ENGL 505B

Fisher's article was painful to read, which is a shame because I think that, deep down, its a good article at heart. Get past all the ugliness, and I think the idea that what is presented as educational, what is performed as educational, is accepted as educational by our students. IF they never encounter something within a learning atmosphere, it remains unconnected with learning, but, if brought into the classroom (and, of course, successfully utilized) then there are almost no limits to what can be educational - like the "game" that Fisher describes. I think Fisher's other most salient point is that gaming in particular encourages students to see texts as open ended, unclosed, unfinished, pieces of discourse... I think that aspect of composition is one of the most difficult to "teach" and I totally agree that the gaming approach (particularly through simulation) comes with a default understanding that the "game" doesn't end, that the character, the story, is ever-evolving...