Changing the flow of narrative: Video games and ACLA

I was fortunate enough to be asked to present a paper for a panel at the upcoming American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Annual Meeting in Long Beach this April. Here is the abstract of the paper. I'm interested in any thoughts and/or suggestions since the scope is a little beyond libraries and information literacy.


"A recent study out of the United Kingdom showed literacy rates down among children. Other reports show the Millennial generation reading less printed media. These signs and others suggest dark times for the narrative and reading in general. But times have never been as bright. Our students are not only readers they are now producers and writers of narratives as well. Video games and the fan fiction around them create unique opportunities to connect students to the narrative through engagement and creation.
Media Studies researchers recognize students’ passion in gameplay and in the worlds around the games. As game narratives are becoming more advanced, more is demanded of the player. Stories build to the conclusion where the emotional payoff is often 20 to 30 hours in the making. Not only are games providing a narrative for players to engage in, they are creating an opportunity to create additional stories within this game world through modding and fan fiction communities. Researches at the University of Wisconsin Madison and elsewhere are studying these fan created stories and the writing skills acquired through them.
Video games present our students with new opportunities to explore and create narrative writing. This paper explores those opportunities and discusses ways for faculty to apply those abilities to classroom settings. "

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