@RachaelS_DTC
“Redridinghood” is an electronic literature piece created by Donna Leishman. This piece was created to be read with a specific medium, a computer, which affects the message. The message is affected by this choice of medium because it allows the reader to be interactive with the reader. To continue the story the reader clicks on an item, such as a picture or a window. The reader can also choose between letting Red Riding Hood dream or wake up when she falls asleep in a field of flowers. With an interactive environment, created by the medium, the reader can experience more from the story than reading a book. The environment is important because it also affects the message. “[C]ountersituations made by the artists, provide means to direct attention and enable us to see and understand more clearly” (McLuhan 68). This means that our attention is directed toward a specific idea so we can understand the idea the artists wants us to understand. This is done through the medium used. Throughout the piece, Leishman created everything with dark colors and had eerie music playing to put emphasis on the danger that awaited Red Riding Hood. The author manipulated the reader’s ‘environment’ through the medium, the computer, to allude to the ending of the story. The electronic medium allowed a new way to tell a familiar story by controlling the environment, so the reader focused on a certain aspect the author wanted to emphasize.