![]() I know people who have been defriended on Facebook for ill-timed revelations about Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad. That is why, to reveal key plot elements or spoil a film or book is to commit the cardinal sin of consumer entertainment. On to the next one! Perhaps our disposable or “throw-away” society is reflected in our disposable stories. Typically, after being pleasantly ambushed by the unexpected the first time around, there is a sense that the entertainment value has been drained and we don’t tend to revisit the story. The form lends itself to surprise, bestowing thrills from the twists and turns. When watching motion pictures, we sit in a roller coaster car, and are mechanically sped along to the end, with little opportunity to stop and take in the view. We can also attribute this to the sequential and generally linear narratives of film and television that defined popular 20 th century storytelling. Today, copyright laws and a consumer thirst for novelty and cliffhangers (the binding glue of serialization), have created a modern emphasis on plot as surprise. Again, despite the unchanging plots, the storyteller was prized for their flourishes and embellishments, or how they told their story. The repetition was not for lack of imagination, but because these tales preserved the tribe’s collective knowledge and memory, playing a crucial role in defining and maintaining cultural identity. The tribe gathered around the proverbial fire and heard variations of the same stories that had been recounted over and over again from earliest childhood. Going back even further, the basic plots and characters in tribal myths and legends tended to remain constant. I say it again: it was about the journey, not the destination. Bad puns aside, what the story was about was not as important as how the tale was told. For the Elizabethan theatre crowd, entertainment was not so much derived from plot as from execution (in fact, Queen Elizabeth often ended plots with executions!). ![]() If that wasn’t enough, many plays began with a built-in spoiler called a prologue that summarized the piece in advance. Even if they were unaware of the intricacies of a certain plot, the label tragedy revealed that the play would end with the death of all major characters, and a comedy would happily conclude with matrimonial bliss. English renaissance audiences were usually familiar with the stories, as plots were freely recycled in an age before copyright and intellectual property. In Shakespeare’s day, entertainment value did not rely on plot twists and surprise endings. Despite my best efforts, they rarely seem convinced. ![]() I ritualistically remind them that it’s about the journey, not the destination and that good stories don’t rely on surprises. If I’m discussing a novel or play in class and make the fatal error of revealing a plot point in advance, there is often a collective groan followed by accusations of having “spoiled” the story. I even caught a few disgruntled accusations that so-and-so had “spoiled” some aspect of the story while they were playing. As they worked, I heard a lot of informal banter about the game, discussing plot points, the realism of certain characters, missed items or clues and some stray murmurs about a purple basketball Easter egg. A few went off to work individually and polish off their reviews. The work periods were abuzz with productive activity, as groups assigned roles, discussed strategy and exchanged screenshots and notes to build their slide shows. The challenge was to choose the best images and order them in a way that would allow them to effectively deliver their topic.Īll fifty-seven students in the three classes had finished playing the game (or so they assured me!). This wouldn’t be too tough, since Gone Home was a predominantly visual experience, and their tracking notes were complimented with an abundance of screenshots. I introduced the work periods with some tips on how to create effective slide presentations, particularly emphasizing the importance of favoring image over word and avoiding too many bullet points. Of the four remaining classes, two were reserved for students to work on their reviews and group presentations, and then the unit would wrap-up with their presentations. We were in the final stretch of the experiment of using the video game Gone Home as a senior English text. Students hard at work on their reviews and presentations.Įach blog post stands alone, but if you wish to follow the lessons in order, please start reading here.
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