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The language of the Internet is full of spatial metaphors. Individuals and organizations spend time in "cyberspace,"
create "Web sites," and frequent "chat rooms" and "multi-user domains" (MUDs). If we view the web as a landscape to be
explored, what similarities do cyber spaces have to physical spaces? In what ways is this comparison useful? Where does
the analogy break down? If we treat the Internet as a global village, what evidence of national or regional communities
can be found? How does the Internet affect our notions of place?
Choose a web site, a chat room room, a newsgroup, or a MUD as a focus for your exploration of the use of spatial or
place-related metaphors to describe the Internet experience. What, if anything, about this site reminds you of a physical
place? How is the space defined visually and verbally? How does the movement from the page to page through links compare
to physical travel?
After you have reviewed the notes you've developed in response to these questions, prepare the first draft of an expository
essay in which you analyze the aptness of spatial metaphors in describing the nature and workings of the Internet.
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