Video Gaming technology has passed a threshold – from arcade-style entertainment to virtual realism. As such, games have become an increasingly literary, story-driven experience. What future might Video Games have as educational devices in the literature classrooms of tomorrow? Could the teachers of today legitimately present works of gaming literature in the classroom for students to explore and analyze?
My comparative lit colleagues and I spoke about this topic once and I suggested that choice-based episodic games released by the now defunct Telltale Games would provide great materials. As a natural transition of the Choose your own adventure books, games such as the Walking Dead or Fables (Wolf among us) can prompt discussions about the medium, narrative structures and philosophical choices. The community aspect (where all the choices are tallied in the end) is also an interesting aspect worth of attention. – kpfong835 years ago
Where can you find our most valuable asset? On the shelves of cafes and libraries. The feel of a book from the hard cover to the soft egg-shell pages hold a lot of undiscovered secrets as we pass the opportunity to read as much as possible. Do e-books give the same satisfaction as a real book?
There was a topic suggestion very similar to this one, posted about a year ago, if memory serves. It would be worth digging through the archives to locate it. I recall commenting to the effect that whilst I love the look, feel and smell of a 'real' book, times move on. We've gone from stone tablets, papyrus scrolls, to vellum and paper and now the electronic page. In principle I agree with your sentiment though and for me at least, a shelf full of books has far more allure than a fistful of memory cards. Perhaps the real satisfaction comes not from the format, but in how the information contained therein is received by the reader.Ps. To anyone thinking of using 'a fistful of memory cards' - hands off, 'tis mine and I'm using it in a short story. :) – Amyus5 years ago
I'd be intrigued to see an analysis of themes in Markus Zusak's 'The Book Thief'. It covers a delicate time period in an engaging way, with strong themes of death, hope, and importantly, writing & stories.
Obviously writing is a powerful tool, and the ways it is used to bring hope in such a situation perhaps holds implications (and analogies) to modern day issues – and how writing shapes people reactions to them.
I'd love to see an analysis of this, and how it can be connected with today's tenuous political climate.
I would really appreciate an analysis of how and why the author used German words in a predominantly English written book. – bmaan5 years ago
This is a fantastic topic! I would also love to see an analysis as to why most of The Book Thief was narrated by Death, and how that impacted the story considering the subject matter and time. – M. L. Flood5 years ago
I'd love to see how words literally give Liesel her power. As someone who does not have a lot of power at the beginning, how does learning to read and acquiring more pieces of writing give her more power as the novel unfolds? – IElias5 years ago
I have nothing to add here except that this was one of the few books I've read that successfully did a unique narration style that was engaging but not gimmicky. As M. L. Flood pointed out, Death as a literary device alone is worthy of an article.
It's also worth asking--in the age of the Internet, how do we relate to Liesel? What empowers us with knowledge in similar ways, and who or what are we fighting against? – Eden5 years ago
Concerning languages uses and powers, as well as the perks – the necessity even – of being multilingual (here, I'd link it to the fact that the author kept german words in an English written book), there is the work of the philosopher George Steiner, that, to me, might be enlightening and useful to substantiate on the power of words in Marcus Zusak’s "Book Thief"! (I know G.Steiner works a lot on words and languages, though I only read "Errata: An examined life" very recently for a philosophy class (and for this topic, I’m particularly thinking about the seventh chapter, French edition), but I look forward to read more of his work!) – Gavroche5 years ago
Increasingly, classic literary works are being reinterpreted in graphic novel format. William Shakespeare's plays have been reimagined as graphic novels, as have famous novels like Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and even some nonfiction such as Machiavelli's The Prince or the diary of Anne Frank. What might be some factors driving the current trend in graphic novelizations of literary classics? Does the graphic novel format provide any benefits that an ordinary book would lack, and, conversely, what might be some unique challenges these graphic-novel adaptations face? Are there any literary works that might lend themselves particularly well to the graphic-novel format, or any that would be particularly difficult to adapt?
