1. Manovich draws a clear line between database and narrative. He claims that the database is an unordered list of items, and a narrative is what connects these items through cause and effect. They oppose each other as they each compete to produce meaning within human culture, although they often work together as all narratives are technically also databases. Video games act as a form of interactive narrative as the user proceeds through to uncover the various elements within the algorithm step by step. Another example of interactive narrative would be a new type of TV show called an “Interactactive Special”. Although TV shows throughout history have all been produced in the form of a linear narrative, this new form of television entertainment allows the user to choose various outcomes of the story by selecting personalized options. This type of media lets the user explore algorithms within the database without technically “playing”. 2. This article was written almost two decades ago and a lot of technological advancement has occurred since then, especially in the video game space. Manovich describes examples of “computer game” narratives as: winning a race, beating a level, or getting a high score. While this is still true for many modern video games, various genres have emerged to push the boundaries of how we can experience interactive narratives. Games such as “The last of us” or “life is strange” use storytelling, writing, and enhanced graphics to indulge the user into a deep emotional narrative. These components of modern video games makes the computer model and algorithms less obvious to the user and allows us to experience these interactive narratives similar to reality. Most of the ideas brought up in this reading are still true to this day, and are even more relevant because of the increased use of computation over the years. 3. Manovich’s idea of database and narrative is interesting to think about for my own personal projects, especially the index project for this course. The index for my website is essentially a database for all of my projects and exercises throughout this semester. Rather than just having each component of the index/portfolio in an unordered list, I can make it more engaging and interactive by giving these items a meaningful connection to one another. If I can tell a story or through the layout of my website, I can give some personality to the database to create an interactive narrative. An idea that I had, is to set up the webpage to showcase my progression throughout the term to show how much I have improved. For instance, I could start off with the more simple projects at the beginning and end with the more complicated ones. I'm not sure how I could make the webpage intriguing if I open with some of my worst work, but I’ll figure that out as I work on it.