Today’s Plan:
- Brainstorming Some Walking Dead Paper Angles
- Revisiting the Schedule
- Tragedy / Catharsis Resources
- Homework
Brainstorming Some Walking Dead Paper Angles
First, let’s clear up what catharsis might mean, especially the idea that catharsis is a kind of pleasure. We all get that catharsis for Aristotle means that we watch something painful and then (sort of) feel good about it. But why do we feel good about it? How do we flush out the particulars? This is where things get tricky. Let me introduce two/ interpretations–I roll with the second more than the first.
Okay, the first is that we recognize in the protagonist something that plagues ourselves, one of our foibles, weaknesses, flaws. Hence we pity them. Or we see that they are the victims of the bad circumstances and we pity them. And, at the same time, because we identify with them, we fear that we could succumb to the same fate, make the same bad decisions.
But the play resolves itself, through the play we learn to overcome those bad things, to fix our flaw, to be better. And thus, we are purged, cleansed, of our pity and fear. The pleasure here is tied to the pleasure of learning, of becoming better.
I don’t really buy that model. Rather, I think we reconcile, accept, those flaws. Perhaps we learn the importance of overcoming our flaws, perhaps we are better at avoiding them. But I think catharsis more as a coming to terms with our frailties, learning to live with them, coming to recognize humanity as something over than divine, ideal, or perfect. Pleasure here is more timid, subdued. It is a kind of peace that eschews from a contentment with our/selves.
Question(s) to throw at Walking Dead:
- Is this game a tragedy (by Aristotelian standards)?
- Did you have a cathartic experience?
- How/does the interactive nature of the game augment/diminish its potential as a tragedy capable of producing catharsis?
- Can you close read one or two key moments in the game to illustrate your answers to the questions above?
- Let’s talk about your relationship to Lee. Is it sympathetic or empathetic? [What is the distinction between the two?]
- Let’s talk about whether the anxiety a question-based game produces resonates with “pity” and “fear”
Revisiting the Schedule
- Tuesday, Feb 1st: Meakin et al
- Thursday, February 3rd: Discuss Meakin. Build worklist of terms/ideas/heuristics. Identify games. Team assignment: research a term other than catharsis and share with the class. Aristotle’s Poetics Start. Homework: Read Curran. .
- Tuesday, February 8th: Read/Lecture: Aristotle’s Poetics (20min), Discuss Curran / focus on Catharsis (30min). Lecture #2: intro to memesis, with discussion of Aristotle and Player Complicity (as “action,” hamaritia, perhaps riff on Meakin and “epiphany,” plot, continuity, rupturing complicity. Homework: Play game and journal #1.
- Thursday, February 10th: Discuss Catharsis (again). Empty time for catch up? Reviewing Project 1 papers? Homework, Read Maetas, 2001, An Preliminary Poetics for Interactive Drama and Games. Play your game and journal #2.
- Tuesday, February 15th: Discuss Mateas, hammer out working heuristic. Homework: Play game and journal #3.
- Thursday, February 17th: Read Potzsch and Waszkiewicz (in addition to the Meakin, an example of what your paper might look like). Homework: Play your game a lot #4 #5.
- Tuesday, February 22nd: Read more Potzsch, revist Meakin. Homework: Play your game #6. Write Your Paper.
- Thursday, February 24th: Game talk presentations. Homework: Write Your Paper.
- Tuesday, March 1st: Game talk presentations. Homework: Write Your Paper.
- Thursday, March 3rd: Papers due at midnight.
So, I have not asked you to read anymore secondary material for your paper–we didn’t read the Mateas or the Potzsch.
I also don’t feel anyone will be ready to present on their paper next Thursday. So here’s the plan. Our February 24th session is cancelled. We will sign up for in-class research presentations next Tuesday, and you will give those presentations on March 1st and March 3rd. I’ll have some presentation expectations to share with you next Tuesday, but generally prepare for talking for 3-4 minutes, giving a quick outline of what you looked for in your game, and focusing our attention on one scene for a close reading (the kind of which we brainstormed on Tuesday). Papers will be due the Friday before spring break.
Catharsis Resources
Here’s what I have:
- My Opening Lecture
- My selections from Aristotle’s Poetics (from the Butcher)
- Link to free/complete Aristotle’s Poetics
- Curran (PDF in Canvas)
- Link to Meakin
- Link to heuristic, terms
The catharsis portion of your paper needs to reference the Aristotle, the Curran, the Meakin et al, and at least on other source (doesn’t have to be academic) on catharsis and/or another related term from our heuristic.
Homework
I’m offering this as a model for your paper. I will ask you to invest a bit more energy in defining catharsis, but otherwise they offer a great outline for thinking about these papers:
- Intro
- Definition of Catharsis>/li>
- Reading the Play as a Tragedy (breaking it into acts, summarizing how each act “works” in terms of the tragic action)
- Arguing for something cool/different/unexpected
Given how long we have for these papers, I am thinking that they should check in (gods help me) around 3000-4000 words (6-8 double spaced). I anticipate some of you will write considerably more than that.