I recently had a conversation with a colleague of mine on this topic. The discussion bled into the realm of film remakes as well. I have a lot of appreciation for the graphic novel medium as well as the notion of retelling a classic tale for a contemporary audience, however I cannot endorse it because I feel a sense of discredit towards the original work and creator. For example, Metropolis is a foundational film for the modern world, however I believe a remake of Metropolis would be abominable. Similarly, if you read a graphic novel of The Odyssey or The Faerie Queene, then you did not read those books nor do you know the importance of and literary impact of that work. The writing and original wording in conjunction with the imaginative medium of the novel is lost when a graphic novel adaptation is made. The plot and contemporary imagery does little to keep a book alive. – caedmonmills5 years ago
I have my students read Octavia Butler's novel "Kindred" and then read the graphic novel. It's powerful! The graphic novel's Illustrator (John Jennings) and Adapter (Damian Duffy) had to take creative liberties in how they portray the characters visually, but they stay true to the text. The story is definitely told well; all of the dialogue is present, but the pacing is FAST. Also, we, as readers, are supposed to question Dana's husband's race in the novel, but immediately, we see the color of his skin in the graphic novel. I absolutely love using graphic novels in the classroom to help students see these differences and compare/contrast text and visuals. – Morgan Dancy5 years ago
Detail the history of the extremely popular true crime comedy podcast My Favorite Murder, from their inception to their recent book release titled Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered. Are we living in a "new era of true crime fascination," as some have suggested? Research the global response of the podcast resulting in millions of "murderinos," and avid listeners. Does the success of My Favorite Murder suggest that interest in true crime is more common than previously thought? Is this interest healthy? Are Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the show's hosts, honoring the victims of the stories they recount? Does My Favorite Murder glorify violent crime? Touch on the titles of the chapters in the memoir, each corresponding to a catchphrase one of the women have coined during the taping of their show over the past four years. Does Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered qualify as a "self-help" book? Is their path to success unprecedented and representative of the digital age?
By what metric can it be argued that we are living in (as you put it) a "new era of true crime fascination"? One need only look at lurid newspaper headlines from the early years of the last century, or recall the long-held policy of TV news programs ("If it bleeds, it leads"); the fascination with true crime stories is nothing new, though the popularity of these true crime podcasts is worth a critical examination of the way they depict their subjects and what that says about us. – John Wilson5 years ago
Is the era of the dystopian over? We seem to be seeing a slow rise in the quantity of utopian fantasy and science fiction works being published year-over-year. What can be read from this potential turn away from the primacy of dystopian literature? In addition to these questions, why is it that increase in published utopian literary works does not seem to be a trend that is, as yet, reflected in film?
I would agree that there has been an upswing in utopian fiction (maybe the last 5 years). To me, the classics of this genre seem to be heavily weighted in the dystopian category. I would bet that these trends are closely related to larger social, economic, and political trends...it would be wonderful if someone could explore that further and shed light on might have influenced the popularity of these works – kelseyodegreef5 years ago
Analyze the representation of Asian LGBTQ individuals in literature, preferably with a focus on 21st Century works (examples might include How I Became a North Korean or The Book of Salt). Delve into how one's concept of identity can be challenged by being a part of the queer community and also the Asian diaspora.
Analyze how creating an image for "death" and having death be a character changes or impacts a piece of literature and in what ways. I immediately think of "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak and how he portrayed death to be its own entity in the novel. This alongside the mini story J.K Rowling had in her well known Harry Potter series called "Tales of Beedle the Bard" death is yet again seen as someone in a human like form.
It might be worth taking a look at the great work that Lindsay Ellis has done on this subject, both on her personal channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aNax1Rhs-w) and with PBS Digital Studios (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vQjHILQ0OQ). I'm sure there is still plenty worth talking about that she missed, to which I'd caution the prospective author against risking too close a retread. – ProtoCanon5 years ago
It would be interesting to look at Death in the context of greek mythology as well as the role of time within death particularly in Alice through the looking glass. Time has control over death but as the film continues the audience see Time as a caretaker if anything. – NCSERCOMBE5 years ago
