It’s Your (Virtual) World. Feel Free to Roam or Slay.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/arts/video-games/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-video-game-review.html?ref=arts

      Schiesel is quite positive in his review of Skyrim. His article makes the game sound exciting, and he appeals to gamers with images they can easily slip into.

      Schiesel's diction carries his images. He uses specific verbs and a lot of variety; the player can "infiltrate," "[delve]," "[slay]." These words carry motion because of their unusualness. Towns aren't crowded, but "teeming." The game becomes much more attractive with his specific word choice.

      Tied to the diction is Schiesel's imagery. He describes "steep peaks and river gorges, hidden shrines and bandit keeps," bringing the reader into Skryim. His images of readers being "absorb[ed]... for months or even years" is relatable; he knows his audience. His beginning and ending image, one of being "lost," does the same kind of thing. It's a testimony to the pull of the game.

      The details, similarly, try to convince the reader of the magnitude of the game. Schiesel lists a mass of things found in the game: "giants and ogres and goblins and demons and spirits...." His lists give the reader of what the game's about, as well as the scale. He later gives examples of characters a player could make, again appealing, through variety, to the reader. Schiesel tries to show the reader what they could expect from Skyrim.

Fifth Class Response

      Since the last post, we've been reading Ceremony and discussing it as a class. I loved the book. It's woven with such detail! Close reading has only given me more respect- everything seems connected and meaningful to the point of being overwhelming. Ceremony's a work of art. I'm really glad that we're discussing it so much in class! I hadn't even thought about the relevancy of color, and certainly hadn't thought much about its cultural background.

2004 prompt

2004, Form B. The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

      Rocky's death in Ceremony further distances Tayo from his tribe. He was supposed to be the one who brought Rocky back, something he had trouble forgiving himself for. The experience haunts him, and reflects the uncertainty and pain in Tayo's search for belonging.

      Rocky was the child who had grown up to join white culture. He was going to go to college, be a football champion, escape the reservation. He was Auntie's pride, someone who could fit in that promising foreign world. Following that lure was his downfall; he died in a war that he chose to join. He died in a war that was not his own. That betrayal follows Tayo, and, with that so close to his heart, he can see how white people have abandoned the white veterans. He dares the others to see past the illusion; at the bar, he breaks Emo's ceremony, isolating himself.

      The death is also a failing of Tayo's. He was supposed to bring Rocky home alive, or died with him. Instead, he comes home alive, uncertain of whether he still fit in the society. His memories are confused and woven together. The uncertainty of Rocky's death plays a part in that, as well; Tayo blocks Rocky's dying scream out with his own, and in not knowing the noise, anything can bring him back to the memory. It tangles the web of his mind even further.

      Rocky's death leads to the heart of the novel. It reflects the tension that Tayo is going through, and displaces him even more.