views of data sets, describe elements of plot, character, setting or theme—or withhold any and all of these. However the interface is designed, the entry point to a database narrative prepares the user for interaction and most importantly the desire for interaction.
many entries
Episodic narratives.
In the Poetics, Aristotle favors the unity of a single driving plot and a central conflict as it concentrates energies and offers the greatest possibility for catharsis. Episodic narratives are considered inferior, because energies disperse through multiple self-contained plots.
Whale Hunt
"Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry" is love story in the form of an auction catalog of objects. The narrative not only has a long title to help frame the narrative, but an entry point that orients the reader/user’s attention to certain narrative threads. A note from Harold to Lenore hints at missed love: "It would be good to see you. I've written letters to you, but they are still here in my drawer."
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