Forms of Narrative

English has always been my favorite subject in school. I love to read and write, so when I entered Forms of Narrative I thought it would be the same as other English classes. I was prepared to read books, memoirs, and documentaries and write boring papers that were a million pages long. I was surprised, however, to find that this class allowed me to express a more creative side of myself. The blogs that we wrote allowed us to say what we honestly thought about assignments and different aspects of the class. We were allowed, and encouraged to be funny, straight forward, and unique, even if it meant not following the traditional rules of writing that have been drilled into our heads all through previous years of schooling. The class was made to be very interesting and fun. We got to analyze TV shows, computer games, and comics. To be honest, I never read comics when I was a child so while writing about “Little Nemo” and other comics came easily to many members of the class, this was one of the more challenging assignments that I completed during the semester.

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At the beginning of this class, I'll admit that I was a little skeptical about how interested I would be in the material we would be learning about. I was never a huge video game or comic fan and I was worried that the semester would be drag out to be just another class I was forced to attend. What i discovered however, was that different forms of narrative and how they are able to relay stories in different and interesting ways is actually a fascinating thing to sit down and learn. I was ultimately really glad that I decided to stick with the class because I was exposed to things that I would otherwise never have been exposed to in my life. I enjoyed taking an in-depth look at comics and video games especially because it was a new, fun way of looking at the way a narrative could be formed. This class quickly became my favorite class of the semester and I think I owe that to the interesting course material, my classmates, and of course, my professor, Dr. Whalen.

Throughout the semester we have studied closely many different forms of narrative, looking closely at how they represent a narrative structure no matter what medium the narrative is presented in. We have looked at television (reality tv, sports, etc.), comics, music, "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, and upon discussing these different forms of narrative, I realized one narrative that is never mentioned but is probably the greatest form of narrative of all. Life

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It is peculiar to think that within the first day of class, a full semester has been laid out to you. Upon receiving your syllabus to any class, a series of fabula have been set ahead of you. A narrative within itself, the student now knows when he or she is able, or enable to relax or have fun. Once a schedule has been established, the next three months of your life will be dictated completely by these five pieces of paper, which are subject to revision, occasionally.
What is interesting to think is that the months ahead revolve around the preset events which you one must abide by, the fabula, it is your job to fill in the discourse surrounding those fabula, create your own story while abiding to the structure of the not-so-much-a-choose-your-own-adventure.
A syllabi reciprocates responsibility to the overall structure of the semester it pertains to, giving a student a general idea for when tranquility will override the hectic day to day rush. By structuring a general discourse, syllabi provide students with a vague idea of what discourse is soon to follow.

In our modern world, there is no telling when our video game technology will reach its peak. Technology is advancing at a faster rate every year with very rich competition within the market, especially around this time of year. The Christmas holiday season is probably the biggest turnout for our market today with people giving an arm and a leg for the year's hottest items. It is of no surprise that even in today's economy, people are still rushing to their nearest game store to buy the most popular games. The gaming industry has evolved in so many ways over the last 30 years (probably closer to 40 years) that its hard to keep up with the latest software finding itself in children's homes. So as we reach the year 2010, what have we learned about video games? That there's always something new to learn.

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well, having finished and submitted my paper, i thought i'd come on here and talk a little bit. i dont really have much to say, if anything, except that i really enjoyed the class. this was one of the more interesting classes i've taken at the university. i'm really looking forward to taking graphic novel next semester, there should be more courses offered on badass topics like comics and movies...

During the down-time I've had this week following exams, I found myself replaying one of my most favorite video games: the original Half-Life. Originally released in 1998 by then-unknown Valve software, Half-Life went on to receive immense critical praise, and set a standard for first-person action games that has yet to be surpassed. Certainly, with the advent of more modern games, we've had games that have never looked better, but do they truly -play- better? I personally don't think so.

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In the final part of my blog series about video games, I want to bring up a point that we haven't really talked about iand it applies not only to video games, but every medium of narrative that we've discussed throughout the semester. That point is, drum roll please...:

Video Games sell like hotcakes.

Whenever people see a sequel to their favorite game series, they all go out and buy it. Take for example, Halo 3. It had $170 million in profits the first day alone, and more than $300 million in the first week. At the time, it held the record for the most selling IP on the day of release EVER. Now for a recent example, take Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It now holds the record that Halo 3 once had, with $550 million in sales in only five days, $310 of which was from the first day alone.

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My final project took the form of a CYOA, using just pictures to convey the story. The only text is the choices, which are simplistic. The drawings are simplistic and in comic form. My intention was to strip the narrative down to the bare essentials, to see if the reader can convey the basic story from the simplest images. Personally for me, it's sometimes hard to discern what's going on in a comic book with all the extraneous glitzy artistry, so by conveying the most simplistic image possible, hopefully the story speaks for itself.

I also tried to make the choices as true to the consequences as possible. Without giving too much away, I only put 2 arbitrary or unrealistic paths. Due to the nature of the story it should be somewhat obvious what path you should take. I won't give away the basic premis of the story, because I want a fresh reaction when I present on Thursday. Be on the look out for recurring "motifs", I'll ask if anyone notices any and what you think they mean.

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SO I am now hooked to "Evidence of everything exploding" and It took my awhile to figure out why. It is rare that something can be both complex and blunt, and that is what makes this game so intense. It not only has multiple, multiple aspects (gameplay, flying cows, prophecy's, stories in the background) but unlike movies and texts that try to have such complexity, I don't have to look for it. It is the most pleasant headache I have had in a long time. It's like watching the Beatles film "the Yellow Submarine" with a fever of 101 Fahrenheit (which i do not advise) or listening to some of Nine Inch Nails Older Stuff (More SPecifically both of the Downwards Spiral albums.) or depriving yourself from sleep for several days (once again I do not advise this. While it is fun, you become incredibly stupid partway thru day two, and things go sideways from there). All of this complexity that my brain can not comprehend is in a flash game which I can easily turn off whenever I feel like it. It not only keeps me actively paying attention by it being a game, but it also has multiple obvious layers of complexity that challenge my mind in ways normally not accessible.

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