Right now I just want to take the time to kick around an idea for an activity/assessment that has been at the back of my mind since we began talking about multimodality in class. After talking with my roommate, who on multiple occasions has explained to me how the story lines of video games hold his attention much more than any of the literature he has read, and with my brother, who loves video games, I have thought to capitalize on the interest in video games and the inherent elements of fiction writing in those video.
The concept of this assessment is to mash together creative writing concepts and the high interest in video games present in today's youth. I would require students to create a brief story line that would be acted out in their game, create and perhaps visually represent characters, and design game play aspects. Students would need to identify basic elements of narrative such as conflict, rising and falling action, and climax within their story line for their game.
A lot more details must be worked out before this can be a functional project, but I wanted to get my idea down. I would greatly appreciate any criticism, especially from any video game aficionados.
Disclaimer: I am not a video game aficionado, but I am going to tell you what I think anyways. This sounds pretty awesome, Tyler Estabrook. My brother would definitely go for this as well. Although he does like creative writing if he is given free reign to say whatever he wants, he does not like responding to books or reflecting on what he read. I think if he was asked to write a response, or a script, with an image in mind of how it would play out on screen, to imagine the book as a video game with interacting players or a movie instead of motionless text, it would help him to create those mental images that make a text understandable and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI think this would be fun, but I also avidly play games and have been from a young age. I would probably take it much more in depth than others and have a lot of fun with it.
ReplyDeleteAs a retired WoW player, an xbox live lover, and a psp hugger, I greatly enjoy this idea! What a brilliant idea that would really draw in those nerds that are like, "Damn it, when does this period end so I can go home and beat Borderlands?!?!?" I think this is easily approachable by those gamers that have played many games. What would be really cool is if they could make a connection between things that appear in video games, such as Final Fantasy's use of various names and Japanese culture. What may be obvious to a Final Fantasy fan may be completely unknown or misunderstood to a cheerleader, not that she could give a crap about the storyline or inspiration of a video game but whatever! It would really draw in those people that do not get excited about reports, papers, research assignments, and so on.
ReplyDelete**Fun fact: The Final Fantasy franchise thought that their original game, Final Fantasy(released for the Playstation) would crash an burn and used the word 'Final' because they figured it would be a one hit wonder. Much to their surprise, they have released on several consoles and have over twelve games! They also have a movie, Final Fantasy: Advent Children, but I'm sure you guys are reading this thinking, "No one CARES."
Anyway... great idea, I love it. (\n,n/)
I am in no way a fan of video games, but given the immense popularity of them in the lives of the younger generation I love this idea. I think that this would be a fantastic way to grab the attention of the gamer students who would not be into writing a normal paper. This way they are still working academically, but because the assingment ties into their video game world they will get more into it. They have an outlet to become creative and actively participate. I think this is a great way to appeal to more students and make them interested in the class and the work.
ReplyDeleteI saw a quote on someone's dry erase board in Rhoads the other day that said, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once.” While I do enjoy reading, I couldn't help but think that the same idea applies for video games, because I have definitely played a thousand lives in my gaming career. So, I agree with how this could very well be a facet in which the igeneration may be taught efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea, Tyler! Perhaps, I would also emphasize character development, since I know that a lot of RPGs (Fable, for example) allow players to make their own choices within the video game that influence their future interactions, reputation, and personality. You could relate this to writing and how an author also chooses how to develop a character based on their actions, which leads into a deeper "life lesson" topic of how our actions make us into who we are :)
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