Reviewing the Arts Class Blog – Spring, 2008

The following students are scheduled to do their oral review on Monday, April 28th:   

1. Evan Atwood

2. Daniel Zarick

3. Brian Schuch

4. Jennifer Spitler

5. Lee Hoagland

Hey folks — no blog response necessary, but please read/view the following:

• Shelley Jackson, ”My Body“
• Database of Virtual Art
  

We’ll be discussing hypertext fiction, and I’ll move us into the world of virtual art in class.

Also, don’t forget that oral reviews begin next week. To see the schedule and guidelines, please visit the class site.

Reading/Viewing for next week:

• Watch: “Grand Theft Auto IV – Trailer”  
• Walkerdine, Valerie. “Remember not to die: young girls and video games.” Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature, Nov 2004. 

Below are sets of questions — choose ONE set to respond to:

• If you chose a game with people in it, think about the following: consider the roles: were the people in the game baseball players, boxers, soldiers, etc.? What about ethnicities? What ethnicities did you identify? Who seems to have what role? – what color or gender, for example, are the “bad guys”?
  Who is the hero of the game? What did these people look like? – fat, skinny, muscular, tall, short . . . and what roles did each play? And how does any of this reflect popular or contemporary ideas around race, class, and/or gender?
• What was the goal of the game? To kill all your enemies? To get the gold? To win the race? What obstacles did you have to overcome in order to move from level to level or to win the game? How might any of this reflect contemporary culture (our ideas about success, what it takes to win, the “American” story or ideal, etc.)? In what ways was the game NOT like life?
• In what ways was the game totally fantasy-like or had elements that were not at all realistic of modern society? Perhaps these elements were of a past that no longer exist. And if so, how might that reflect a particular set of ideas in today’s culture; and if so, what?

CHOICE TWO: free writing response to reading/viewing:

• Consider the reading and discuss whether you think the author’s main arguments still hold true or not. Why or why not?  
• There has been a lot of debate around whether video games negatively influence children and young adults’ perceptions of gender, race, class, and ethnicity. How do you feel about this? Make an argument either way — and be sure to support your argument with logic and examples.
• Talk about anything else in the article (and video clip, if you’d like) that takes your attention. You must reference the article, however, and not just talk about the clip.