The Challenges of Defining a

Video Game as Digital Literature (Essay)

In this assignment, you will write a 7-10 page paper about a particular video game, identifying, explaining, and resolving/advancing three critical challenges or problems that arise when we attempt to interpret that game as a literary work. 

You may ultimately decide that the game is or is not legitimately literary; the point is not the judgment you make, but how well you describe and elaborate the issues involved in making that judgment in a deliberate, interesting, and informative way. 

Audience

Assume your audience for the essay is not familiar with the specific game you've chosen, but is generally interested in video games, in literature, and in the question of video games' potential as a vehicle for literary expression. 

The audience has not been lucky enough to have read the texts you have in this class! You should make liberal use of what we've studied to make your paper enlightening and persuasive.

Topic and Purpose

• Consider a particular video game, looked at in detail, as a possible example (or even model) of digital literature.

If you are interested in looking at a digital text other than a video game, please talk to me first about adapting this assignment. Note that we are using the term "video game" broadly to include a variety of digital environments for play, amusement, enrichment, or other purposes.)

• Present a thorough and well informed consideration of at least three genuine questions to answer, challenges to overcome, or problems to solve when we attempt to understand a video game as a literary work. 
  
  
• Rather than simply making the argument that this particular video game is or is not literary, use a close reading of the video game to define, illustrate, and explain the implications and questions that arise when we try to apply criteria of literariness to video games. 
  
  You may ultimately decide the particular video game can or cannot be defined as an example of born-digital literary expression.
  
  
• For more on "close reading," see this from Patrician Kain at Harvard University and this from Kip Wheeler at Carson-Newman University

 Required Sources and Quotations

• At least one source to provides background, commentary, or a review of the particular game you've chosen (appearing your your essay in at least 2 quotations or cite-able facts/ideas)
  
  
• At least one source on the nature of "the literary" (perhaps illustrating, or further defining, refining, or re-defining the NVFAH characteristics, or adding to them--appearing in at least 2 quotations)
  
  
• At least one work of print literature used for comparison and/or contrast (appearing in at least 2 quotations or close readings of particular passages)
  
  
• At least two quotations from either Hammond, Murray, Liu or Bissell (be sure to use the parenthetical format for "indirect sources" if the words you're quoting are Hammond or Bissell quoting someone else.)
  
  
• At least one additional, critical source on video games as a genre or medium (appearing in at least 2 quotations)
  
  
• At least 2 screen shots of the video game environment
  
  
• All quotations and cite-able ideas documented in MLA-style parenthetical citations and a bibliographic entries on a "Works Cited" page.

Mechanics

• write 7-10 pages, double spaced
• number your pages
• give your essay an original title
• Be sure always to make clear where you found the language in quotations or other people's original ideas
• To document these sources, use Modern Language Association (MLA) style citations (in-text, parenthetical references to sources) and documentation (information about your sources on a "Works Cited" page)
• revise, edit, and proofread your work
• Do not refer to the assignment or class in the essay (as in "The video game I've chosen for this paper is...."). Instead, address the essay to the audience described above as if they were reading it in a magazine or journal.

A few days after turning in the essay, you will give a presentation to the class about the challenges you identified and discussed in analyzing a video game as literature.

See the handout "Presentations" for details.

To get full credit for the assignment, I will ask you to attend all days of in-class presentations, and to complete a feedback form for each presentation.