10 Jan 2006
Ex 4: Proposal for Term Paper (40pts)
Two parts, including a bibliography in MLA style (minimum 5 sources, incuding 3 academic sources not on the syllabus; 20pts) and a preliminary thesis paragraph (20pts). The handbook you received in STW has a section on MLA style; you can also consult two of my online resources -- the MLA Bibliography Bulider and a set of instructions for formatting a paper in MLA style.
Paper 2 is a research paper that asks you to investigate a significant topic in games. Topics might include an analysis of gender roles within EverQuest; the application of George Orwell's political writing to the environment of Half-Life 2; a close analysis of the concept of "gonzo journalism" in game magazines; a local news feature that examines your own community's reaction to violence or sexual content in a current game; a paper that explains a "mod" that you created in order to teach a concept or make a political point; or another similar topic approved by me.
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5007
Jerz, I've been looking for scholarly journals on Asteroids but cannot seem to find any. Is there a good search engine to help me look for scholarly journals? Do all of our sources need to be scholarly journals?
Posted by: Kayla Lukacs at January 10, 2006 10:30 AMI'd be very surprised to find a whole article on Asteriods.
You might have to look at articles on different real-world tasks (such as, I don't know, archery or hand-eye coordination), or competition, or the culture of video game arcades, or how humans respond to black-and-white images, and apply what the authors say to Asteroids.
You are welcome to include other articles, but this assignment does ask for at least 3 academic sources not on the syllabus.
In the past few years, dozens of books have come out that examine videgames. Some are geared towards fans and collectors, and wouldn't be much use except for nostalia. But others may have serious academic analysis.
If, for example, your paper aims to analyze how gender affects the strategy players use to play Asteroids, you might look for articles that examine how boys and girls play soccer, or basketball, or other videogames, or how gender affects areas of culture other than video games.
If it turns out that you can't find anything useful on your initial topic, then this exercise may be very useful in helping you to find a topic that you *can* write on, based on whatever information you *have* been able to find.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at January 10, 2006 11:01 AMWhere should we turn in this assignment? Is there a spot on JWEB or should we post on our blogs?
Posted by: Leslie Rodriguez at January 10, 2006 11:06 AMThere's a spot on J-Web.
If you submit it by 4pm today, I'll give you quick feedback before the real deadline, 9am tomorrow (Wednesday).
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at January 10, 2006 12:19 PMCould we do interviews for sources?
Posted by: Evan at January 10, 2006 01:09 PMSo the deadline is extended till tomorrow at 9am, cool. But the real problem is that the MLA Bib builder is not working on your site. it keeps saying "Whoops, can't find it" Other than writing them myself, can you try and fix that problem(if there is actually one)
Posted by: Stephan Puff at January 10, 2006 01:40 PMShould be fixed. I'm making some changes under the hood of my website and at one point I accidentally broke all the URLs. Should be fixed now.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at January 10, 2006 01:58 PMJust a random thought: how would I cite a work of IF?
Posted by: Evan at January 10, 2006 06:07 PMHere's a review of an IF work that I did a while ago.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/if/tempest.html
And here's how I cited a work of IF.
Nelson, Graham K. "The Tempest: An Interactive Performance." 1997. Freeware. Available ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/games/competition97/inform/tempest/tempest.z5>.
