English 286: Rhetoric of Video Games

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Research & Instruction Librarian for Social Sciences & Data Literacy

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Rolvaag Library 305
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN 55057

Subjects: Asian Conversations, Asian Studies, Chinese, Economics, Education, Family Studies, Japanese, Political Science, Psychology, Public Affairs Conversation, Public Health, Social Work, Social Work and Family Studies

Welcome!

Welcome to the Library Research Guide for English 286: Rhetoric of Video Games! It includes information and resources designed to aid you in locating research and managing sources for your assignments this semester.

If you have any research questions, email Ann at schaez1@stolaf.edu or schedule a research consultation.
If you have any technical questions, reach out to Sara Lynnore (sara@stolaf.edu).

Recent E-books on Video Games

How to Play Video Games
Edited by Nina Huntemann and Matthew Payne (NYU, 2019). What does Pokémon Go tell us about globalization? What does Tetris teach us about rules? Is feminism boosted or bashed by Kim Kardashian: Hollywood? How does BioShock Infinite help us navigate world-building? How to Play Video Games brings together forty original essays from today's leading scholars on video game culture, writing about the games they know best and what they mean in broader social and cultural contexts.
Gaming Representation: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Video Games
Edited by Jennifer Malkowski and TreaAndrea Russworm (Indiana, 2017). Recent years have seen an increase in public attention to identity and representation in video games, including journalists and bloggers holding the digital game industry accountable for the discrimination routinely endured by female gamers, queer gamers, and gamers of color. Gaming Representation examines portrayals of race, gender, and sexuality in a range of games, from casuals like Diner Dash, to indies like Journey and The Binding of Isaac, to mainstream games.
Debugging Game History: A Critical Lexicon
Edited by Henry Lowood and Raiford Guins (MIT, 2016). These essays discuss the terminology, etymology, and history of key terms, offering a foundation for critical historical studies of games. Even as the field of game studies has flourished, critical historical studies of games have lagged behind other areas of research. This volume attempts to "debug" the flawed historiography of video games. It offers original essays on key concepts in game studies.
Ready Player Two: Women Gamers and Designed Identity
By Shira Chess (Minnesota, 2017). Cultural stereotypes to the contrary, approximately half of all video game players are now women. Media critic Shira Chess uses the concept of "Player Two" (the industry idealization of the female gamer) to examine the assumptions implicit in video games designed for women and how they have impacted gaming culture and the larger society. With Player Two, the video game industry has designed specifically for the feminine ideal: she is white, middle class, heterosexual, cis-gendered, and abled. Drawing on categories from time management and caregiving to social networking, consumption, and bodies, Chess examines how games have been engineered to shape normative ideas about women and leisure.

Slideshow

In-class Slideshow

Slide 1: ENGL 286 Research Session

Slide 2: What are our goals for today?

Focusing on ~creative searching~
Looking for topic-adjacent articles
Several useful resources and approaches:
- Catalyst
- Journal Searches
- Cited Reference Searches
How to place Resource Sharing Requests (you’ll probably need to)
Ann’s prefered MLA citation guide (Not Purdue OWL)
How to contact Ann outside of class
Get excited for Sara’s StoryMaps session!

Slide 3: What games am I (Ann) currently playing?

[Images: Official art for two games: Disco Elysium: The Final Cut and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.]

Recently Finished:

[Images: Official art for two games: Warcraft 3 :Reforged and Persona 3: Reload.]

Slide 4: What games are you focusing on for the project?

Slide 5: Worktime! Choose your own adventure

Some suggestions on how to use this time:

Search for the title OR keywords describing your game or themes in Catalyst or in one of the gaming journals listed on the Library Research Guide
- Remember to key an eye on Subject Terms as you find relevant sources
If you already have or find a relevant source, try conducted a cited reference search. Go to Google Scholar and search for the title of the source, then click on “Cited By”
Place Resource Sharing Requests for any articles you find behind paywalls!!
Generate citations, write down your searches, generally try to help out your future self
Ask Ann for help!