April 12, 2015 - This is my Game Studies presentation for the Metagame Book Club titled: "Playing and Teaching with Interactive Fiction." Interested in joining fellow educators to learn more about gaming in education? Access the free book club here: Metagame Book Club http://bit.ly/metagamebookclub

1. #Metagame Book Club
“Playing and Teaching with Interactive Fiction”
Sherry Jones | Game Studies Facilitator | Spring 2015 | Twitter @autnes |
http://bit.ly/gamestudies11
Icarus
Needs

2. Watch the Live Webcast!

3. IF Works in Focus
Parser-Based IF
● “Galatea” by Emily Short (Mythological)
● “Photopia” by Adam Cadre (Fantasy)
● “The Chinese Room” by Harry Giles and Joey Jones (Philosophical)
(Educational)
Point and Click + CYOA IF
● “Gods Will be Watching” (Survival)
● “Icarus Needs” by Stillmerlin
● “Inside the Japanese American Internment” by tfickle (History)

4. Guiding Questions
Q. What are the educational potentials of Interactive Fiction (IF)?
Q. According to some of the articles on pedagogy and research assigned
this week, how have some educators used IF works in their classes?
Q. Imagine using the Interaction Fiction “branching narrative” structure to
redesign your classroom environment? What would be one possible
application for this design?
Q. If you were to employ an Interactive Fiction work (consider using one of
many works assigned this week), how would you use that work to teach?
How should we frame the students’ reception of that work?

5. REVIEW:
NARRATIVE LEVELS AND VOICE IN
GÉRARD GENETTE’S
NARRATOLOGICAL POETICS

6. On Narrative Levels
According to Gerard Genette, the narrative can be embedded in 3 levels:
Narrative Levels
● Extradiegetic - This is the first level that is not embedded. The narrator
creates the storyworld, but is not part of that storyworld.
● Intradiegetic - This level is embedded in the extradiegetic narrative
level. The narrator is part of the storyworld, and tells what happens in
the extradiegetic narrative level to another character in the storyworld.
● Metadiegetic - This level is embedded in the the intra-diegetic narrative
level (which is embedded in the extra-diegetic narrative level). The
narrator is a character in the storyworld, and shares his/her experience
of the intradiegetic narrative with another character in the storyworld.
● Meta-metadiegetic - The story within a story within a story . . .

7. On Narrative Voice
According to Gerard Genette, the narrator can assume 3 different types of
narrative voice:
Narrative Voice
● Heterodiegetic Narrator - The narrator who is NOT part of the story,
but knows everything that happens in the story.
● Homodiegetic Narrator - The narrator who plays a minor character in
the story, and serves as witness to what happens to other characters (i.
e. protagonists) in the story.
● Autodiegetic Narrator - The narrator who plays a character in the story,
and is also the protagonist in the story.

8. How Do We Play Parser-Based IF Works?
● Parser-Based IF works offer players the ability to enter a limited number
of text commands.
● The text commands are in the form of imperative phrases that begin
with a verb + noun:
VERB + NOUN = WALK SOUTH
● There are limited number of verbs available (IF authors are constantly
adding new verbs as options for interaction).
● Some examples of imperative phrases are: SHAKE THE BED, TALK TO
DAVID, WALK SOUTH, EXAMINE THE ROOM, LISTEN TO MARY, CLOSE
THE WINDOW, etc.
● When stuck, review the “nouns” mentioned in the story. Think about
what combination of verb + noun is logical for continuing the story.
● Most IF works offer a help menu. Read the help menu first!

9. A Close Examination of
“Galatea” by Emily Short (Mythological)

10. Analysis of Galatea
● The narrative is told by a Autodiegetic Narrator, a narrator who plays a
character in the story, and is also the protagonist in the story. Galatea is
a character and the narrator who tells us the story.
● The player is turned into an Intradiegetic Narrator, a narrator who
exists in the storyworld and can interact with the extradiegetic narrative
level.
● Educational Potential?
○ Galatea is a paratextual IF work, that is, it is a work that builds on,
references, or reinterprets other literature. The IF work references
Pygmalion of Cyprus who is mentioned in Ovid’s narrative poem,
Metamorphoses. In the original greek myth, Pygmalion is a sculptor
who fell in love with his own ivory statue, which became alive.
○ The fictional character offers a different perspective on the myth.
○ A basic AI is present who seems to exhibit emotions. How?

11. A Close Examination of
“Photopia” by Adam Cadre (Fantasy)

12. Analysis of Photopia
● The narrative is told by a Heterodiegetic Narrator, a narrator who is
NOT part of the story, but knows everything that happens in the story.
● The player is turned into an Intradiegetic Narrator, a narrator who
exists in the storyworld and can interact with the extradiegetic narrative
level.
● The IF work offers access to narrative worlds through multiple narrative
point of view of multiple characters (we get to play as multiple
characters).
● Educational Potential?
○ Photopia offers multiple, complex narratives that at first, does not
seem related, but are related by parallel themes.
○ Player also gets to engage with many different characters. Are the
characters action consistent with their personality? If not, why?

