The Journey Begins (And so do the Clichéd Titles)

If you have accessed this page in error, I am going to go ahead and warn you to stop reading while you still can, for a world of nerdery and geekdom is the only thing that awaits.  As for the two or three of you who actually know what this blog is about, finally it is time to work on this thesis and finish up the Master's degree once and for all! 

Now, this blog is meant to accompany my final project for my Master's Degree in English, a project which combines two of my favorite things on this earth:  Video games and the Young Adult genre of literature.  Essentially, I am making the argument that including video games as literary narratives in English curricula for grades 9-13 can enrich the Young Adult genre, as the interactivity these narrative games bring with them introduces a unique/modern hands-on element to a field that speaks directly to teens about issues they may encounter in their own lives. 

I still have a long way to go in order to fully refine my argument, never mind the final product itself.  I have plenty of research to do, and by that I of course mean neglecting anyone and everyone around me in order to play more games and write about them.  In all seriousness, there is still much refinement to be done, as I do not want the final project to merely become an opinion piece, so I will need to develop a solid foundation of evidence for my claims.  That being said, any and all suggestions or comments are welcomed and appreciated, as I know I'm not the only out there who believes in the educational power to be found in games.  

I will be updating this blog regularly in order to discuss various web links, scholarly articles, and video game ideologies at length.  As for games that I will be analyzing, clearly not all genres or titles would be appropriate to include in a curriculum.  But you can rest assured that the Final Fantasy series (along with pretty much any other Role Playing Game with an angst-filled teen protagonist) will be well represented with its recurring coming-of-age theme that is prevalent throughout the FF titles.  Also, even though both titles do not have themes of YA lit, I'd like to incorporate Heavy Rain for its amazing storytelling capabilities, and World of Warcraft for its interchangeability between text and video games.  There will be much more to come, as the countdown to thesis completion nears, and my celebrating can begin.