On the beaten track

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Ian Bogost

"Videogames are both an expressive medium and a persuasive medium; they represent how real and imagined systems work, and they invite players to interact with those systems and form judgments about them. In this innovative analysis, Ian Bogost examines the way videogames mount arguments and influence players. Drawing on the 2,500-year history of rhetoric, the study of persuasive expression, Bogost analyzes rhetoric's unique function in software in general and videogames in particular. The field of media studies already analyzes visual rhetoric, the art of using imagery and visual representation persuasively. Bogost argues that videogames, thanks to their basic representational mode of procedurality (rule-based representations and interactions), open a new domain for persuasion; they realize a new form of rhetoric."--Jacket.

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Adam Dodd

"From ancient Egyptian deities to German automobiles, beetles have left an indelible mark on human cultures around the world. Comprising more than 350,000 species, beetles are among the most prolific animals on Earth, even if we rarely give them a second thought. In this book Adam Dodd explores the world of the beetle and its sometimes astounding and bizarre intersections with the world of the human being. Beetle relates this resilient insect's emergence from the 'Great Dying' extinction event some 250 million years ago, showing how it became a permanent fixture in the natural world, thriving in the inhabitation of niches. Inspiring early occult beliefs and religious myths, the beetle also finds its way into art, folklore, literature and science. Dodd uncovers the beetle's ongoing place in the aesthetic appreciation of nature, and shows how knowledge of beetle anatomy is assisting the development of cutting-edge cybernetics, blurring the boundary between science and fiction.--"Provided by publisher.

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Bud Hannings

"This history of the primary fortifications established during 400 tumultuous years in what would become the United States of America. Under each state's heading, this substantial volume contains alphabetized entries with information regarding each structure's history. Beginning with the American Revolution, each of the American military fortifications, militia forts, settlers' forts and blockhouses is listed and described"--Provided by publisher.

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Sharon Kinsella

"Adult Manga describes and analyses the rise and fall of the mammoth Japanese comic book industry since the 1960s and the complex new attitudes towards manga in Japan since the 1980s. Topics covered include the recent revival of manga censorship and the moral panic surrounding manga otaku, the repression of the amateur manga subculture and the promotion of certain genres of manga by educational and cultural institutions, changes in the intellectual relationship between manga artists and publishing company editors, and the assimilation of manga into national culture. This provocative and timely book shows how manga's status in Japanese society is linked to changes in the balance of power between artists and editors."--BOOK JACKET.