Dr. Katie Sagal [email protected]/X4584

Dr. Katie Sagal Asagal@Cornellcollege.Edu/X4584

Block 9, Summer 2021

ENG 276 – VIDEO GAMES AS LITERATURE As any avid gamer knows, the best games are the ones that offer us something beyond sexy graphics and exciting special effects. Whether you prefer isometric ARPGs, realistic FPS, or indie platformers with quirky characters, the reason we come back to play for hundreds of hours boils down to the worldbuilding. The skills, weapons, armor, and quest items for each playable character have more of an impact on gameplay and on our experience of the game if they link in meaningful ways to that character and their backstory. For those who love an immersive gaming experience, the overarching narrative of the world itself can make a huge difference in continuing to entice our engagement. We all have that one game whose ending we were not expecting, the character death that still hurts, and the love story that never was.

In this class, we’re going to combine significant amounts of gameplay with thought-provoking readings and casual writing projects to delve into how and why we can value the literary aspects of video games. We will cover topics ranging from what it means to be human, where our fears come from, or what kinds of bodies are valued to philosophical questions like the significance of choice, fate vs free will, and the ethics of violence. In doing so, we’ll also read a few select short stories to draw direct comparisons between more typically “literary” forms of storytelling and games.

REQUIRED MATERIALS Ten Things Video Games Can Teach Us, Jordan Erica Webber, Daniel Griliopoulos Gone Home (The Fullbright Company) BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games) Disco Elysium (ZA/UM) A Steam account

CLASS MEETINGS This class will be conducted mostly asynchronously, with assignments and gameplay to be completed on your own schedule. However, we will work out a schedule of meetings for a short session about twice a week as a whole class for those with flexibility in their schedule. I will alert you of this schedule as soon as possible and it will be posted clearly on Moodle.

ASSIGNMENTS & GRADING Because this is an asynchronous summer course, the work of the class is to be completed on your own time. I have provided deadlines for assignments and guidelines for how to complete and submit each project, guidelines to which I will expect you to adhere given the rapid nature of the block plan. I will also post brief recorded lectures that relate to our readings and whole-class games.

You will be responsible for four types of assignments this block: a casual gaming journal, game reviews, regular reading responses, and an independent report on a game of your choice. You should also expect to devote singificant time during this course to playing our assigned games, so do factor that into your scheduling considerations.

Gaming Journal (20%)

On a Google doc that you share with me, I’d like you to make an ongoing record of your reactions to specific storytelling and worldbuilding elements in each of our three course games. This is an opportunity to pay purposeful attention to the things you may have shunted to the background of your attention in previous games, such as the lore books or mysterious video recordings you can click on, the backstory of a character giving you some quest, and the design of the maps. Think of this more like a casual free-write kind of thing, as you should get in the habit of jotting down a few lines each day. See “Gaming Journal Guidelines” for more specifics of the assignment.

Game Reviews (15%)

On Steam, write a thorough, helpful review of each game you play: all three courses games and your independent project game. Remember, good reviews demonstrate your knowledge as a gamer by doing one or more of the following things: comparing this game to others in the genre; commenting on gameplay and performance (including noting bugginess if relevant); assessing the storyline in terms of complexity, engagement, or interest. See “Game Review Guidelines” for more specifics of the assignment.

Reading Responses (30%)

Throughout the block I will expect you read a few book chapters that theorize the relationship between video games and literatary trends and how games raise genuine social and ethical questions. I will provide context and more interpretative detail in recorded lectures, but I also expect you to respond to specific prompts based on these readings 2x per week. Prompts will often ask you to apply

the reading to a game, relate it to a short story we read, or think about how the reading interacts with other course themes. See “Reading Response Guidelines” for more specifics of the assignment.

Independent Game Report (35%)

For the large project of this block, you will choose a game other than the three we play as a class and devote many hours to playing it as part of your quest to think more deeply about storytelling and worldbuilding in videogame. As you go along, you’ll produce a detailed report assessing different elements of the game and reflecting on how the game relates to the readings and bigger ideas of the course. See “Independent Game Report Guidelines” for more specifics of the assignment.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES

• Carefully read all required essays & short stories, and use them to respond to the prompts. • View all recorded lectures to support your understanding of the readings and game interpretations. • Respond to e-mail communications from the professor in a timely manner. • Purchase the book (an e-book version is fine) and the games ASAP, so that you are able to engage with them in accordance with our schedule.

