Jose+MSA

Pullinger, Kate and Chris Joseph. "Flight Paths." //Electronic Literature Collection// 2, n.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2012. .

 **Media Specific Analysis**

 **José Otero**


 * Overview **

 “Flight Paths” is a story of two lives that collide. It primarily focuses on a Pakistani immigrant named Yacub who moves to Dubai to find work and eventually becomes a stowaway on a flight to London. Climbing into the place where the plane’s landing gear retracts, Yacub fights the cold and heat and struggles to hold on for the duration of the flight. Below, in London, a woman named Harriet wheels her grocery cart back to her car when she decides to stop and look into the sky. It takes her a few moments to realize that she is watching a man falling toward her. Eventually Yacub crashes into the roof of her car. Stunned, she does not move. But Yacub gets up and asks if he can go to her house for dinner.

 **Textual Features**
 * First-person narrations by both Yacub (1-4) and Harriet (4-5)
 * Concise exposition supplemented by images
 * Creative nonfiction, but incorporates elements of magical realism
 * Readers can contribute suggestions for continuing the story


 * Media Features **


 * Images involving Yacub are like those in a graphic novel, while those involving Harriet are traditional pictures
 * Text and/or images play until a button appears that allows the reader to move the scene forward
 * Music
 * Ambient sounds: Carts, airplane engines, etc.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Reading Experience **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> For the most part, reading “Flight Paths” is like reading a traditional narrative. While you can choose any of the screens to begin, they are numbered, and it makes the most sense to begin with the first one. Once a scene is chosen, the program plays images and/or texts, and the reader cannot advance until the “go” button is provided. Since the individual scenes are short, this aspect of the piece doesn’t have a negative effect on the reading experience. Since readers can contribute to this work, the work is never complete. The link above is for the current version of the story, which has five scenes. There is, however, an earlier version of the story with six scenes, which you can view here: []. This version of the story is the same except for the final scene, which I imagine was based on reader suggestions.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Analysis/Interpretation **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The overall narration is enjoyable, but it does make one wonder about whether or not this work needed to be “digital.” In fact, there is a plan to write a full, traditional novel. Perhaps more important is whether or not the reader truly has agency (dramatic or otherwise). Based on the two versions of the story and the current suggestions posted on the authors’ website ([|http://www.netvibes.com/flightpaths#Contribute]), readers have some influence over creating a new scene six. This means that Yacub will always climb into the landing gear, always crash into the car, and always survive (unless Harriet wakes from a dream as one reader suggests). To me, this piece is successful in some ways, but not in the way it advertises itself to be. The readers don’t really have much control. At the same time, having students rewrite the endings of what they read is a popular teaching strategy, and stories like “Flight Paths” give students the possibility of seeing their suggestions come to life. They also provide a real world writing community which they can join.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Question **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Can user-generated works yield high-quality literature? If so, how much control over content must the author(s) have? Or is it more about control over programming? And if that’s the case, are we good writers or good programmers?