I'm one of millions of readers of mysteries. We don't
passively absorb books. We interact actively from the first page. We use
nuanced clues to keep changing our hypotheses. At the end we weigh the
resolution against alternatives we'd been considering.
It's never surprised me how much the kids up our street like to play soccer, because
starting a game is like opening a new mystery. So that's why I'm finding
reading Jane McGonigal's Reality is
Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World odd,
because neither in the book nor in Amy Gonzalez's National Writing Project review
at http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3654 , is game playing compared
to mystery reading.
Yet McGonigal's defining features of a game are so
characteristic of the experience of mystery reading: a goal which is often redefined as you go, and is enhanced by a good
story; limitations (cultural,
subplot- or information-based, etc.) imposed on ways the goal can be achieved
stimulating you to stretch your thinking; a feedback system that lets you know your progress; and voluntary participation, meaning we
agree to the goal, limitations and feedback system we're given.
I wish we could develop a whole set of quality children's mysteries in Sierra Leone.
This is fascinating. Literary mysteries of one sort or another are so popular, and stimulate enjoyment of reading in young people particularly. Have you, yourself, or any of your students written any mysteries for young readers with SL as the setting?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Barbara. I'm "exploring writing" one and wish I could meet in a writing group with some people I know who have ideas in that direction.
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