Following the success of last year’s Twine research group, we in the DWRL wanted to take a step toward making Twine an integral part of the classroom. So during the break I set myself a goal: I wanted to write a completely new kind of Twine game. The resulting text, a Rhetorical Methods game, helps students to take a page and a half of notes regarding the issue, event, or other controversy that they choose to write about in the Rhetoric and Writing Department‘s first-year writing courses. But we don’t want to keep it all to ourselves! Try the game, give it to your students, let them use it themselves! There are 3 simple parts to the game: one that asks students questions about their issue, one that allows them to analyze the reasoning that makes the issue so enigmatic, and a section for students to collect their thoughts regarding the evidence that makes the issues persuasive. Check out the new rhetorical methods game. I bet you’ll find it useful!
This game builds on the successes of our Twine research group, which last spring set itself an ambitious goal: Find meaningful ways to bring digital technology like text-based gaming software into the college classroom. After a lot of learning, brainstorming, meeting, and innovating, we did just that. We created a lesson plan based off of a creative exercise called a game jam! This lesson plan was quite a success. It ushers students from knowing nothing about Twine software to making their first game in the span of a class period, all while instructing students about the importance of crafting messages that are informative, pithy, and substantive. Or if you don’t need a full lesson, but just an introduction to Twine, try out my Meta Game which guides you through the process of making your very first game.
