January 16, 2008 Archives

Ex 5 is advance work for your term paper. Your goal for the term paper is to use scholarly research (which includes a careful examination of primary texts -- in our case, a specific game or several games, as well as secondary texts -- in our case, academic articles and books) to defend a non-obvious claim about video game culture and theory.  Your thesis should be worth arguing about -- that is, you should present and account for (that is, refute) credible evidence that opposes the claim you want to make.

Ex 5 asks you to do some important advance work for your term paper.  You are free to change your thesis, your topic, and your whole approach after you complete this exercise, so don't feel that this exercise is supposed to lock you in.  It's simply supposed to ensure that you start the process of writing your research paper the right way -- by seeking out academic research first, and then coming up with an appropriate thesis that is supported by the available research. (Don't write your paper first and then "look for quotes" to support the opinion you had formed before you looked at any scholarly works... the arguments within the scholarly works are the building blocks you use in order to create your thesis.)

For Ex 5, supply the following information:

Roughly the first third (Preface to Chapter 4)

Read my review of Fatworld, and draw on your exposure to our textbook, Persuasive Games. What do you think? Comment over on my blog, or create a new entry on your own blog. (Demonstrate your ability to apply the material you've learned so far.)