Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative

Course
en
English
Subtitles available
36 h
This content is rated 4.5 out of 5
Source
  • From www.coursera.org
Conditions
  • Self-paced
  • Free Access
  • Fee-based Certificate
More info
  • 6 Sequences
  • Introductive Level
  • Subtitles in Romanian

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Course details

Syllabus

  • Week 1 - Game on! The History and Theory of MMOs
    The course opens with a brief look at gaming culture and history, then introduces the chief game we will study, Turbine's "The Lord of the Rings Online." We then look at some key concepts in game theory such as remediation and Jesper Juul's treatment of rules ...
  • Week 2 - LOTRO and Tolkien
    After an overview of storytelling modes, we turn to Tolkien and his work. We then examine the role of quests in games and literature. Finally, we introduce romance and lyric literature using Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came." ***F...
  • Week 3 - Romance and Realism
    This week we journey into the Mines of Moria, comparing a scene in Tolkien's novel, Peter Jackson's film, and "The Lord of the Rings Online." Then it's back to romance literature to delve into the intricacies of allegory, plot, theme, and character. The week c...
  • Week 4 - Space and Time in Three Media
    Week 4's initial focus is our natural concepts of space and time, and how these dimensions inform the "storyworld" of a narrative. We then examine how directors, authors, and video game developers use these innate frameworks to tell stories, invoking Seymour C...
  • Week 5 - Pwning Spenser’s Faerie Queene
    Hold on tight as we plunge into a discussion of Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene," one of the greatest romance poems in English. You will see for yourself how deep the vein of romance is when you read this story of knights, castles, an evil seductress, and ...
  • Week 6 - The Holy Grail: A Good End Game
    Since Aristotle, the one constant in the study of narrative has been the analysis of beginnings, middles, and ends. As is appropriate for our last week, we spend much of our time examining how Tolkien takes leave of his readers at the end of "The Lord of the R...

Prerequisite

None.

Instructors

Jay Clayton
Professor
English

Editor

Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tenn., is a private research university and medical center offering a full-range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.

Platform

Coursera is a digital company offering massive open online course founded by computer teachers Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller Stanford University, located in Mountain View, California. 

Coursera works with top universities and organizations to make some of their courses available online, and offers courses in many subjects, including: physics, engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and other subjects.

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