Hyperfiction - the plot thickens

There are some school exam questions which even a jaded old print journalist can answer with authority a few decades out of school.

Take questions in the Level 3 English exam which students sat yesterday morning.

To what extent do you agree that print journalism distorts or slants the reality of news and current events stories?

A trick question. The answer needs little analysis and is simply "not at all".

To what extent do you agree that the best print journalism opens your eyes to the truth about the world we live in?

A large extent, I say.

To what extent do you agree that print journalism focuses on the joys and/or sorrows of life?

Hmmm, possibly a slightly cynical question here. I think "to some extent" will suffice.

But the next page throws this 40-something reporter altogether.

Hyperfiction, it is headed. Eh? What's more it even pops up on my spell check.

To what extent do you agree that the joy of electronic fiction lies in manipulating multiple plots?

Err. In desperation I look hyperfiction up on the internet where it is also known as hypertext fiction, interactive fiction or nonlinear fiction.

Apparently, it can create fiction using multiple paths through text with multiple beginnings and endings, and poses questions which influence how the plot develops.

The computer technology also allows for audiovisual attachments such as maps.

Westlake Girls student Anna Skilling, a few hours out of the Level 3 English exam, was also stumped when asked about hyperfiction, which she had not studied.

Anna, 18, said she thought the exam was "really good" overall although she was not all that impressed with the "respond critically to unfamiliar prose and poetry texts".

Some of the questions were too open, and others too basic requiring an over-explanation of the obvious, she said.

Students also sat Level 2 English yesterday with Level 1 Te Reo Rangatira and Levels 1, 2 and 3 Economics.

Today they sit Levels 1, 2 and 3 Science, Levels 1, 2 and 3 Japanese, and Level 3 Te Reo Rangatira.

* Tell us what you thought of the exam papers as a student, parent or teacher. Email the Herald news desk.