Acknowledging calls for future research involving video games and rhetoric and
composition, this dissertation project answers those calls and furthers our understanding about
playing video games as rhetorical action, but more importantly, this dissertation shows how a
writing pedagogy based on gaming helps students better understand traditional and multimodal
composition processes if the playing experience and the writing experience are considered
together.
The dissertation situates video games within multimodal composition and as a result
shows how multimodal principles are being demonstrated through an analysis of a variety of
video games as case study examples. The dissertation reveals how students might realize
connections between traditional and multimodal literacies easier and how instructors might solve
common composition pedagogy problems through analyzing and adapting gaming literacy
practices. The dissertation concludes with theorizing about how writing pedagogy based on
gaming practices influences writing assessment with special attention toward student selfassessment
and motivation.
As a collection of five chapters, this dissertation will help rhetoric and composition
scholars understand video games as a form of multimodal composition. The dissertation will also
help scholars approach playing video games as a rhetorical action and explore how contemporary
composition pedagogy benefits from understanding how players work through video games
using a variety of resources in print and electronic media.