Lauren Cribb

"The Perfect Crime" by Peter Bozzo

“The Perfect Crime” by Peter Bozzo was assigned for our class to read in order to serve as a guideline for writing a rhetorical research paper of our own. The argument is about how Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills is attempting to prove teenagers innocent of murder. The filmmakers stated, “We want our audiences to have the experience of being like a jury, perceiving the two sides of the story and coming up with their own conclusions”.  Although this is what the filmmakers state, this quote is all part of their rhetorical strategy and how they can persuade others to believe them. 

Seltzer expands upon Halttunen’s ideas in order to suggest that this study of forensics, and the implication of viewers a jurors, represents an important element of the pathological public sphere. This article really helped show me that every little detail in an argumentative essay has a meaning. This meaning is very deep and carefully thought through. It is almost like a game that the writers played in order to get their point across to the readers. Every sentence is another “move” in the game that the writers are playing. The whole idea was to persuade an audience to believe something to be true, sometimes without them even realizing their beliefs have been altered. This idea will really help me in writing my own research paper. Since I want to focus on the effects of technology in modern society, it will be easy for my readers to act similar to a jury and make their own decisions about technology.

If I organize my paper in a way that focuses on my opinions and show evidence supporting my beliefs, I could create a new perspective for my readers. The documentary also helps the audience develop sympathy and emotions while viewing it, which also something I should implement in my research paper.  The article closes with a statement that says, “In this way, the films represent a remarkable contribution to the public discourse surrounding this subject; by presenting a unique perspective on the trials and arguing for the defendants’ innocence, the films’ original outlook defines them as a monument to the case that can never be substituted by any number of documentaries that analyze the trial from different perspectives or from the viewpoint of different spheres.” This concluding statement really pulls together the main idea of what rhetorical writing is, and how to use different perspectives to argue a point. 

A Hollow World: World of Warcraft as Spatial Practice

Espen Aarseth wrote the article A Hollow World: World of Warcraft as Spatial Practice. I thought his opening quote by Mark Twain to be a very interesting choice; it was very neat how it all tied together. Mark Twain writes, “Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it -- namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”

In Aaeseth’s article, he focuses on the fictional “world” of Azeroth, arguing that the hollowness is what constitutes the game’s great and multicultural success. He notes the drastic evolutionary changes that have been going on since the creation of video games, and how games are slowly getting more complex and detailed. The main evolutionary change in War of Warcraft is the landscape. Although the landscape continues to advance, this has no effect on the gameplay. In another game, Everquest 2, the players become punished for when their teammates mess up. This rule makes players less inclined to play with strangers, and most players enjoy the smaller, safer world of World of Warcraft more.

Video games, much like a theme park, can be a place for a fun escape from the boredom of reality. The different quests and adventures taken while gaming can be compared to a ride at Disney World.  The virtual “attractions” found in computer games combine the fictional world with the lucid world—both enhancing each other like the fictional aspects of Disney. A key pattern here is the recognition of the distractions we have in our culture. Many people go to theme parks, movies, bowling, etc. because they are considered “play” and not “work” and this provides a distraction from reality. Furthermore, both contain different thematic zones connected by paths and roads that cater to different tastes or age groups. The layout of games also shows how they support the social need for infrastructure in the game. Our cultural often categorizes things according to the type of people they are trying to attract.  

So it seems like there are many correlations between these virtual worlds and society, although the hollowness of games can make this contradicting. Unlike reality, it is impossible for players to leave their mark on a video game. After you log off, there will be no evidence that you were ever even there. Aaerseth ties his article back to the quote by Mark Twain. He states that Tom Sawyer probably would find it hollow, but his creator would recognize the business philosophy of work as play behind it.

This article helped me understand more about the cultural associations behind video games. As the video game world continue to progress, so does our society. When I played Stick RPG, the landscape of the game seemed so realistic that it made me feel like I was becoming a part of it. It offered an escape from reality and amusement—two things that many people in our society try to achieve by going to theme parks. Overall, this article helped me notice the similarities between our cultural and video games. 

The Sims Medieval/Define Real, Moron!

