Research Topic

     Video games have long had a sense of controversy behind them since the advent of next-generation gaming. There have been numerous political and moral witch hunts surrounding the content of games, be it because of sexual themes or violence. Politicians and angry mothers have been outraged in the past because of the violence and other various content in a video game "corrupting the innocence" of their impressionable young children. In my research I aim to look at video games from a therapeutic, educational, and beneficial aspect. There have been numerous studies involving using video games as use of physical and mental therapy and training. One such example I will be examining is the use of video games to aid in people with a mentally or physically disabling disorder. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57396431-76/parkinsons-patients-test-video-games-as-therapy-video/
     Video games also can be used as training for business and the military, another key topic I will be looking at throughout my research. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/virtual-explosions/

Maus

       My reading of Maus allowed me to examine and apply some of the principles presented in the reading in Understanding Comics. One thing that I noticed was the mention of the representation of humanity through abstract or simplistic art. The main characters in Maus are drawn as relatively simplistically drawn mice, but still maintain a human form because of their upright postures and their realistic human clothing. The reader can identify with the characters because of their human-like looks and their simplistic facial expressions. The unusually realistic background images help the characters blend in and makes the reader really enter the world of the characters. They feel at home and identify with the simplicity of the character design but at the same time become engrossed in the mysticism of the highly detailed backgrounds. The frames of the comic are set up in a very precise, linear manner allowing the reader to follow the sense of time lapse within the story.