- Moby Dick as a sort of travel blog by Ishmael. How to connect this to how early novels and pamphlets functioned much the same way as blogs.
- More about symbolism of the color white. (See past post.)
- Some tie-in to video games.
As much as I like the first two topics, I can always talk about video games. For hours, if need be. I mentioned to my teammates that I was looking for a way to make that connection and it seemed like kind of a stretch until Cheri mentioned that Ahab's obsession with Moby Dick is a lot like a video game addict's obsession with a game. That is something I can gladly write about! I'm very passionate about the dangers of video game addiction, even as an avid gamer. Ahab and gamers have a surprising amount in common in this analogy.
- Ahab is spending a lot of time on something that he deems mega important and which other people don't care about at all (killing a specific whale)
- He enlists others for his cause, much like group gaming. This is much more possible with networks like Xbox live, LAN parties, or just playing online.
- Ahab posts a reward for spotting the whale. Gamers earn points.
- Not satisfied when he kills whales that are not Moby Dick. Hours and hours of gameplay can be frustrating if they come to no end.
- Ahab and his crew are all crushed in the end. More and more increasingly (actual statistics would help strengthen this argument) innocent game players become genuine addicts. They quit their jobs, drop out of school, or are otherwise not participating any more in the real world.
I'm mostly looking for ways to develop my video game argument. I will probably only focus on two or three points, but I listed what came to mind. I'm also open to ways to develop my other ideas if they are, in fact, better.
I wish I could have that Moby Dick flash game embedded in my paper :)
I really like your idea of comparing Ahab's obsession to video game addicts' obsession. Perhaps you could also talk about how it is possible to hunt and kills without becoming obsessed like Ahab. Most of the crew is content to just kill whales and make a living. Similarly, many gamers are content to play video games without becoming obsessed. However, you could also talk about how Ahab's addiction basically spreads to his crew. I would assume that friends get each other hooked on video games fairly frequently. I hope these thoughts help! I would love to hear your feedback on my outline as well.
ReplyDeleteI like how Cheri is spinning this. Frankly, just pointing to a parallel between the destructiveness or addicted nature of Ahab and some video game players isn't all that instructive and only tends to confirm popular anti-video game sentiment. If you want to ride that way, that's fine, but I think you could do something more interesting. I liked the idea of Moby Dick as a travel blog. That would take telling us a bit about such blogs so we know their characteristics and get some examples, but it holds a lot of promise. One way to combine your interests would be to use MD as a way of seeing video games as travel media. While pursuing the prey / reaching the goal, one ends up exploring strange new worlds. Not every video game offers this, but some certainly do. Shadow of the Collosus is one, Bioshock Infinite, etc.
ReplyDeleteI sort of write about this in my paper as a negative type of immersion and compare Ahab to an addict. But honestly I like the travel blog idea better.
ReplyDeleteOn the video game idea: I'm writing sort of about gaining balance in digital literacy. According to the Prezi, digital literacy has you create, consume, and connect.
ReplyDeleteAhab overbalanced on the consumption part. So, you could remark that video game addicts are imbalanced in terms of digital literacy, or even talk about true and false digital literacy - what is meaningful consumption, creation, and connection, and what is simply superficial consumption, creation, and connection. You could talk about different types of games...or perhaps we're reaching beyond the scope of this paper.
There's a lot of potential in your topic(s). If you're pursuing the video game angle, what I wrote above could be something you touch on if it's relevant enough to the end thesis.