Reading and Writing Skills

Quarter 3 - Module 4

Text and Context Connections

(Hypertext & Intertext)
Disclaimer: The contents or information of this module were based on the books or any form of
documentations or reference (pdf, MS word, PowerPoint, information from the internet, etc.) written by
their respective authors and published by particular publishers. I don’t own the words from this module.
I sincerely pay respect to the rightful owner of the information included in this module.
 Lesson Text and Context Connections:
Claims in Written Texts
4
Introduction

Being a critical reader also involves understanding that texts are always developed with a certain
context. A text is neither written nor read in a vacuum; its meaning and interpretation are affected by
a given set of circumstances. Thus, there is a need to identify the context of text development.

Most Essential Learning Competency:

By the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
1. identify the context in which a text was developed
a) Hypertext
b) Intertext

Lesson Text and Context Connections:

Context
4.1
Discussion
What is CONTEXT?

• Context is defined as the social, cultural, political, historical, and other related
circumstances that surround the texts and form the terms from which it can be better
understood and evaluated.

• It also refers to the occasion or situation that informs the reader about why document
was written.

• Context, according to Moxley, refers to the occasion, or situation that informs the
reader about why a document was written and how it was written. The structure,
organization and purpose of a written text is heavily influenced by its context.
 The way writers shape their texts is dramatically influenced by their CONTEXT.
Writers decide how to shape their sentences by considering their contexts.

Context is important as a foundation for the author in constructing his/her written

text. This includes how the writer has researched the topic and how he/she organized
the content.

Moxley posed the following questions on the analysis of context:

1. What is going on in the world of readers that will influence the reader’s thoughts
and feelings about the document?

2. Does the intellectual content of the document rest on the shoulders of other
authors? Will readers expect the author to mention particular scholars or researchers
who did the original, ground-breaking work on the subject you are exploring?

3. What background information can you assume your reader is already familiar
with?

Lesson Text and Context Connections:

Hypertext
4.2
Discussion

Typically, a text is written in a linear fashion. This linear progression only enables the
reader to read the material the way the author designed it from the beginning to end.
HYPERTEXTUALITY allows readers to study a text in a different manner.
In a hypertext, pieces of information are connected semantically. There is an
undefined beginning, middle and end.
Hypertext creates a network of materials linked because of various connections they
share. This encourages and, at times, requires readers to go through the material at their
pace.

Hypertextuality according to Amaral, 2010 is simply a non-linear way of presenting

information. Rather than reading or learning about things in the order that an author, or editor, or
publisher sets out for us, readers of hypertext may follow their own path, create their own order – their
own meaning out the material.

This is accomplished by creating “links” between information. These links are provided so that
the readers may “jump” to further information about a specific topic being discussed (which may have
more links, leading each reader off into a different direction).

Hypertext is text which contains links to other texts. The term was coined by Ted Nelson
around 1965. It is when you type a word and attach a link to that word so that upon clicking on that word,
the reader is sent to the site attached.
Hypertext is the foundation of the World Wide Web enabling users to click on link to obtain
more information on a subsequent page on the same site or from website anywhere in the world.
Hypertext materials include pictures, video materials animated and audio illustrations. All
those possibilities make hypertext materials content high and suitable for educational purposes.
Hypertext connects topic on a screen to related information, graphics, videos, and music –
information is not simply related to text.
This information appears as links and is usually accessed by clicking. The reader can jump to
more information about a topic, which in turn may have more links. This opens up the reader wider
horizon of information to a new direction.
A reader can skim through sections of a text, freely jumping from one part to another depending
on what aspect of the text interests him/her. Thus, in reading with hypertext, you are given more
flexibility and personalization because you get to select the order in which you read the text and focus on
information that is relevant to your background and interests.
Take a look at this example:
 Every time you search on the web, you see words or clusters of words that are underlined and are
in blue. When you click these words, you will be transported to another site.
Hypertext is a new way of reading a text online. It collects every available data but this
exhaustive inclusion exposes the reader to a wealth of irrelevant material. While intertextuality banks on
its text-generated constraints on the reader’s perceptions, Hypertextuality is a reader-generated loose web
of free association.
Information directly/indirectly related to the topic written may be referenced through hyperlinks
in which the reader can access the direct source or reference through a single click.
Hypertextuality, although opens up to a wide variety of mostly irrelevant information, gives the
reader the free will to personalize his or her analysis of the text. The reader may choose to focus only on
the information that is related to his/her background, thus creating a personal meaning out of the given
material.
 Lesson Text and Context Connections:
Intertext
4.3
Discussion

When reading, the readers try to make meaning of the material that they are absorbing
through many different processes. Unintentionally, sometimes, the patterns in the materials read
are apparent in another text. Theorists term this as intertextuality.
Intertextuality, is also the modelling of a text’s meaning by another text. It is defined
as the connections between language, images, characters, themes, or subjects depending on
their similarities in language, genre and discourse.

Intertextuality, as defined by Tiongson (2016), is the modeling of a text’s meaning by another

text. Intertext is the relationship between texts and how culture and other writers influence a text. This is
often seen on works wherein the author borrows and transforms an existing text or when one references a
text on his own written work. The text will then contain a wide accumulation of cultural, historical and
social knowledge.
Intertextuality, as a literary device, “is the complex interrelationship between a text and other
texts taken as fundamental to the creation and interpretation of the text” (Merriam Webster Disctionary,
2015).
Intertext excludes irrelevant data. It underscores the main point/s of the text by making explicit
those data that are only implied or presupposed in the text, thus defining their relevance. Spurred by this
context, a healthy dialogue among different texts and interpretations, audience, is born.
As readers, the ability to create connections among various texts enhances the meaning of the
reading material.
For more and further explanation, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbQPDNBsa_s (Hypertext/Hypertextuality in Reading|
Context of Text Development| Reading and Writing-SHS)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyFHEKC6hz4 (Intertext/intertextuality| Context of Text

Development| Reading and Writing-Senior High School)

REFERENCES
Dayagbil, Felomina, et. Al. (2016). Critical Reading and Writing for the Senior High School. Lorimar
Publishing, Inc., Quezon City.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_(literary_theory)
https://www.slideshare.net/KatrinaClaireLandich/