GRADING

The break-down of your final grade is as follows:

Gaming Journal 20% Game Reviews 15% Reading Responses 30% Independent Game Report 35%

DISCORD CHANNEL I’ve set up a Discord channel for this class and will invite you all to join at the start of the block. It’s called “ENG 276: Video Games as Literature” (creative, right?). Participating in the channel is a good way to stay in touch with your classmates, coordinate time to play synchronously, or just randomly talk about the games, etc. I will log on for an hour or more most days so I’m happy to talk to you there, too.

CONTACT ME

Other than periodic appearances on Discord, I can be reached via e-mail ([email protected]) until about 9 pm at night, and after about 7 am in the morning. I am also happy to schedule a Zoom call with you to discuss the readings, assignments, or your independent project during normal working hours. Please note that while it is totally fine for you to

log your gaming hours or submit work overnight, I won’t be able to respond to e-mails or questions until the morning.

COURSE CALENDAR

I provide these guidelines for when assignments should be completed to keep you on track. You have flexibility in reading texts, as long as you submit required reading responses by the end of the week (see assignment sheet for specific details). You can also feel free to play the games as much or as little as you’d like, any time of day, as long as you make enough progress in each game to “finish it” by the time we’re done with it as a class.

DAY 1 (MONDAY, 5/24) Read: Malindy Hetfield, “Understanding Worldbuilding in Games” (Moodle) before we meet as a class.

Zoom session (10-11 am CT): We’ll chat about the class and the Hetfield reading, some basic stuff, etc.

Things to do today:

Read: Ten Things, Chapter 1

Write: Gaming Journal Entry (submit your Google doc link to Moodle this once and then I can check on my own).

Ongoing:

Play: Gone Home

DAY 2 (TUESDAY, 5/25) Things to do today:

Read: Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (Moodle)

Write: Gaming Journal Entry; Reading Response 1

Ongoing:

Play: Gone Home

DAY 3 (WEDNESDAY, 5/26) Zoom session (10-11 am CT): We’ll discuss “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and how the story connects to Chapter 1, plus Gone Home.

Things to do today:

Read: Ten Things, Chapter 4

Write: Gaming Journal Entry

Ongoing:

Play: Gone Home

DAY 4 (THURSDAY, 5/27) Things to do today:

Read: N.K. Jemisin, “The Trojan Girl” (Moodle)

Write: Gaming Journal Entry; Reading Response 2

*Pick a game for your Independent Gaming Report by today at the latest*

Ongoing:

Play: Gone Home (complete storyline); begin BioShock: Infinite; your game

DAY 5 (FRIDAY, 5/28) Zoom session (10-11 am CT): we’ll discuss “The Trojan Girl” and how it connects to Chapter 4.

Things to do this weekend:

Read: James Baldwin, “Notes of a Native Son” (Moodle)

Write: Gaming Journal Entry; Response Paper 3; Game Review for Gone Home

Ongoing:

Play: BioShock: Infinite; your game

Gaming Session tonight: starting at 7 pm CT, connect on Discord

DAY 6 (TUESDAY, 6/1) Things to do today:

Read: Ten Things, Chapter 5

Write: Gaming Journal Entry

Ongoing:

Play: BioShock Infinite; your game

DAY 7 (WEDNESDAY, 6/2) Zoom session (10-11 am CT): We’ll discuss “Notes of a Native Son,” Chapter 5, and BioShock Infinite.

Things to do today:

Read: Ken Liu, “The Waves” (Moodle)

Write: Gaming Journal Entry; Reading Response 4

Ongoing:

Play: BioShock Infinite; your game

DAY 8 (THURSDAY, 6/3) Zoom session (10-11 am CT): We’ll discuss “The Waves,” Chapter 5, and BioShock Infinite.

Things to do today:

Read: Ten Things, Chapter 7

Write: Gaming Journal Entry

Ongoing:

Play: BioShock Infinite (complete storyline); begin Disco Elysium; your game

DAY 9 (FRIDAY, 6/4) Things to do over the weekend:

Read: Jamie Woodcock, “Political Videogames”

Write: Gaming Journal Entry; Game Review for BioShock Infinite

Ongoing: