Teacher Uses Red Dead Redemption to Teach Senior English Class

Highlights

Using Red Dead Redemption to teach English is a creative and engaging way to explore storytelling and moral issues.
The compelling narratives and well-written characters in the franchise make it perfect material for teaching important literary themes.
The class, Video Games as Literature, allows students to delve into character development and moral choices in a unique and interactive way.

A high school teacher is using Red Dead Redemption as a creative way to teach senior English to students. When it comes to storytelling in games, the Red Dead Redemption franchise is filled with compelling narratives, and this teacher saw the games as a perfect opportunity to teach students about literature.

Despite the most recent game in the Red Dead Redemption series being released back in 2018, the franchise remains extremely popular. Not only are the games filled with incredible missions and exploration, but one of the defining features of the franchise is found in the compelling characters and storylines Rockstar has crafted. Characters like Arthur Morgan, John Marston, and Dutch van der Linde are hailed by many as some of the most well-written characters in not just gaming, but modern storytelling in general.

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One particularly creative high school teacher, known as AnonymousCerealBowl on Reddit, has found a way to create an entire class around narratives in video games by using Red Dead Redemption as the focus of the curriculum. The class, called Video Games as Literature, seeks to teach students important literary themes through narrative-focused games. Storytelling in Red Dead Redemption is the heart of the franchise, making the games perfect material to teach English students.

Teaching English Using Red Dead Redemption

To get an idea of what games students would be interested in, the teacher who created the class polled students on what titles would be good sources to use, and Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 won the votes. After the teacher was awarded a grant for enough copies of both games, the class was made complete with custom-made booklets created by the teacher where students fill out exercises based around character development and moral choices. Rockstar games are known for their emotional moments, and the Red Dead Redemption franchise is filled with plenty of moral issues that are important for students to face.

Seeing a teacher using video games as a way to teach students about literature is truly inspiring. Although the future of Red Dead Redemption is uncertain, the previous games in the franchise still remain compelling and beautifully crafted stories that serve as perfect material for teaching important lessons.