For their final project, second semester Northern Virginia Community College Composition students (ENG 112) work in groups to create presentations that introduce, analyze, and draw a conclusion about a significant American cultural artifact, (a trend, a celebrity, or anything that significantly impacts American culture). Students work together to build a persuasive argument using a combination of text, multimedia, and visual design. Students develop a claim about the negative or positive impact of the artifact on the demographic of American culture it affects. Alternatively, students may discuss what the artifact says about our culture. These students are asked to explore a cultural artifact and determine its significance and/or role in our society. Students are encouraged to present their findings using any media they wish to implement.

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By MAST (Mei Ling, Andrew, Sahar, Tristan)

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Minecraft appeals to many people because it is only limited by their creativity
and allows them to connect with people.

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video from minecraft official site

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● Attractive ideas
● Appealing features
● Social impact

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● Appeals to many generations
● Unique
● Technology savvy generation
● Nostalgic video game feel,low graphics/8bit design,older gamers
● This feature makes game accessible to low performance PCs
● Playable on almost every device, relatively inexpensive (~$27,$7 app)
● 2nd best selling vid-game: 1.Wii sports 82 mil 2.Minecraft 54 mil 3. Super
Mario Bros.
● Simplistic design & concept-easy to learn
● “The new Legos”
● Creative outlet for people
● Absorbed into own world

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● You can be who you want to be
● Survival/life simulation game
● Escape reality, no responsibilities
● Customizable
● Freedom, scriptless, master of your world
● Sense of accomplishment doing tasks
● Challenging
● Multiplayer - bond with others
● game review- opinion source
● There is no end goal or objective so you can never run out of things
to do such as building,crafting or exploring.
● Open world sandbox with endless worlds to explore.

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● Popular
● Obsess - hours spent playing
● YouTubers and twitch entertainers
● Minecon
● Merchandise

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● Minecraft had 30.8 BILLION total views on Youtube in
regards to videogames by the end of 2014.
● League of legends holds the record for the most
concurrent viewers with around 9 million views.
How Minecraft Ranks

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TWITCH.TV/YOUTUBE.COM
Twitch is a live streaming network where
people
- Play games, entertain others, and earn money!
Youtube is a tool that gamers use to post
entertaining content such as
- tutorials
- gameplay w/ commentary

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Minecraft is love!!
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/minecraft-an-obsession-and-an-educational-tool/?_r=0
-Studies show that Jigsaw puzzle help short term memory
and visual-spatial abilities.
-Minecraft is no different
● Fans all over the world have the chance to meet up at Minecon, the largest
event where Minecraft players can meet up.
● People who can’t meet up across countries, can have small get togethers.

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Works Cited
"Analyzing Game Franchises: Why Gamers Love Minecraft." Newzoo. N.p., 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
Bilton, Nick. "Disruptions: Minecraft, an Obsession and an Educational Tool."Bits Disruptions Minecraft an Obsession and an
Educational Tool Comments. Bits, 15 Sept. 2013. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/minecraft-an-
obsession-and-an-educational-tool/?_r=0>
Goldberg, Daniel, and Larsson, Linus, Author. Minecraft : The Unlikely Tale of Markus "Notch" Persson and the Game That
Changed Everything. First English Language ed. 2013. Print.
Lingle, Samuel. "27 Million People Watched the League of Legends World Championships." The Daily Dot. The Daily Dot, 1 Dec.
2014. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://www.dailydot.com/esports/league-of-legends-world-championships-viewership-numbers/>.
LI, SHEN. "What Are the Brain Benefits of Jigsaw Puzzles?" The Infinite Mind. Figur8, 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 May 2015.
<http://figur8.net/dream/2014/03/14/what-are-the-brain-benefits-of-jigsaw-puzzles/>.
"Minecraft Is Now Second Best Selling Video Game Ever." Metro Minecraft Is Now Second Best Selling Video Gameever Comments.
N.p., 26 June 2014. Web. 03 May 2015.
Neltz, Andras. “Minecrafts latest update is huge, took ten months to make.” Konaku.com. Kinja 2 September, 2014. Web. 4 May,
2015. http://kotaku.com/it-took-almost-5-years-for-sheep-to-drop-meat-in-minecr-1629472657
Owadenko, Thomas. "Minecraft on YouTube: 47B Views, $2.5B Value, $0 Video Marketing Budget." ReelSEO. ReelSEO, 21 Nov.
2014. Web. 04 May 2015. <http://www.reelseo.com/minecraft-youtube-views/>.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/minecraft