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Jay Clayton

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Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative

Vanderbilt University

About this Course

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Intended for both newcomers who are curious about video games and experienced gamers who want to reflect on their passion, this course will explore what happens to stories, paintings, and films when they become the basis of massively multiplayer online games.  The Lord of the Rings trilogy—the novels, films, and video game—are our central example of how “remediation” transforms familiar stories as they move across media. 
The course is designed as a university-level English literature class—a multi-genre, multimedia tour of how literature, film, and games engage in the basic human activity of storytelling.  Our journey will enable us to learn something about narrative theory, introduce us to some key topics in media studies and cover some of the history and theory of video games.  It will also take us to some landmarks of romance literature, the neverending story that lies behind most fantasy games: J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, a bit of Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, and poems by Keats, Tennyson, Browning, and others.

Drawing on centuries of romance narrative conventions, the twenty-first century gaming industry has become a creative and economic powerhouse.  It engages the talents of some of our brightest writers, artists, composers, computer engineers, game theorists, video producers, and marketing professionals, and in 2012, it generated an estimated $64 billion in revenue.  Anyone interested in today’s culture needs to be conversant with the ways this new medium is altering our understanding of stories.  Join me as we set out on an intellectual adventure, the quest to discover the cultural heritage of online games.

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Beginner Level

Approx. 21 hours to complete

English

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Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Beginner Level

Approx. 21 hours to complete

English

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Instructor

Instructor rating

4.9/5 (36 Ratings)

Jay Clayton

Offered by

Vanderbilt University

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating96%(1,132 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

3 hours to complete

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 and game design from his book "Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds." We end by considering games as journeys using Constantine Cavafy's poem "Ithaca."For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab. ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.

3 hours to complete

9 videos (Total 94 min), 1 reading, 2 quizzes

9 videos

Course Introduction9mGames as Culture5mLOTRO Gameplay: Epic Quest Line, Book 112mRemediation11mTypes of Video and Computer Games12mA Brief History of Games9mJuul: Emergence and Progression15mJuul: Rules and Fiction11mCavafy's "Ithaca"7m

1 reading

Course Overview10m

2 practice exercises

Week 1 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)30mWeek 1 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 1 Standard Quiz and this quiz)30m

Week2

Week 2

4 hours to complete

LOTRO and Tolkien

4 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 113 min)

10 videos

Modes of Storytelling10mLOTRO Gameplay: Frodo and the Prancing Pony9mTolkien's Life and Works10mTolkien's Popularity8mThemes in Tolkien's Writing14mQuests as Structural Elements of Games12mThe Quester and the Quest9mPart 1: Roland's Psyche6mPart 2: Elements of the Quest Romance15mPart 3: The Poem's Lyric Nature15m

2 practice exercises

Week 2 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)30mWeek 2 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 2 Standard Quiz, this quiz, and the Week 2 Peer Review)30m

Week3

Week 3

3 hours to complete

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 closes with a look at John Keats' haunting ballad, "La Belle Dame sans Merci." ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.

3 hours to complete

13 videos (Total 129 min)

13 videos

Gameplay: The Chamber of Mazarbul10mGenres of Romance 4mThe Romance Circle 14mAllegory Defined 11mTolkien on Allegory15mGenre and Plot Forms8mLost in an Episodic Plot10mWandering and Doubling in Romance7mIssues of Theme and Content8mFlat vs. Round Characters12mDaemonic Characters and Romance Character Systems7mKeats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" I 7mKeats, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" II 10m

2 practice exercises

Week 3 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)30mWeek 3 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 3 Standard Quiz and this quiz)30m

Week4

Week 4

4 hours to complete

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 Chapman's book "Film and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film." Close attention is paid to the mechanics of point of view, and how its use allows artists to connect with audiences. ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.

4 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 75 min)

10 videos

Mental Models and Cognitive Mapping in Narrative7mStoryworlds5mSpatial Issues in Film 8mGameplay: Spatial Issues in Immersive Games (Stone Trolls)9mPoint of View in Novels and Films 14mPoint of View in Games7mTemporal Order I: Introduction 7mTemporal Order II: Film3mTemporal Order III: Painting 2mTemporal Order IV: Gaming 8m

2 practice exercises

Week 4 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)30mWeek 4 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 4 Standard Quiz, this quiz, and the Week 4 Peer Review)30m

Week5

Week 5

2 hours to complete

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 an indomitable heroine. Then watch how a group of students remediated the same story in a video game they created: "Faerie Queene Online." ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.

2 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 87 min)

7 videos

Introduction to Spenser8mSpenser, the Man and the Poet 5mThe Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 1-712mThe Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 8-1910mThe Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 20-4014mThe Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto 1, Stanzas 41-67 15mGameplay: Faerie Queene Online18m

2 practice exercises

Week 5 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)30mWeek 5 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 5 Standard Quiz and this quiz)30m

Week6

Week 6

5 hours to complete

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 Rings" trilogy. The final stage of MMOs--when your character has maxed out and completed all the quests--has always presented challenges to game makers. Although LOTRO continues to take us on our journey toward Mordor, it cannot escape the challenge of creating end-game material for advanced players. We look at two attempts to include advanced players in the events of Western Rohan and Helm's Deep. Finally, we ponder what comes after the end, as we read Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem, "Ulysses." ***For details about this week's Readings, go to the Syllabus page in your Resources tab.

5 hours to complete

9 videos (Total 96 min)

9 videos

Beginnings, Middles, and Ends I 9mBeginnings, Middles, and Ends II 8mFellowship's End 14mThe Many Ends of The Lord of the Rings I9mThe Many Ends of The Lord of the Rings II 10mGameplay: Helm's Deep and the Breaking of Isengard9mQuest's End: Tennyson's "Ulysses" I11mQuest's End: Tennyson's "Ulysses" II15mOptional: Valedictory Video5m

2 practice exercises

Week 6 Standard Quiz (All students complete this quiz)30mWeek 6 Honors Quiz (Honors students complete the Week 6 Standard Quiz, this quiz, and the Week 6 Peer Review)30m

Reviews

4.6

50 reviews

5 stars
77.19%
4 stars
14.61%
3 stars
4.09%
2 stars
1.75%
1 star
2.33%

TOP REVIEWS FROM ONLINE GAMES: LITERATURE, NEW MEDIA, AND NARRATIVE

by WWMar 17, 2018

I loved the fusion of literature, movies, and games

by LKOct 16, 2017

An excellent insight in Literature through the modern medium of gaming.

by JRJan 10, 2017

I am really grateful for the course that gave me the idea and theorethical background to create a transmedia experience with my daughters around the Hobbit and Lotro

by AMFeb 19, 2018

It was very interesting and fun. I liked the literature and examples of the workshop, it was very interesting and It did awaken a much slept passion for poetry and romance.

View all reviews

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Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative

Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative

About this Course