What do you mean by the "rhetoric of" gaming?
When you play a video game, you probably aren't focused on the composition of the gameplay -- that is, how the game was deliberately constructed to produce a certain response or experience for the player. In this class, we look at the (rhetorical) strategies that underlie gaming and the way in which video games participate in larger cultural conversations about politics, race, gender, education, identity, and even consumerism.
Do we really play games in class?
Yes, sometimes -- though not all the time. Games are one of our primary texts for this class, and gameplay is necessarily then a form of primary research. We also watch gameplay footage occasionally instead of playing ourselves.
What else do we do in class that's different from other PWR classes?
Students participate in a number of activities in class designed to help them develop skills for analysis and research as well as to encourage them to complicate their understanding of gaming.
We examine cover art from video games from the 1980s and 1990s through a visit to the Cabrinety Collection in Green Library's Special Collections.
- We play through our own library adventure, a simulated Alternative Reality Game.
We explore Second Life as a researched text, building avatars and visiting a variety of locales in that online virtual world
What are the major assignments?
Like all PWR 1 classes, we follow a 3-part assignment sequence:
- A Rhetorical Analysis, where you analyze the rhetorical strategies used in a persuasive text about gaming, often a commercial or print advertisement. In the past, some students have written on the Guitar Hero World Tour commercial (with Tony Hawks, Michael Phelps, Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez), the Gears of War (mad world) trailer, and the Wii "We/ii would like to play" commercial.
- A Texts in Conversation essay, that begins with a blog post on the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric blog about your research topic and a source, and culminates in an assignment where you put three of your sources in dialogue with one another to help refine your argument for your research paper.
- A Research-Based Argument essay, 3600+ words in length, on a topic related to gaming culture.
What types of research projects have people done in the past for this course?
In the past, students have written on topics as varied as
- The economics of multiple player worlds (EVE online & Second Life)
- Using educational games in the classroom
- Gaming and simulations in surgical training
- Mobile gaming and evolution of gaming peripherals
- Second Life as social networking
- Sexism in World of Warcraft
- Military-based games and armed forces recruitment
- Machinima
- Cheating in Videogames
What sort of reading is there for this class?
You can count on reading one article about gaming a week, some sample student papers, as well as sources for your research project. In terms of the reading, we will read selections from most of the major scholars in gaming studies, including:
- James Gee on learning, literacy, and gameplay
- Henry Jenkins on education and game design
- Ian Bogost on persuasive gaming and procedural rhetoric
- Mia Consalvo on ethics in gaming
- Gerard Jones on first person shooters and violence in gaming
How can I get more information on the course?
- Come to the Rhetoric of Gaming booth at the PWR Open House on Wednesday, Nov. 11 from 7-8:30pm on the first floor of Wallenberg Hall.
- Explore the Fall 2009 Rhetoric of Gaming website
- E-mail alfano@stanford.edu with specific questions