Nonfiction Reading Response

I have read The Ultimate History Of Video Games by Steven L. Kent. It's essentially a textbook spanning from Mechanical Handheld Games (or M.H.G.) to the current generation of consoles. 
 
The book is about 600 large pages long but I will try to summarize. The book is about how video game culture and technology changed. The book starts at pinball and ends at the 6th generation with the Xbox and the Playstation 2, and it includes a description of almost every main console.
 
Something that Steven has done that I quite enjoy is that he has no bias in any entry of the book. This is an incredible feat as I can see from the type style on the front cover (Burgertime, Centipede, Pac man, Zaxxon, Donkey Kong, etc.) that he is a huge fan of these games. Another thing that is amazing about him is that he has extended stories about scandals and problems that were incredibly important in shaping the industry. He also has done a lot of research as you can see from the quotes at the beginning of every chapter.
Just to name one example, he goes incredibly in-depth about how Mortal Kombat was such a big problem with parents that they got incredibly sensitive to game designers who were just doing their job and even put a notice on the machine that explained how the game contained violence and gore. A part of this was incredibly important seeing as it was the start of video game demonization. 

I think the claim of the author is that video games are an ever expanding culture and should be accepted as an important medium. I agree with this statement and hold this message deeply. One thing he talks about in his book is that games can have important messages that can really affect a player. One example of this is in bioshock 2 where your actions directly influence whether your daughter becomes good or evil. This shows just how video games can be just as thoughtful and original as any other medium.

Best book of 2013 (I read)

By far, the best book I read this year, was Bioshock : Rapture. Apart from being a prelude to one of my favorite game series ever, it also included in depth backstorys to every character I hated, loved or was fascinated by. Fair warning, like the games the book is incredibly dark, full of gore and has a bittersweet ending, so if you're the kind of person who doesn't like that sort of thing, then stay away from this book. In conclusion, great story, plenty of science, death, 1940's shenanigans, and horror to last you a while. (Or a quick read to pass the time)

Group Reading Inquiry

 How are people in power represented in Book?

In books like 1984 and V For Vendetta people in power/ government officials are portrayed as nosy and controlling groups or individuals. One of the examples is a book called Fahrenheit 451. In this book the government has banned books and have "Fire Men" whose only task is to burn books. this book was made at a time where book banning was sadly an event that took place pretty often.

Another example of power being represented in books is in the novel I Am J. In the book a transvestite lesbian girl is constantly aided by the officials around her, including shelter employees. This book shows that sometimes in books people of power are portrayed as being helpful and kind.

Both of these represent people of power in different ways. These books show that people in power are not always "evil".

A Social Issue I Noticed While Reading "Speak"

In the book, Speak, by Laurie Halse, there is a girl named Melinda who messes up during the summer and it causes her some trauma. Because of this, she talks very little and is often picked on because of it and her summer mistake. This book focuses on the social issue of picking on others because they don’t act or are a certain way. This is shown a lot in many books but I think it is presented really well here.

            Melinda speaks very rarely to anyone her own age and when she does she’s very quiet and reserved. Because of this, she gets made fun of and ridiculed. Ridicule because of difference is quite a large social issue, but it’s narrowed down in this book to this kind of quirk, speaking rarely, specifically. Melinda’s parents think her silence is her way of getting attention and don’t try to help her.

During the course of the book, the author shows how different people react to Melinda’s mostly silent personality. The overall effect that the author conveys is that people can be cruel and judgmental even without knowing it, towards other people’s differences.

Snow Crash Reading Response

“Y.T. is what Y.T. does.” In this quote Y.T. is talking about how her actions speak for themselves. I wonder why she is presented that way?

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is a book about a futuristic, apocalyptic society with a horrible economy. After Y.T. helps out a hacker/pizza delivery guy named Hiro Protagonist (no, really) they go out to discover why a brain-virus being spread by a new religion is infecting people.

Y.T. “Yours Truly” is a street-wise 15-year old “Kourier” (courier) who is presented, as I said before, as the kind of in-the-moment girl teenager stereotype.

            Mr. Stephenson, from the start, portrays her as this aforementioned kind of stereotype by having her not tell her mother where she works and really just lying about where she is at all times. She also drinks alcohol and has had (it is implied) more than one sexual experience. As I read, it I became increasingly more aware of how she was shaping up to be like a tomboy from a bad 80’s action movie. (And that’s coming from a guy who loooooves 80’s action movies.) She refuses to do things in any way except her own, rejects any kind of feminine activity, cracks wise, rejects all help, and never wears a dress.

            After I noticed this it was impossible not to notice it. In almost every line of dialogue she was acting like a stereotype. For example, she says “Name’s Y.T.” and “Maxing the Clink” (in prison) and “You’re my boyfriend. If I get popped you’re supposed to get me out.” (Popped = get caught during illegal activity/put in prison). After I noticed this I started to look at the other characters, who had sort of a same idea. For example Hiro Protagonist is a limber, Nipponese-sword wielder with years of training by a sensei, and his ex girlfriend Juanita, is an attractive girl with a flair for computer model design.

In addition to all this, Y.T. is thrown into this society where everything is futuristic and high-tech, whereas she is a impulsive, smartmouthed, and rebellious teenager, that is very out of place for this setting.

So, in conclusion, Y.T. is a 1980’s teenager stereotype in a futuristic setting.

Finished reading "BADD"

Finished BADD

Finished reading "V for Vendetta"

Finished V For Vendetta