There are many people that have tried to define what it means to ‘game’. “Define Real, Moron!” addresses the challenges in trying to find the definition of games. Espen Aarseth says that in order to define ‘game’ with the unrealistic ambition of satisfying both lay-people and experts should not be a major concern for a game ontology, since the field it addresses is subject to cultural evolution and diachronic change. In other words, he is saying that since more and more people begin to play games, there is a greater need for people to understand what games really are. Some people don’t even think about computer games when the word ‘game’ pops in their head. Aarseth thinks that the academic language should not be a ghetto dialect at odds with ordinary language, but rather an extension that is compatible with every day language. Furthermore, he thinks that the word game cannot have a for sure definition, but we can relate it to similar things. The word game could be different for me than for each of my other classmates.

Wark and Kevin VanOrd both focus on a specific game to analyze. According to Espen Aarseth this would be a “Functional/Mechanical Approach” because he describes the process of setting goals, skills, and tactics. Kevin VanOrd makes many great points about the real meaning of The Sims Medieval. He writes about the tasks and skills you have to have in order to play. Also, he points out that there are moments in the quest in which you get to choose how to proceed. The choices you make can cause the entire game to change. Depending on the choices you make in the game, the quest will play out differently. He concludes by saying that while The Sims Medieval is an interesting and enjoyable mixture of life simulation and role-playing game, but it is an uneasy partnership. Basically, he believes that the gamer becomes a servant to the game. Since not everyone believes this to be true, it could be considered a fallacy. 

Two Video Game Website Critiques

The first website is called Dreams of a Gamer and was written by Grayson Bonds. I really like the way he organized the website in such a clear way.  His website argues that video games today include many archetypal associations that gamers contribute to a game with societal relations that can educate gamers about real world problems and define a strict moral standard. The quote under the title in his webpage stood out to me, and I thought it fit perfectly. It read, “The only real dream is one you can remember.” He wrote the scenarios about the things he saw while playing Skyrim down in a dream diary, and interpreted their deeper meaning. Each page has it own relation to the world we live in.  I really like how he made the connection between the chaos in the game world to the strange places we visit in our dreams. But, he further explains that we still always associate our lives to the similarities, as if we have seen or been to that “strange” place before. In life, we do tend to always try to stick with the things we are familiar with. If you ever go somewhere unknown, you will most likely try to find some type of common ground in order to feel more at home. Thus, in the game world this holds true and where we venture off too can contain deeper meaning about ourselves. He also included a video of him playing the game into his dream interpretation section. I thought it was very neat that he allowed us to make our own interpretations about the video. Grayson also picked up on some very interesting archetypes that are included in the game. I think it is neat how as a gamer, we can be compared to a hero. We start out with no idea of what’s to come, but once we begin to face our challenges we rise up and overcome them. Also, found within the game were several motifs that we face each day in real life. These include jealousy and trust. The players have to trust each other to work together and overcome the dragon. Overall. I thought this was a very intriguing project with a lot of clear explanations about the deeper meaning of Skyrim.

The second website I analyzed was called Video Games are Real by Eliza Larkin. I didn’t like the organization of her webpage as much as the first, although I did enjoy reading about the personal connections she made with the game. I always think it is so neat what people find out about themselves while playing a video game. It will tell you what they see important in their life and a lot about their character. The main idea Eliza got from the video game was the struggle between deciding what is good and evil. She talks about how humans have the morally ability to know the difference between good and evil. It is our judgments that shape our sense of right and wrong in life. This is such a deep concept to grasp about oneself from playing a game, but I believe it to be very true. The observations about the choices one makes tells a lot about a person, and even if we can only observe these choices through a virtual game they still can shape us personally.  The things you do in a virtual world can ultimately symbolize the things you would do in the real world. Furthermore, the choices made online can tell you a lot about the choices you will probably make in life. This game, as Eliza explains, can also portray cultural connections. The main theme here is that there will always be something evil that we have to overcome. This connects to society because each individual can have his or her own personal belief as to what evil is. Overall, a very interesting project about how such a simple game can reveal so much about a human being personally. 

