Not-Games in Secondary English Language Arts

Abstract

This convenient case study will explore the impact of not-games on secondary English language arts students in a high school located in a satellite community of a major city of Alberta. These not-games are often free, short, intuitive, and readily available on the Internet, exposing players to novel issues and perspectives. This study examines whether not-games help students learn about literature through a more rhizomatic strategy that encourages reflection about literature via kinaesthetic or haptic experiences that not-games provide, thus making the learning memorable. Two English Language Arts 30-1 classes experienced not-games alongside a novel and short story unit. Those students who presented or wrote on not-games were analyzed for influence. Using the theory of Deleuze and Guattari, not-games can be considered a “minor literature” or a machine of transposition for deterritorializing arborescent approaches to literature by flattening them into a rhizomatic plateau with many entry points, offering nomadic, transversal opportunities to discover new flight lines (Deleuze & Guattari, 1975/1986; Deleuze & Guattari, 1980/1987).