Whether ‘you’ need to save the princess or debate a choice between A or B, second-person perspective is a fundamentally persuasive style of storytelling that focuses on what ‘you,’ the reader, will do next. This presentation will explore the usage of second-person narratives in interactive games and how it shapes—or even commands—the reader through a socio-cognitive process characterized by “self-relevant attention, mental stimulation, and psychological distance” (Jin and Ting). The lenses of Creative Writing and Professional Writing will inform the analysis of second-person narratives and shape the student’s development of a fantasy interactive text demo that centers around the reader’s ability to change the fate of a storyline. The demo will serve as a practical demonstration of researched rhetorical techniques in a creative application that highlights the student’s understanding of audience volatility and the inclusion of reader’s identities.
Suryka Kom is a triple major in Business Administration, Health Humanities, and English and Writing Studies with a concentration in Creative Writing. During her time at Salem, she has worked as a Writing Consultant at Salem College's Writing Center, was active in Salem College Honors and the Salemite, presented at NCHA and IWCA, and studied abroad at Toyo University in Japan. After graduation, Suryka plans to pursue either an MFA or seek a career in a creative writing related field.