Talk:Christian Vandercook

The first paragraph gives a well-rounded and succinct summary of this assignment and its meaning. The one basic guideline that Christian emphasizes gives a clear reason for his approach to avatar creation. The outside source that Christian chose was also related to this point. It tied the in-class assignment to the outside world, showing how avatar creation can be relevant, even in non-academic and non-leisure contexts.

While reading over this reflection I noticed two somewhat contradictory ideas. The first idea is that the more accurately an avatar reflects an actual person, the more likely they are to feel that it is an extension of themselves. The second idea is that avatars could benefit in an online environment from making themselves appear more attractive. It would be interesting to hear about the interplay between these two ideas. To what extent is it more important to be attractive, and to what extent is it important for one’s avatar to represent one's actual self? Does it change in different contexts? What are the effects? Christian didn’t explicitly address the interplay between these two ideas, but his discussion of his fantasy avatar showed that he found it important to both represent himself and to make himself appear more attractive.

Danielle Lott