About this course: Intended for both newcomers who are curious about video games and experienced gamers who want to reflect on their passion, this course will explore what happens to stories, paintings, and films when they become the basis of massively multiplayer online games. The Lord of the Rings trilogy—the novels, films, and video game—are our central example of how “remediation” transforms familiar stories as they move across media. The course is designed as a university-level English literature class—a multi-genre, multimedia tour of how literature, film, and games engage in the basic human activity of storytelling. Our journey will enable us to learn something about narrative theory, introduce us to some key topics in media studies and cover some of the history and theory of video games. It will also take us to some landmarks of romance literature, the neverending story that lies behind most fantasy games: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, a bit of Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, and poems by Keats, Tennyson, Browning, and others. Drawing on centuries of romance narrative conventions, the twenty-first century gaming industry has become a creative and economic powerhouse. It engages the talents of some of our brightest writers, artists, composers, computer engineers, game theorists, video producers, and marketing professionals, and in 2012, it generated an estimated $64 billion in revenue. Anyone interested in today’s culture needs to be conversant with the ways this new medium is altering our understanding of stories. Join me as we set out on an intellectual adventure, the quest to discover the cultural heritage of online games.
Created by: Vanderbilt University
Taught by: Jay Clayton, Professor
English
| Level | Beginner |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Game on! The History and Theory of MMOs
The course opens with a brief look at gaming culture and history, then introduces the chief game we will study, Turbine's "The Lord of the Rings Online." We then look at some key concepts in game theory such as remediation and Jesper Juul's treatment of rules and game design from his book "Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds." We end by considering games as journeys using Constantine Cavafy's poem "Ithaca."For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab. ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.
9 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Course Overview
- Video: Course Introduction
- Video: Games as Culture
- Video: LOTRO Gameplay: Epic Quest Line, Book 1
- Video: Remediation
- Video: Types of Video and Computer Games
- Video: A Brief History of Games
- Video: Juul: Emergence and Progression
- Video: Juul: Rules and Fiction
- Video: Cavafy's "Ithaca"
Graded: Week 1 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)
Graded: Week 1 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 1 Standard Quiz and this quiz)
WEEK 2
LOTRO and Tolkien
After an overview of storytelling modes, we turn to Tolkien and his work. We then examine the role of quests in games and literature. Finally, we introduce romance and lyric literature using Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came." ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.
10 videos
- Video: Modes of Storytelling
- Video: LOTRO Gameplay: Frodo and the Prancing Pony
- Video: Tolkien's Life and Works
- Video: Tolkien's Popularity
- Video: Themes in Tolkien's Writing
- Video: Quests as Structural Elements of Games
- Video: The Quester and the Quest
- Video: Part 1: Roland's Psyche
- Video: Part 2: Elements of the Quest Romance
- Video: Part 3: The Poem's Lyric Nature
Graded: Week 2 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)
Graded: Week 2 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 2 Standard Quiz, this quiz, and the Week 2 Peer Review)
Graded: Week 2 Peer Review (Honors students complete the Week 2 Standard Quiz, the Week 2 Honors Quiz, and this peer review)
WEEK 3
Romance and Realism
This week we journey into the Mines of Moria, comparing a scene in Tolkien's novel, Peter Jackson's film, and "The Lord of the Rings Online." Then it's back to romance literature to delve into the intricacies of allegory, plot, theme, and character. The week closes with a look at John Keats' haunting ballad, "La Belle Dame sans Merci." ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.
13 videos
- Video: Gameplay: The Chamber of Mazarbul
- Video: Genres of Romance
- Video: The Romance Circle
- Video: Allegory Defined
- Video: Tolkien on Allegory
- Video: Genre and Plot Forms
- Video: Lost in an Episodic Plot
- Video: Wandering and Doubling in Romance
- Video: Issues of Theme and Content
- Video: Flat vs. Round Characters
- Video: Daemonic Characters and Romance Character Systems
- Video: Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" I
- Video: Keats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" II
Graded: Week 3 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)
Graded: Week 3 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 3 Standard Quiz and this quiz)
WEEK 4
Space and Time in Three Media
Week 4's initial focus is our natural concepts of space and time, and how these dimensions inform the "storyworld" of a narrative. We then examine how directors, authors, and video game developers use these innate frameworks to tell stories, invoking Seymour Chapman's book "Film and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film." Close attention is paid to the mechanics of point of view, and how its use allows artists to connect with audiences. ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.
10 videos
- Video: Mental Models and Cognitive Mapping in Narrative
- Video: Storyworlds
- Video: Spatial Issues in Film
- Video: Gameplay: Spatial Issues in Immersive Games (Stone Trolls)
- Video: Point of View in Novels and Films
- Video: Point of View in Games
- Video: Temporal Order I: Introduction
- Video: Temporal Order II: Film
- Video: Temporal Order III: Painting
- Video: Temporal Order IV: Gaming
Graded: Week 4 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)
Graded: Week 4 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 4 Standard Quiz, this quiz, and the Week 4 Peer Review)
Graded: Week 4 Peer Review (Honors students complete the Week 4 Standard Quiz, the Week 4 Honors Quiz, and this peer review)
WEEK 5
Pwning Spenser’s Faerie Queene
Hold on tight as we plunge into a discussion of Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene," one of the greatest romance poems in English. You will see for yourself how deep the vein of romance is when you read this story of knights, castles, an evil seductress, and an indomitable heroine. Then watch how a group of students remediated the same story in a video game they created: "Faerie Queene Online." ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.
7 videos
- Video: Introduction to Spenser
- Video: Spenser, the Man and the Poet
- Video: The Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 1-7
- Video: The Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 8-19
- Video: The Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 20-40
- Video: The Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 41-67
- Video: Gameplay: Faerie Queene Online
Graded: Week 5 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)
Graded: Week 5 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 5 Standard Quiz and this quiz)
WEEK 6
The Holy Grail: A Good End Game
Since Aristotle, the one constant in the study of narrative has been the analysis of beginnings, middles, and ends. As is appropriate for our last week, we spend much of our time examining how Tolkien takes leave of his readers at the end of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The final stage of MMOs--when your character has maxed out and completed all the quests--has always presented challenges to game makers. Although LOTRO continues to take us on our journey toward Mordor, it cannot escape the challenge of creating end-game material for advanced players. We look at two attempts to include advanced players in the events of Western Rohan and Helm's Deep. Finally, we ponder what comes after the end, as we read Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem, "Ulysses." ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.
9 videos
- Video: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends I
- Video: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends II
- Video: Fellowship's End
- Video: The Many Ends of The Lord of the Rings I
- Video: The Many Ends of The Lord of the Rings II
- Video: Gameplay: Helm's Deep and the Breaking of Isengard
- Video: Quest's End: Tennyson's "Ulysses" I
- Video: Quest's End: Tennyson's "Ulysses" II
- Video: Optional: Valedictory Video
Graded: Week 6 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)
Graded: Week 6 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 6 Standard Quiz, this quiz, and the Week 6 Peer Review)
Graded: Week 6 Peer Review (Honors students complete the Week 6 Standard Quiz, the Week 6 Honors Quiz, and this peer review)
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Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tenn., is a private research university and medical center offering a full-range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.
Ratings and Reviews
Quite an interesting course for those interested in the literature of Tolkien, especially for understanding how it was and can be translated to other mediums.
Come expecting an introductory course on literature and not a course about game design and narrative.
Great juxtaposition of online game play and relevant classic literature. Interesting format. Makes the opposite of the usual boring lecture class.
Great class, thank you for teaching us about all those great works of Literature. It was really enjoyable to listen to you and your students!
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A great experience!