Scott Clapp has come a long way from his humble beginnings playing Pong at the mall while his parents shopped.
“I am a video gamer,” Clapp, the head of the English department, said. “I play video games… a lot.”
This strong interest in the world of video games is what led Clapp to construct his “Video Games through Literature” English elective course.
“There is more to
than beating people up in a virtual world,” he said.Clapp intends to focus on the epic behind each campaign, storyline-based, video game. Clapp defines epic as a story that spans months and years both in the virtual world and in reality.
Clapp noticed “how truly literary
are really” because they follow a plot, cycle, and journey.However, the class isn’t meant to attract only the video game enthusiast. Each member of the class is still going to read books and “focus on literary elements and the storylines themselves,” he said.
Because the class will include basic English requirements, only incoming juniors and seniors with a B or higher in every semester of English will be eligible to take the class. A summer assignment may be required pending further evaluation by Clapp.
He said he wants his students to have a history of performing well in English and being motivated for conversation. This class will require students to write essays along with playing video games for homework.
Clapp said he hopes that this will be “an opportunity to engage students in a way that more suits their interests.”
“Prince of Persia,” “Assassin’s Creed,” “Final Fantasy X,” “Red Dead Redemption,” and “God of War” are all on Clapp’s list of potential studies.