Video Games as Allegories for Life

Exploring games can be used as an allegory for the world that we live in. McKenzie Wark writes about the exploration of games in her CyberBook called “Gamer Theory.” She writes about how The Sims can be considered a parody of everyday life in ‘consumer society’. If you think about it, this can be really true. The characters in The Sims are a reflection of the person who created them. Each character has unique personalities and dreams that differ from all the other characters. The lifestyle created in virtual reality becomes very similar to actual reality. The more people play the game, the more addicted they become to creating and living out their virtual reality. This can become so intense that people may begin to place a higher value on the virtual world than reality. Also, people are able to do things in the game world that they are incapable of doing in reality. A person, who is unable to afford their dream house in reality, can enter the game world and create their dream home there. It offers an escape from true reality. All the things we dislike about ourselves can be altered and we can create a new and improved version of ourselves in the game. The clothes that we are unable to afford in real life can be bought in the game. People begin to get so caught up in this “better” world, that reality can even start to loose value. We are more interested in the game world because that is where everything is perfect. Mark says, “The fruit of the digital is the expulsion of quality from the world. That’s gamespace. The consolation of the game is that at least this expulsion is absolute.” The characters in The Sims need constant care and love. The characters being to turn to you, the gamer, when he is upset. Wark compares this by saying it is “as if the characters are cursing their God.” In a way, the game becomes a knowable algorithm from which you know you can escape, but the gamespsace has no escaping. The gamespace is just like everyday life- it has a mortal flaw of an irreversible time. Even though the characters are actually meaningless, the algorithm still functions because people become so wrapped up in the “meaningless” of them that they forget they don’t have meaning. Overall, I think that Wark thought very deeply about how we explore games as allegories for the world that we live in. I agree with his opinion, although not in as deep of detail. Some of the things he mentioned were way over my head, and I think sometimes people just play The Sims for entertainment, and a short break from reality. 

Comparing Multimodal Projects

The first multimodal project I analyzed was created my Sarah Hacklin. Her first intention was to show how video games could be seen as a narrative of someone’s journey to accomplish an overall goal. She uses the video game The Story of Contra to further communicate this message. In this game, the characters fight a common enemy in order to obtain victory. The characters must overcome obstacles and fight off the protagonists. Ultimately, she argues that perseverance and determination will lead to success. Another intention she had was to show how video games have a negative affect on society. She did this by choosing a video game containing violence and the goal is to escape from prison. She argues that the game subconsciously causes the players to believe that escaping prison is acceptable in society. Another intention she had was to argue that video games can reveal attitudes and behaviors of the gamer. She uses another game to communicate this. In this game, the gamer takes on the role of the dog who helps the man, which teaches the players to help others. It shows how being kind and generous with our time and efforts can help everyone have a better life. I think her attempt to communicate each of her intentions were both effective and affective. 

Subin created the second multimodal project I analyzed.  He organized his webpage differently than Sarah, and explained the concept of the video game he chose first. One of the games he chose was Grand Theft Auto IV. I like how he explained how the game works first because it allows the readers to understand what the game is actually about before trying to derive deeper meaning from it. He states that his overall impression given from the game gives him the opportunity to express some of the things that he would want to do; yet it does not coincide with his beliefs held in his superego. His intention was to argue that the game gives people a certain freedom to pursue things they would not do in the real world. I think that this was also both an affective and effective attempt to communicate his intentions.  

On the Nature of Dreams

Carl Jung writes about dream interpretations in his novel On the Nature of Dreams. He explains how the dream concerns itself with both health and sickness, and draws upon a wealth of subliminal perceptions. It can show us things that can be very helpful and important to us. Jung says that usually a dream is a strange and disconcerting product distinguished by many bad qualities, such as lack of logic, questionable morality, uncouth form, and apparent absurdity or nonsense. This means that people are more likely to forget the dream completely, or believe that is contains no deeper meaning. Although, I agree with Jung that dreams do carry deeper meanings about us.  Determining this meaning is a complete different step. Some people use a dream interpretation book, while others will turn to the past and reconstruct former experiences from the occurrence of certain motifs in the dreams. Jung argues that his procedure called “taking up the context” is the best way to assign meaning to the dream. Jung argues that the dream beings with a statement place, then next comes a statement about the protagonist. If the statement is about time, he calls this phase of the dream the exposition. In the second phase of the dream, Jung argues this is where the development of the plot occurs. He says that is stage contains the most tension because one does not know what will happen next. The third phase, according to Jung, brings the culmination. This is where something decisive happens of something changes completely. Lastly, the fourth stage is when the solution of result is produced by the dream-work. This can present a special problem. His argument becomes very believable because he uses many examples of actual dreams and what he thinks they represent. His dream interpretations can be used in how I interpret my video game play as well. While playing my game, I am going to first look for the statement place, and then relate this to another statement about myself. I will explain exactly what I did in the game, who I was with, and the scene in which the action took place. Then, I will explain my emotions or tasks that I need to complete in the game. I will describe the things that are happening around me, and how they each affect my character. I will continue to do this until something changes. When a distinct change occurs, I will note what that change is and how it altered my character into something different than how my character was originally. I will then try to resolve any problems I have within the game world, and try to figure out what this could represent in my personal life.   

