Some people consider videogames a waste of time. They say they are bad for kids, not
educational, or socially isolating. Henry Jenkins, the director of the Comparative Media Studies
Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has a broad experience and has done a lot of
research in the video game industry. In his article, “Reality Bytes”, Henry Jenkins argues in
favor of video games by using the rhetorical strategies of appeal to the authority, appealing to
societal values and creating a credible ethos and appeal to the opposition.
Jenkins counters stereotypes or common assumptions of the public using one strategy,
appeal to authority. People believe that one of the causes youth aggression are because of video
games. Henry
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But young people in general are more likely to be
gamers” (Henry Jenkins, 449). Then he adds, “The overwhelming majority of kids who play
[video games] do NOT commit [such] antisocial acts” (Henry Jenkins, 449). Using the strategy
appealing to the opposition he agrees with it to a certain point, but then he states it is just a
minority of kids who commit such acts. This means that rate of youth aggression rate is very low
making it a logical reason to support this strategy. Another myth that Jenkins debunks is the
public’s opinion on “almost no girls play computer games”, he agrees that it is true until the past
decade. He says, “efforts were made in the mid-90s to build games that appealed to girls” (Henry
Jenkins, 450). As an example, he mentions the game “The Sims” a web-based game, that has
captured many women’s interests who had never played a game before.
All in all, using some of the rhetorical strategies to write this article, Henry Jenkins tries
to change the people’s perspective about video games. Even though he acknowledges some of
the public’s opinion, he supports his explanations with appeal to the authority, appeal to the
opposition and appealing to societal values and creating a credible
Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked by Henry Jenkins is stating that the public’s perceptions of video games are not close to the reality of what the research is actually showing. There are many misconceptions about video games that range from video games being a boys only club to blaming youth violence on the types of games children are allowed to play. Jenkins tries to show that eight of these myths are actually that, myths.
Video games are a fast growing form of technology. This issue has to be discussed because of the two confronting sides that embark it. Because of the issue video games have to either continue growing as they are or they have to be stopped completely or a settlement between the two parties has to be
Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.
Using persuasive writing, Wright begins to influence his audience that game play is a beneficial source of entertainment not a wasteful one. Playing video games increases creatively, self esteem and improve problem solving skills of the players. Video games are becoming test runs that appear or feel close to the real thing. Where you can control everything with added effects like magic or future technology. Games have the potential to exceed almost all other forms of entertainment media. They tell stories, play music, challenge us, allow us to instantly communicate and interact with others. Encourage us to create things, connect us to new communities, and let us play with people across the world. Unlike most other forms of media, games are inherently tangible. According to Wright young children spend their days in imaginary worlds, substituting toys and make believe into the real world that they are just beginning to explore and understand. Wright states that games are the result of imagination and that they consist of rules and goals. Generation of teenagers has grown up with different set of games. Teenagers use the scientific method rather than reading the manual first. Games today maybe a person’s only place to express a high-level of creativity and growth. Older generations have a lot of criticisms for games, the games can help a person learn to think on his or her own.
Author A.B. Harris declares a call to action in his article “Average Gamers Please Step Forward” published in 2012 as he talks about the how gamers shouldn’t settle for how the Entertainment Software Association put the average gamer into a box, Harris (2017) declares that the average gamers are far more credible and intelligent than the perceived demographics suggest (pg.503). He starts to build a bond between himself and the reader by connecting himself with the audience and asserting himself as one of them who all want the same thing, to “change the mainstream” (Harris, 2012, p.506) and show non-gamers they are more than over-sexed male adolescents with a penchant for violence (Harris, 2012, p.504). Harris uses his personal values and experiences
This shows the wide verity of this game which adds more to the reason why this game is magnificent. You might ask how this information applies to his thesis: “Why video games matter?” All of this information provides logical facts that interest gamers around the world. The game provides a traditional narrative that allows for an experience framed in terms of wandering and lonesomeness, a purpose that is needed.
The author of this essay, is not intending to persuade the reader to feel a type of way. What he is expressing ideally are his opinions on said games. Yet, one is somewhat persuaded, because of how he speaks, clarifies, and uses rhetoric in his writing. It really makes someone want to stop what they are doing and get on the nearest gaming system. In fact, it is consolidating to know that he isn’t characterizing the game as just a game, but an aesthetic and an art. Tom Bissell questions himself, “To what part of me do games speak, and on which frequency (361)?” We all would like to know the answer to this question, because there have been so many games, some good and some awful. However, we as a world continue to try and try again. Some of the appeals that Bissell uses in his argument were emotional and descriptive. Basically, in the entire article he described to the audience in intimate detail the world of
Many studies show that children are more prone to violence due to a child’s undeveloped brain. “Children who are regularly exposed to more violent media have an increased probability of behaving more aggressively in real life (Anderson).” Furthermore, children nowadays are exposed to excessive amounts of violence in media, increasing their risks of violence when older (Anderson). Anderson explains, children are likely to become “emotionally desensitized to the violence” being portrayed. Negative actions may happen without concern or acknowledgement that something is wrong (Anderson). According to Anderson, young children will be meaner and more aggressive. The more contact with media violence a child gets, the more likely they are to be aggressive, as he or she gets older
Wright is not so much attempting to convince his audience by weighing the positive aspects of video games on society against the detriments, as he is presenting them a vision of the possibilities of video games. Wright presents an intriguing claim and an effective argument through his own credibility, friendly tone, choice of words, and use of analogies and emotionally potent imagery, causing readers to ponder the positive impact of video games on society. Summary
Procedural Rhetoric and Video Games Kyle University Affiliation 5th June 2018 When one is playing a video game, they are never focused on the composition of the game but on the content. Procedural rhetoric concept explains how people learn through the composition of rules and processes. It argues that games can be used to make a strong claim on how the world works. This is not done through the conventional means of words or visuals but through some processes and models. It further argues that video games have a unique persuasive power that goes beyond other forms of computational persuasion.
Rhetorical Analysis 1 The critical article “Video games can never be art” was written by Roger Ebert, who was a famous American film critic. Ebert was a very popular and well celebrated journalist and film critic in his field. He was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, which is the highest honor in journalism (rogerebert.com and Wikipedia). This article is about Roger Ebert’s critical analysis of Kellee Santiago, a professional video game designer, presentation about video games as already being a form of art.
There are game-related controversies, such as they increase obesity rates, distract students from school work, and promote aggressive behavior. All of these issues are valid concerns for parents to have when deciding whether or not to let their child play. although there is no conclusive evidence to show that video games are a direct cause for these problems. In fact, the only support to claims against video games is that these traits are sometimes prevalent in young gamers.
Statistics indicate many aggressors at some point or another have witnessed acts of violence. During childhood, these observed behaviors can have a major impact and influence on adolescent and adult attitudes, perception of self and others. "Children become more susceptible and prone to negative and dangerous behaviors which can
Many video games use visuals to mentally immerse gamers into a virtual world filled with seemingly living, breathing people, animals, or cities. According to Michael Samyn and Auriea Harvey, game designers for Tale of Tales, video games increasingly develop into a true medium of artistic expression (Lamb). In just forty years, video games transformed from an abuse of the new computer for entertainment purposes into a sophisticated form of popular art. The development of video games recently produced results that arguably equal other similar, representational arts. Video games share many qualities with other forms of art, but they are also artistically significant in their own way. “This seems to be something
A large gap exists between the public's perception of video games and what the research actually shows. The following is an attempt to separate fact from fiction.