Jackson.+Connecting+Video+Games+and+Storytelling

=Jackson, Zovera."Connecting Video Games and Storytelling"= //Kairos//. Web. 2011. .

**Abstract**
First-year composition students are diverse in academic and social intellectual knowledge, especially with respect to gaming and computer technology. While students may not be able to understand the concept of storytelling when writing narratives in an academic setting, they are able to understand and create stories in video games in a social setting. The issue of access plays a major role in the knowledge that students already have, and knowledge that they will acquire.

As teachers we should be aware of these students' access to technology and be able to create an engaging and innovating curriculum that encourages and accommodates their diverse knowledge. By offering the use of video games as a way to give students a better understanding of storytelling concepts, I hope to give teachers an alternative way to have students write narratives in the first-year composition course.

This essay explores the question, "How can stories in video games be used to teach narratives in the first year composition course?" Although similar research has been done in the areas of composition and multi-media, the use of video games in composition is fairly new. The idea of using stories in video games to teach narratives is offered as a new and innovative way for students to utilize their own knowledge of video games to learn about storytelling.

Argument
Modern teachers should be able to adapt to new technologies and understand the way their students learn through easy access to such technology as video games. With advancements in technology, teachers should integrate the use of video games into the classroom setting to aid their teaching and keep the students interested. This essay argues in favor of the use of video games to teach students storytelling and narrative concepts. The basis of this argument is that the current strategies of teaching narratives in first year composition courses are not engaging the students and causing apprehension towards writing courses. This is because, when students are asked to write narratives, the topics are normally personal which causes students to either regret writing about anything personal or refuse to follow the assignment and do not meet the assignment requirements. Another problem with this style of teaching is grading. Teachers feel they can not accurately grade a student’s work when the student is writing about personal situations. Some teachers said they did not think that narratives could be graded in the same way as other writing styles which are graded based off of content, grammar, and style. Now, however, with this new technology, teachers can use a style of teaching that engages students and keeps them interested while still teaching the elements of narratives such as characters, plot, and theme. By teaching narratives through video games, students will no longer be apprehensive about writing and they will not be reluctant to enroll on composition courses.

Key Passages
"The ways that narratives are currently taught do not fully engage students, thus resulting in overall lower student performance and increased apprehension toward writing. The problem with requiring students to write narratives in first year composition is that the narrative may become too personal, revealing too much, and as a result, the students regret what they wrote. Parents become concerned, raising political issues about rights to privacy. On the other hand, students who do not want to reveal anything personal may end up not meeting the paper's requirements and or not telling a story at all, and may suffer the consequences of a poor or failing grade. When this occurs students lose interests in writing, stop coming to class, and become fearful about enrolling in writing courses."

"So often the narrative is associated with one’s feelings and emotions. A student’s visual frustration may be shown through disruptive behavior as well as low or no attendance. Teachers who experience these sorts of problems also struggle with the issue of evaluating narratives. As one teacher states,“How can I correct the life-stories of my students, if they are told by them, in their own language? In a contemporary composition classroom, all papers are evaluated according to grammar, content, and style. I can honestly say that I cannot grade a narrative the same way” (Gulyas 190)."

"Nicolini argues that most students who have trouble writing narratives at the computer viewed writing as less of a chore, as less intimidating, and as something in which they could be successful, perhaps for the first time, after experiencing success with multimedia narration (58)."

 "One of the stereotypes that we have placed on our students who play video games is that the majority of the gaming population is at-risk students. This negative label originated from the commonly held belief that most American college students who have access to video games but who do not have home access to computers are from economically disadvantaged families, and are therefore unable to use technology with ease and comfort; producing writing that is rushed and underdeveloped (Moran 218). If as educators and administrators, we believe these stereotypes, we have failed our students before they enter our classroom."

"The ways that narratives are currently taught do not fully engage students, thus resulting in overall lower student performance and increased apprehension toward writing."

"Most games let the player experience a compelling story or narrative by setting a scene and objective to be used by the characters, and by creating a theme and a plot."

"The use of narrative elements in computer games such as characters, themes, and plot gives stories the ability to be retold. Although the sequence of events and concrete settings may change, the goals and actions are what lures players to keep coming back into the game-world. As with the oral storyteller who tells great stories, the listener becomes more and more engaged. The irony in narratives is the fact that when stories are transformed from the oral, to the written, to the visual, the story changes according to the storyteller, but remains true to the same three basic elements of character, plot and theme."

"As we move into a more advanced society, we as educators must continue to keep student interest and this can be done through the use of commonly used interactive technology such as video games."

**Selected Works Cited**
Brooks, Peter. //Reading for the Plot.// Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Paperback Edition, 1992. (New York: Knopf, 1984). Chatman, Seymour Benjamin. //Coming to Terms : The Rhetoric of Narrative in Fiction and Film.// Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1990. Dwyer, Sonya C. & Tomei, Noella P. “Making the Implicit Explicit: Metacognitive Strategies for At-Risk Post-Secondary Students.” //The Journal of Teaching Academic Survival Skills.// 3 (Spring/Summer 2001): 5-19. Eskelinen, Markku. “The Gaming Situation.” //The International Journal of Computer Game Research.// @http://www.gamestudies.org/0101/eskelinen/ (1 July 2001).  Juul, Jesper: “A clash between game and narrative. Games Telling Stories?” //The International Journal of Computer Game Research.// @http://www.gamestudies.org/0101/juul-gts/ (1 July 2001). Moran, Charles. “Technology and the Teaching Writing.” In Tate, Gary, Amy Rupiper and Kurt Schick, eds. //A Guide to Composition Pedagogy.// New York: Oxford University Press. 200,. 203-223. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 13px; padding-bottom: 2.85pt; padding-left: 2.85pt; padding-right: 2.85pt; padding-top: 2.85pt;">Nicolini, Mary B. “Stories Can Save Us: A Defense of Narrative Writing.”//English Journal.// v83 n2 (Feb 1994): 56-61. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 13px; padding-bottom: 2.85pt; padding-left: 2.85pt; padding-right: 2.85pt; padding-top: 2.85pt;">Pagnucci, Gian. Abt-Perkins, Dawn. “The Never-Making-Sense Story: Reassessing the Value of Narrative.” //English Journal.// v81 n8 (Dec 1992): 54-58. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 13px; margin-left: 0pt; padding-bottom: 2.85pt; padding-left: 2.85pt; padding-right: 2.85pt; padding-top: 2.85pt;">Scharton, Maurice. //Narration: A Short History.// Illinois: Murphy Press. 1990. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 13px; margin-left: 0pt; padding-bottom: 2.85pt; padding-left: 2.85pt; padding-right: 2.85pt; padding-top: 2.85pt;">Sherry, Lucas, Rechtsteiner, Brooks, & Wilson. //Video Game Uses and Gratification as Predictors of Use and Game Preference.// Purdue University Press. 2000.

[|Abstract] | [|Situated Story] | [|The Narrative in First-Year Composition] | [|Rationale for Teaching the Narrative] | [|Why this Teaching Strategy Does Not Work] | [|Why Use Video Games] | [|Connecting Video Games & Narratives] | [|Suggested Teaching Strategies] | [|Conclusion] | [|References]