Identity in E-Lit

Game Mechanics/Design of Fitting the Pattern

As you can see, the home screen of the E-Lit work informs the reader that they will be assembling a dress for the dressmaker's daughter who is shorter than 5'6". The opening screen also contains,  in the top right hand corner, the different measurements and alterations that must be made based on the hip, bust, height, and waist size of women. Essentially,  it's supposed to be a dressmaking kit that comes with its own instructions:​The game is not set up in chronological order and there is no specific tool that the reader has to begin with. As the reader progresses through game, they reveal emotions, thoughts, and characteristics about the protagonist. As stated by Nissenbaum and Flanagan, authors of ​Values at Play in Digital Games​, games and E-lit works "express and embody human values. From notions of fairness to deep-seated ideas about the human condition"(1). 

​"Fitting the Pattern" is oriented in such a way that each stitch offers new insight into the author's personality and personal battles that she faced and continues to face as she struggles to find her own identity. This particular E-Lit work exemplifies the belief that Flanagan and Nissenbaum talk in their book: the mirroring of the human psyche. It is basically the idea that interactive material such as "Fitting the Pattern" offers deep insights into "parts of the human psyche" as well as "reflect and express" various beliefs that are inherent to us humans (1).

​Each "page" of this E-lit work has essentially the same color scheme: red,  white and black. The fragments on each page move themselves into their assigned places, the text, however, remains in the middle of the screen; bright red for the reader to see. The text primarily voices the narrator's indecision and uncertainty about her life as a dressmakers daughter. It gives the impression that in the midst of tailoring and stitching, the protagonist's thoughts ultimately get the better of her and often distract her from her work. The pages also give the reader an indication of where to use each tool. As the reader utilizes the tools to complete the dress, the fragments shift and switch and bring the materials together. "Fitting the Pattern" is basically enabling the reader to "stitch" the jumbled pieces of the narrator's life together. 


Kalan Hurdle

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