Reading Grand Theft Auto: Improvisational Urban Literacy

Urban Education ◽

10.1177/0042085920923026 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 004208592092302

Author(s):

Samuel Jaye Tanner

Keyword(s):

Video Game ◽

Narrative Research ◽

Literacy Education ◽

Surprising Result ◽

High School English ◽

Race And Gender ◽

English Classrooms ◽

Teacher Decision Making ◽

San Andreas ◽

And Gender

This article relies on nonrepresentational narrative research to consider improvisational urban literacy. The author uses narrative to theorize the choice to teach Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in urban high school English classrooms. The author positions this decision as the surprising result of an improvisational, urban literacy pedagogy meant to locate and address issues of race and gender in a video game. This article calls for a broader view of textuality that affirms, supports, and celebrates emergent teacher decision making, as well as practices of urban literacy education that broaden the notion of what constitutes a text.

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A Power Shrouded in Petticoats and Lace: The Representation of Gender Roles in Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation

New Horizons in English Studies ◽

10.17951/nh.2021.6.92-110 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 92-110

Author(s):

Margaret Steenbakker

Keyword(s):

Video Game ◽

Skin Color ◽

Gender Performance ◽

Point Of View ◽

Female Characters ◽

Race And Gender ◽

Historical Reality ◽

And Gender ◽

Game Developers

This article explores the gendered narrative in the video game Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. Using this game as its main case study, it addresses the question in which ways the game developers have conceptualized gender, race, and gender performance in the video game. It does so from an intersectional point of view. After establishing Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation as a prime example of the trend to include more female characters in games during recent years, I will argue that this game includes a complex rhetoric that not only perpetuates stereotypical notions regarding gender, but also fails to acknowledge issues regarding its main protagonist’s skin color in the historical reality the game wishes to emulate.

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Examining the intersection of race and gender in video game advertising

Journal of Marketing Communications ◽

10.1080/13527266.2014.914562 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 220-239 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz

Keyword(s):

Video Game ◽

Race And Gender ◽

And Gender

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Referral Patterns for Youths Identified at Risk for Suicide by Trained Gatekeepers

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000114 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 113-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Michael S. Rodi ◽

Lucas Godoy Garraza ◽

Christine Walrath ◽

Robert L. Stephens ◽

D. Susanne Condron ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Suicide Prevention ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Service Access ◽

Referral Patterns ◽

Race And Gender ◽

Lee Smith ◽

Prevention Behavior ◽

Key Variables ◽

And Gender ◽

To Receive

Background: In order to better understand the posttraining suicide prevention behavior of gatekeeper trainees, the present article examines the referral and service receipt patterns among gatekeeper-identified youths. Methods: Data for this study were drawn from 26 Garrett Lee Smith grantees funded between October 2005 and October 2009 who submitted data about the number, characteristics, and service access of identified youths. Results: The demographic characteristics of identified youths are not related to referral type or receipt. Furthermore, referral setting does not seem to be predictive of the type of referral. Demographic as well as other (nonrisk) characteristics of the youths are not key variables in determining identification or service receipt. Limitations: These data are not necessarily representative of all youths identified by gatekeepers represented in the dataset. The prevalence of risk among all members of the communities from which these data are drawn is unknown. Furthermore, these data likely disproportionately represent gatekeepers associated with systems that effectively track gatekeepers and youths. Conclusions: Gatekeepers appear to be identifying youth across settings, and those youths are being referred for services without regard for race and gender or the settings in which they are identified. Furthermore, youths that may be at highest risk may be more likely to receive those services.

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