Unit 2: Interactive Digital Narratives

Overview

• Monday, June 1 - Hypertext and Twine Games
• Tuesday, June 2 - Interactive Fiction
• Wednesday, June 3 - Interactive Elit and its Precursors
• Thursday, June 4 - Meaningful Interactivity
• Monday, June 8 – Essay #2 due.

Monday, June 1 – Hypertext and its Precursors

In class:

• Electronic Literature, Chapter 3
• "The Garden of Forking Paths" by Jorge Luis Borges
• "As We May Think" by Vannebar Bush
• Wikipedia entry on Choose Your Own Adventure books.
• Underground Kingdom by Edward Packard
• Explore Eastgate Systems website.
• "A Date with Markiplier" by Markiplier
• "Uncle Roger, File 1" by Judy Malloy

Assignment:

• Read "Patterns of Hypertext" by Mark Bernstein
• Read "Living Will" by Mark C. Marino
• Read "My Body: A Wunderkammer" by Shelley Jackson

Tuesday, June 2 - Hypertext and Twine Games

Asynchronous class: We will not meet via Zoom. Instead, you will carry out this set of activities.

Assigned Material:

• "Patterns of Hypertext" by Mark Bernstein
• "Living Will" by Mark C. Marino
• "My Body: A Wunderkammer" by Shelley Jackson

Activities:

• Write a 250+ word response to "Living Will" or "My Body" in which you discuss strategies used by the writers of these hypertexts to guide readers and to what effect. Discuss also the sense of an ending provided by these works.
• Post in our forum by 3 pm and respond substantively to your classmates' postings by 5 pm. Feel free to go back and forth and have a conversation.

Assignment:

• Read/play two of the Twine games published in the ELC3 and be prepared to discuss one in the next class.
• Read the Wikipedia entry on Interactive Fiction.
• Read Electronic Literature, Chapter 4

Wednesday, June 3 - Text games

In class:

• Discussion of Twine games in the ELC3.
• Discussion of Interactive Fiction
  • Interactive Fiction Database.
  • "Colossal Cave Adventure" by Will Crowther and Don Woods
  • "Galatea" by Emily Short

Assignment:

• Play one of the winners of the Interactive Fiction Competition. They're listed after the history, which you should read. Be prepared to share/demo and discuss the game in our next class.
• Read "Towards a Specific Theory of Interactive Digital Narrative" by Harmut Koenitz
• Watch this video on Procedural Rhetoric

Thursday, June 4 - Interactive Digital Narratives

In class:

• Discussion of IFComp Winners
• The Stanley Parable
• Thoughts and Prayers: The Game by Mike Lacher
• A Vast and Lonely Desert by Davis G. See
• Game, Game, Game, and Again Game by Jason Nelson

Assignment:

• Essay #2 Due on Monday, June 8

Essay #2: Analysis and Interpretation of an Interactive Elit Work

Choose a hypertext or interactive work from the following list:

• Any of the works we've explored in this unit.
• Any interactive works published in the Electronic Literature Collection
  • Note: if you choose a Flash work (there are many in volumes 1-3), check to see if they have been preserved and can work in The NEXT or elsewhere.
  • There are a few works in the ELC4 and iOS that are commercial and can be purchased for a very reasonable price. I encourage you to do so, which will not only give you access to a more complete work, but will support the creators.

Parameters and Criteria:

• The essay should be about 1000 words (4 pages) in length.
• It should offer an interpretive thesis that is supported by detailed analysis of the work.
• When possible, include screen-captured images or video to support your essay.
• The essay should cite at least 2 secondary sources.
• The essay should be formatted in MLA or some other established format of your choice.
• The essay is due on Monday, June 8.