Today’s Plan:
- Review Sicart Questions
- Generate/Revise New Questions based on Chapter 4/5 reading
- List of Games
Upcoming Calendar
Wednesday in class: we’ll review the questions you have generated from the Sicart reading. We’ll also spend time in class putting together a list of games that you could use for the first project. Homework: read Sicart chapter 6 (pg. 111-148).
Friday: I will map out two writing projects. The first is a minor project, a 600-800 word essay on Sicart, simply asking you to summarize his theory on ethical gaming. This can actually present a major challenge–to compress hundreds of pages of reading into a few pages! The second project is a longer project, which I imagine will be a 1500-2500 word (approximately 6 to 10 pages double-spaced) analysis of a specific game in terms of Sicart’s work. So the first essay, and the review work we are and will do in class, is meant to generate a list of questions and concerns (what makes an ethical game?) that you can use to measure a particular game. In Friday’s class, I will introduce the rubric I use to evaluate your writing and we will evaluate a sample paper.
The Sicart essay will be due next Tuesday, January 22nd, at midnight. Also, by Wednesday, I will ask that you play Episodes 2 and 3 of A Wolf Among Us.
The rough draft of the first project paper will be due on Monday, February 4th. That means that between now and then you will have to spend a few hours playing whatever game you select on Wednesday. It isn’t necessary that you “beat” whatever game you elect to play; only that you play a significant enough portion to make a viable assessment of its ethical dimensions (I’m expecting about 8 hours of play).
Note that these expectations are flexible. One reason I do not supply a calendar the first time I teach a course is so that you can give me feedback and we can negotiate expectations.
Review / Generate New Questions
Let’s talk about the Sicart reading and work with this material from Monday’s class.
List of Games
Time to go back into the google doc. And to Google!
Homework
Read Sicart chapter 6 (pg. 111-148).
Pick a game to play for the analysis paper.
Due next Wednesday: A Wolf Among Us, Episodes 2 (and, if you have time, 3).
