Higher Education & ScholarshipLeave a comment

Poetry in Play (PIP)

RobinDaprato

Poetry in Play (PIP)  Whether you are teaching or learning in or outside of the classroom, PIP is a resource for understanding poetry, literary terms, and the devices at play. Poetry is often the subject students approach with the most apprehension. We hope situating poetry in a more playful and interactive context will lessen students’ anxiety and build their confidence in their own analytical and close reading skills. Our mission is to provide students with the tools to find their own unique perspectives on poetry and to help them feel confident and excited about studying–the often dreaded unit–poetry. We hope our initiative inspires others to contribute … Continue reading Poetry in Play (PIP)

Diversity & InclusionLeave a comment

Women and Cultural Reproduction: Self-Representation as Digital Storytelling

rebecca.anderson

Digital storytelling encompasses a broad and crucial area of both cultural production and consumption. In Amy Shield Dobson’s Postfeminist Digital Cultures: Femininity, Social Media, and Self-Representation, young women are the active agents responsible for establishing and creating narratives in the media landscape—they are cultural producers. Using social networking sites as their blank page, these young women digitally reflect and experiment with their identities, participate in the creation and expression of others’, and contribute to the understanding of self-representation within gendered narratives of authorship and self-discovery. Dobson approaches these questions much like a scholar does humanities studies; using social, cultural, political, and historical contexts Dobson theorizes girlhood … Continue reading Women and Cultural Reproduction: Self-Representation as Digital Storytelling

Gameful ExperiencesLeave a comment

Games as Electronic Literature: Storytelling in Video Games Dear Esther and The Stanley Parable

duvalkelly

The relationship between stories and games is a central concern for ludologists, as made evident in the collection of essays entitled First Person: New Media as Story Performance and Game. Contention exists regarding the function and relevance of narrative in games, as several scholars claim games are under-theorized (Eskelinen 36). While digital games do not need to tell stories to be deemed worthy of analysis, many games are comprised of narrative aspects, thus blurring boundaries between forms, and can be studied as electronic literature (Jenkins 119). The technology of the digital game allows for innovative and interactive ways of utilizing narration, incorporating elements that are unavailable … Continue reading Games as Electronic Literature: Storytelling in Video Games Dear Esther and The Stanley Parable

Gameful ExperiencesLeave a comment

Game-Player Interactions: Dualism of Motives and SIPI

audreywrightblog

       In her book Super Better, Jane McGonigal looks at the ways in which a game player can improve his or her own quality of life with a profound but simple change in perspective. McGonigal presents preconceived understandings about life and happiness, but in a new environment and with different tools. She looks at the effects of video game playing on the human condition, and how these effects diverge between two majors groups of people: those who want to play and those who need to play. Specifically, in chapter four, “You Can Make the Leap from Games to Gameful,” McGonigal describes how ones moves … Continue reading Game-Player Interactions: Dualism of Motives and SIPI

Gameful ExperiencesLeave a comment

On the Landing: A Hypertext Narrative about Insomnia, Anxiety and Self-Care

Phoenix

Warning: There is a flashing image in this game that might be a hazard to those who are prone to epileptic seizures. In future versions of the game this image will only be a short intro. On the Landing on itch.io On the Landing started out as a short story I wrote for a creative writing class. It was chiefly concerned with how an individual dealing with anxiety finds their anxiety magnified when faced with indecision. As it is a short story that is set at night, I recently began exploring indecision and anxiety as it is related to insomnia. The piece is somewhat personal (hence … Continue reading On the Landing: A Hypertext Narrative about Insomnia, Anxiety and Self-Care

Hybrid Media ProductionsLeave a comment

The Role of Music in Digital Storytelling and Education

asappleby

Digital storytelling (DST) presents incredible new opportunities for the world of education. New media and DST tools have the potential to enhance education in all settings. Digital storytelling through mediums such as virtual reality, online experiences, games, music, podcasts etc. or a combination of these platforms, has the potential to change the way students learn at all levels, regardless of subject matter. In his book Digital storytelling in the classroom: New media pathways to literacy, learning, and creativity, Jason Ohler argues that digital stories with appropriate sound, music, and mixing technique, can have a deep impact on education (Ohler, 2008). Widespread access to new technology is … Continue reading The Role of Music in Digital Storytelling and Education

Annotated BibliographyLeave a comment

Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

asappleby

Ohler, Jason. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2008. Print. The primary text I will look at for the purposes of this paper is by Jason Ohler. In this book, Ohler defines how storytelling and new media can be used as tool to further education in the classroom. Ohler aims to educate potential practitioners and teachers on the grammar, theory and language of digital storytelling and how to approach teaching the subject in a classroom setting. My focus will be on a section of the book, which discusses the grammar of using audio in digital … Continue reading Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

Procedural Literacy & CreativityLeave a comment

Jonathan Gray’s Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts: An Analytical Look at the Significance of Digital Audience-Generated Paratexts

RobinDaprato

INTRODUCTION In Jonathan Gray’s Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts, he explores the increasing phenomenon of media paratexts as being critical components in shaping audience viewing practices. A “paratext” refers to media extensions for film and television including, trailers, fan-fiction, online discussion boards, bonus DVD extras, interviews, spinoffs, reviews, and other peripheral material (1).[1] In Chapter 1, “From Spoilers to Spinoffs: A Theory of Paratexts,” Gray notes how: Each paratext acts like an airlock to acclimatize us to a certain text, and it demands or suggests certain kinds of reading strategies…Thus, paratexts tell us what to expect, and in doing so, they shape … Continue reading Jonathan Gray’s Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts: An Analytical Look at the Significance of Digital Audience-Generated Paratexts

Annotated BibliographyLeave a comment

Can Stories Change the World?

Zeelaf Majeed

RE:Imagining Change: How to Use Story-Based Strategy to Win Campaigns, Build Movements, and Change the World is a useful text for social change activists. The authors, Patrick Reinsborough and Doyle Canning, advocate the “story-based” approach they developed through working on social change campaigns at “The Center for Story Based Strategy” (formerly “SmartMeme”), which they co-founded. “Story-based strategy” is about using our oldest and most powerful communication tool – stories –  as catalysts for change. The authors contend that the stories we tell each other can challenge the power structures that seek to oppress, subvert old assumptions by connecting issues to people’s values, and ultimately create the … Continue reading Can Stories Change the World?

Annotated BibliographyLeave a comment

RE:Imagining Change: How to Use Story-Based Strategy

Zeelaf Majeed

Reinsborough, Patrick, and Doyle Canning. RE:Imagining Change: How to Use Story-Based Strategy to Win Campaigns, Build Movements, and Change the World. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2010. Print. This text describes a blueprint for social change activists. The authors, Patrick Reinsborough and Doyle Canning, are both activists themselves and co-founders of “The Center for Story-Based Strategy” in Oakland, California (formerly “SmartMeme”). They describe “story-based strategy” as a “framework that links movement building with an analysis of narrative power, and places storytelling at the centre of social change strategy” (12). Their main idea is that we understand our world based on the stories we tell each other. The problem, according … Continue reading RE:Imagining Change: How to Use Story-Based Strategy