13. A Close Examination of
“The Chinese Room” by Harry Giles and Joey Jones (Philosophical)
“John Searle
in the Chinese
Room” by
John Kurman

14. Analysis of The Chinese Room
● The narrative is told by a Heterodiegetic Narrator, a narrator who is
NOT part of the story, but knows everything that happens in the story.
● The player is turned into an Intradiegetic Narrator, a narrator who
exists in the storyworld and can interact with the extradiegetic narrative
level.
● Educational Potential?
○ The Chinese Room is an “applied” IF work that explores philosopher’
s John Searle’s The Chinese Room argument. The work is meant to
be educational. Players can learn about the reasoning of the
argument by simply playing the work.
○ Player can question whether other options to interact with the
situation are possible. What are the possibilities?

15. A Close Examination of
“Gods Will be Watching” (Survival)

16. Analysis of Gods Will Be Watching
● The narrative is told by a Heterodiegetic Narrator, a narrator who is
NOT part of the story, but knows everything that happens in the story.
● The player is turned into an Intradiegetic Narrator, a narrator who
exists in the storyworld and can interact with the extradiegetic narrative
level.
● Educational Potential?
○ Gods Will be Watching is a game about survival in the face of the
apocalypse. Each character in the game behave differently based on
their role and personality. Are their behaviors believable?
○ Can the player relate to any of the character? How would the player
behave under the same condition?
○ Can the player list other possible narrative choices not addressed
by the game?

17. A Close Examination of
“Icarus Needs” by Stillmerlin

18. Analysis of Icarus Needs
● The narrative is told by a Heterodiegetic Narrator, a narrator who is
NOT part of the story, but knows everything that happens in the story.
● The player is turned into an Intradiegetic Narrator, a narrator who
exists in the storyworld and can interact with the extradiegetic narrative
level.
● Educational Potential?
○ Icarus Needs allows the player to “play God” and control Icarus’s
fate. What is the responsibility of the narrator in this case?
○ What is “reality” in the game? Are there multiple realities, or none
at all?

19. A Close Examination of
“Inside the Japanese American Internment” by tfickle (History)

20. Analysis of Inside the Japanese American
Internment
● The narrative is told by a Heterodiegetic Narrator, a narrator who is
NOT part of the story, but knows everything that happens in the story.
● The player is turned into an Metadiegetic Narrator, a narrator who
exists as a character in the storyworld, and experiences the storyworld by
playing as the character at the intradiegetic narrative level (the player
plays as “Freddy Suzuki”).
● Educational Potential?
○ Inside the Japanese American Internment is an “applied” IF work that
provides a fictional story based on research of Japanese American
Internment beginning in 1941. Players can learn about historical
events by simply playing the work.
○ Does players develop empathy for the protagonist? Why or why not?

21. HOW CAN INTERACTIVE FICTION (IF) BE
USED IN THE CLASSROOM?

22. The Problem of Illusion of Causality in IF
Works
“The mind can never possibly find the effect in the supposed cause, by the
most accurate scrutiny and examination. For the effect is totally different
from the cause, and consequently can never be discovered in it. Motion in the
second Billiard-ball is a quite distinct event from motion in the first; nor is
there anything in the one to suggest the smallest hint of the other . . . In a
word, then every effect is a distinct event from its cause.”
-- Passage from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

23. Teaching Moment 1
Q. Do the supposed causes and effects, as depicted by the
narrative choices in each IF work, necessarily follow? In
other words, must certain narrative choices lead to certain
outcomes? Or, are other outcomes possible that are not
addressed by the IF work? Consider these factors:
○ The conditions (affordances) provided by the
narrative situation.
○ The level of interaction (affordances) provided by
the work.
○ The narrative voice (in terms of distance).

24. Teaching Moment 2
Q. Can IF works offer counterfactual histories by offering
different narrative choices?

25. Teaching Moment 3
Q. How can IF works be used to improve reading and
writing literacies?

26. Teaching Moment 4
Q. Can IF works be used to teach logic? Can an entire IF
work be designed to teach a specific concept?

27. Teaching Moment 5
Q. Can we create IF works as “applied games”?

28. Teaching Moment 6
Q. Can IF works be used as “empathy machines”? Why or
why not?

29. Teaching Moment 7
Q. How can IF works be used in disciplines such as
mathematics, psychology, or science? What other
disciplines can apply IFs for pedagogical purposes?

30. Questions?

31. Lecture By:
Sherry Jones
Philosophy | Rhetoric | Game Studies
@autnes
Writings & Webcasts
Link to Slides: http://bit.ly/gamestudies11