What does how you play video games tell you about yourself
After watching the TED talk called "Will video games become better than real life," made me look at video games from a new perspective. David talked about how as man evolves, the game he plays will evolve as well, and will continue to evolve along with us. The graphics are becoming so real feeling that people are starting to believe the things they do in video games are a part of reality. A particular student talks about how he is so addicted to video games that the boundary that divides fantasy and reality is disappearing. He said he has played so many war games that he felt, emotionally, like he had been in a real war. Video games now know how to trigger emotions in the players. They know what makes the players scared, excited, angry, etc. Although I have not been addicted to a video game, I can see where people would find it very addicting. I can also see how, since video games are so life like, they can tell us a lot about ourselves and society.

Short Story Composition

The short story I chose to analyze is called “Where is God’s Perfection?” written by Rabbi Krohn. I chose this story because it shared a similar, although not exact, message to the one I am trying to portray in my memoir. We are both showing the affects of having a family member with a disability, and the distinct memories we have of them.  “Where is God’s Perfection” is a heart-warming story about a young boy named Shaya who was born with a disability. In the story, Shaya’s dad delivers a speech to Shaya’s school. He starts by asking the audience why can his son, who cannot understand things as other children do, still show God’s perfection?  He answered his question by explaining that he believes that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that He seeks is in the way people react to this child. Then, the father reflects back on an afternoon that him and Shaya walked by the park and saw some boys playing a game of baseball. When Shaya asked the boys if he could play with them, they agreed even though they were losing by six runs and it was obvious that Shaya was not the most athletic. Shaya automatically began to feel like he belonged somewhere. When it was Shaya’s turn to bat, he came up to the plate with bases loaded and two outs. Since it was a very crucial moment in the game, it was very surprising that Shaya would still be able to take his turn. He didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it.  All the players knew this, but instead of trying to get Shaya out, the other boys started cheering for Shaya and made sure that he made a home run.

            “He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's          intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.”

Rabbi Krohn used both effective and affective techniques in his short story that could be helpful in my revision. The excerpt above was my personal favorite line of the story because it shows the changes that the players made, and how they reflected God’s perfection. The players, no longer worrying about winning the game, came together to allow a disabled boy to feel like a hero.  Krohn’s vivid details that made you feel as if you were experiencing the game along with him. I really like how he answered the question he asked the audience, and then added a personal memory to show how he discovered this answer. It was very emotional, and showed a shimmer of possibilities for the main character, Shaya. Krohn ended with the line, ‘"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."’ This really brought the story full-circle and made the emotions felt by the readers very real and concrete.

Story Structure

The story structure that I am going to choose for my personal short story is a mixture of familiar script, hierarchical structure, and mental model. I start by describing a familiar task of moving into a new home. Many people know the feeling of moving into an unfamiliar territory, so this will gain their attention. It is predictable, and highly prescribed. I also describe the process of learning how to swim, which most people are familiar with. This builds common ground with the audience, and hopefully will gain their attention. My memoir also uses traces of heirarchial structure. I describe my setting in very vivid detail, and then make the readers well aware of the aim of my memoir, which is teaching my little brother, who has a Down syndrome, how to swim. At the beginning, I left out the fact that he has Down syndrome because I did not want this to be the central focus of the story, although it is important to briefly mention this to the readers so that they can understand the message clearly. The rest of the plot involves the actions and complications involved in my brother’s success in learning how to swim. Also, I use a lot of mental modeling in my memoir as well. I tried to make sure that the readers feel like they are experiencing the challenges with me. I also tried to include emotions in my writing and make the memoir as personal as possible. I describe spatial representations of my family and events that we experienced together. I hope that as my story unfolds, the scene will be updated and all others will be pushed into memory storage. I hope that the readers will be able to engage in my story and identify with the characters. Lastly, I hope that my topic is appealing to the readers and the concrete scenes will stick in the readers mind.