Lesson Plan: Context, Hypertext, and Intertext

Lesson Objectives

By the end of this guide, you will be able to:

1. Define the concept of context in relation to a written text.
2. Determine the essential factors that guide text development (purpose, audience, content).
3. Define and explain the function of hypertext in digital reading.
4. Define and explain the importance of intertextuality for deeper comprehension.

Motivation: Does an Author’s World Matter?

Do you believe an author’s personal background, experiences, and the historical environment they lived in significantly influence their writing? Absolutely! Understanding an author’s reality helps us unlock deeper meaning in their work.

Lesson Proper: Unlocking Textual Meaning

Context: The Backdrop of the Text

Every text has an inspiration—a reality, a situation, or a background that informed its creation. This backdrop is known as the Context of the Text. Identifying the context involves asking: When and where was this written? What events were happening at the time? Who was the intended audience?

Guidance for Using Context in Writing:

• Non-Fiction (Academic Texts, Essays): You must stick strictly to facts and reality. This requires extensive research using scholarly and credible references to represent the context accurately.
• Represent Multiple Perspectives: Always strive to cite different sources to offer a comprehensive, multi-faceted view of the context.
• Fiction (Novels, Stories): Even when writing fantasy (like Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings), grounding your tale in recognizable human reality (themes of love, conflict, sacrifice) makes the work relevant and relatable to audiences across time and space.

Text Development: Crafting Effective Communication

Whether descriptive, narrative, expository, or argumentative, every text must be developed with three key essentials in mind:

1. Purpose: What is the specific aim of the text? Do you want to convince the reader to take action, educate them on a topic, or simply entertain them? Knowing your purpose ensures focused writing.
2. Audience: Who are you writing for? Your target audience (youth, adults, experts, novices) dictates your tone, vocabulary, and style of presentation. You must adjust your content so it resonates specifically with them.
3. Content and Meaning: Your text must have substance. Beyond just appealing to your audience, the actual quality and relevance of the information—the content—is what keeps readers engaged and ensures the work has lasting value.

Hypertext: The Digital Leap in Reading

With the rise of digital devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets), a new way of interacting with text has emerged: Hypertext.

Hypertext refers to text displayed on a computer screen that includes hyperlinks (usually underlined and in a different color, like blue). These links allow the reader to instantly shift to related information in a different text or webpage.

The Power of Hypertext: The most powerful aspect of hypertext is the ability to navigate through vast amounts of information almost instantly. When reading a news series or a complex academic topic online, the embedded hyperlinks allow you to quickly access related articles, definitions, or source materials.

This immediate access helps the reader achieve true comprehension—the ability to quickly synthesize information from multiple sources to understand the whole picture.

Intertextuality: Connecting Texts for Deeper Meaning

Intertextuality originated in literary theory but applies to all forms of reading. It asserts that no text exists in a vacuum; its meaning can only be fully understood in relation to other texts. Every present-day text is, to some extent, based on, inspired by, or in dialogue with previously published works—from style and content to context.

Benefits of Intertextuality in Reading:

• Widen Your Knowledge: By actively reading an author’s references and related works, you broaden your understanding of a subject.
• View Diverse Perspectives: Comparing texts from different authors about the same topic helps you avoid a single, fundamentalist view and appreciate multiple viewpoints.
• Validate and Credible Information: When your ideas or findings match those of established, previous authors, it helps validate your understanding and strengthens the credibility of the information you use.

Level Up! Applying Textual Concepts

A. Good Practice in Reading and Writing

Instruction: Put a tick (/) mark on good practice for both reading and writing, or an X mark for something that’s not.

1. Stick to one source of information.
2. Consider other references as invalid.
3. Be open to other ideas.
4. Look at an author’s references and read them, too.
5. Acknowledge your sources.
6. Add as many relevant sources as possible to your work.

B. True or False Statements

Instruction: Write T if the statement is true and F if false.

1. The meaning of a text is dependent on the other texts.
2. Authors tend to build on what previous authors have published or started.
3. We can gain full understanding of a concept by referring to one text.
4. A well-written research paper has several references.
5. If you want to know more about the topic, you need to read references tackling the same thing.

C. Resource Scavenger Hunt

Search the internet for three references for each topic (Note: Specific titles will vary based on your search):

1. Climate Change
   • Title of a relevant scientific journal article
   • Title of a UN report or government agency site
   • Title of an educational documentary or book
2. Social Media
   • Title of a study on mental health and social media
   • Title of an article about social media marketing
   • Title of a news report on social media regulations
3. Bullying
   • Title of a psychological study on the effects of bullying
   • Title of a school policy guide on anti-bullying
   • Title of an article about cyberbullying statistics
4. Study Habits
   • Title of an academic article on spaced repetition
   • Title of a guide to effective note-taking methods
   • Title of a book or site discussing time management for students

Transfer Task: The Hypertextual Blogger

Scenario: You are a travel blogger hired by the Department of Tourism to promote tourist spots in Mindanao.

Task: Create a blog entry on a platform like WordPress.com. The post must feature well-written promotional text and high-quality graphics about Mindanao tourist spots.

Key Requirement (Hypertext): You must strategically use active hyperlinks within your text that allow the reader to instantly jump to external websites for:

1. More pictures or video tours of the location.
2. Specific travel packages (services and cost).
3. Booking sites for flights or ferry trips to Mindanao.

Your success and promotion depend on the quality of your text, the visuals, and the functionality of all required hyperlinks!