• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Course Syllabus: ATEC 6342.501
MECHANICS OF STORY
Course Information
SPECIAL TOPICS: “MECHANICS OF STORY”
Course: ATEC 6342.501Day/Time: MONDAY 7:00 PM - 9:45 PMRoom: ATEC 1.103
Class Blog: writerscurtain.blogspot.com
Professor Contact Information
Dr. Adam Brackin – 214-354-6161 (leave a message and I will call you back asap!)albrackin@gmail.com (alb032000@utdallas.edu)[ATEC
1.602
] I share office space with Dean Terry.
I am available MON from
10:00 - 12:00 & 1:15 - 3:45 
, and by appointment WED (and at other times).
Course Description
Students must be actively enrolled in or officially auditing this class in order to attend it due to UTD policy, fire code, and very real seating restrictions.
 
When you consider the millennia of storytelling that comprise our literary tradition, it is easy tofeel overwhelmed by the shadow of so many works. But there are common threads that link all stories--from Beowulf andHamlet to Gone With the Wind and The Godfather to the story you are drafting right now in your head. These threads formthe foundation that supports story whether you are writing a novel, a memoir, screenplay, video game, or other "AlternateReality" world. This class explores both historically traditional storytelling models and new models which requirerecognition of the balance of aesthetic story and mechanics within new media storytelling. Topics include linear and non-linear storytelling methods across multimedia and trans-media methods of delivery with a focus on
1) reading/viewing/  playing stories, 2) critical analysis of storytelling mechanics in various works, 3) creating and publishing original student works using the most modern and appropriate new-media methods such as social networking tools.
We will examine arange of topics, including storytelling in a multiplayer environment; narrative techniques for a 3,000,000-page novel;continuity (or the impossibility of it) in pervasive fictional worlds; managing multiple intertwined narratives; the spatialexperience of virtual worlds; Emergent adventure texts created by designers and fans; and the serial storytelling, amongmany other essential insights into how fictions are constructed and maintained in very different forms of media through tothe beginning of the twenty-first century.
Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes
Students will examine the range of media available for storytelling. Students will learn to think critically about variousstorytelling issues and gain exposure to seminal examples of various writers and researchers in the field. Students willalso learn how to critique and analyze new media forms, and how to present this critical review in ways that areappropriate to the ever-evolving genre. Students will engage in discussion and debate with each other and withdevelopers in the field where appropriate through a class blog. Finally, students will create original IP in various classicand new media formats to demonstrate a fluency and proficiency in the above concepts.
Required Textbooks and Materials
The Hero with a Thousand Facesby Joseph Campbell (Hardcover), New World Library, (July 28, 2008) 1577315936 The Art And Craft Of Storytelling: A Comprehensive Guide to Classic Writing Techniquesby Nancy Lamb (Paperback) F&W Media, Inc., (December 15, 2008) 1582975590 The Hero’s Journey by Harold Bloom (Hardcover), Facts On File, Inc. (January 30, 2009) 0791098036 Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narrativesby Pat Harrigan (Hardcover) MIT Press (May 29, 2009) 0262232634Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narrativesby Jeff Howard (Paperback), A K Peters Ltd (February 26, 2008) 156881347 (And selected short readings online and given in class as well as various selections from the book list - TBD.)
Course SyllabusPage 1
 
STORY
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...