rhetorical essay video games

What do you mean by the "rhetoric of" gaming?

When you play a video game, you probably aren't focused on the composition of the gameplay -- that is, how the game was deliberately constructed to produce a certain response or experience for the player. In this class, we look at the (rhetorical) strategies that underlie gaming and the way in which video games participate in larger cultural conversations about politics, race, gender, education, identity, and even consumerism.

Do we really play games in class?

Yes, sometimes -- though not all the time. Games are one of our primary texts for this class, and gameplay is necessarily then a form of primary research. We also watch gameplay footage occasionally instead of playing ourselves.

What else do we do in class that's different from other PWR classes?

Students participate in a number of activities in class designed to help them develop skills for analysis and research as well as to encourage them to complicate their understanding of gaming.

• We play through our own library adventure, a simulated Alternative Reality Game .

What are the major assignments?

Like all PWR 1 classes, we follow a 3-part assignment sequence:

• A Rhetorical Analysis , where you analyze the rhetorical strategies used in a persuasive text about gaming, often a commercial or print advertisement. In the past, some students have written on the Guitar Hero World Tour commercial (with Tony Hawks, Michael Phelps, Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez), the Gears of War (mad world) trailer, and the Wii "We/ii would like to play" commercial .
• A Texts in Conversation essay, that begins with a blog post on the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric blog about your research topic and a source, and culminates in an assignment where you put three of your sources in dialogue with one another to help refine your argument for your research paper.
• A Research-Based Argument essay, 3600+ words in length, on a topic related to gaming culture.

What types of research projects have people done in the past for this course?

In the past, students have written on topics as varied as

• The economics of multiple player worlds (EVE online & Second Life)
• Using educational games in the classroom
• Gaming and simulations in surgical training
• Mobile gaming and evolution of gaming peripherals
• Second Life as social networking
• Sexism in World of Warcraft
• Military-based games and armed forces recruitment
• Cheating in Videogames

What sort of reading is there for this class?

You can count on reading one article about gaming a week, some sample student papers, as well as sources for your research project. In terms of the reading, we will read selections from most of the major scholars in gaming studies, including:

• James Gee on learning, literacy, and gameplay
• Henry Jenkins on education and game design
• Ian Bogost on persuasive gaming and procedural rhetoric
• Mia Consalvo on ethics in gaming
• Gerard Jones on first person shooters and violence in gaming

How can I get more information on the course?

• Come to the Rhetoric of Gaming booth at the PWR Open House on Wednesday, Nov. 11 from 7-8:30pm on the first floor of Wallenberg Hall.
• Explore the Fall 2009 Rhetoric of Gaming website
• E-mail [email protected] with specific questions

Just another CUNY Academic Commons site

Rhetoric and Sources on Video games and Mental Health

Muhammad Rahman Nancy Carlson English 10100 9/23/19

Videogames: Are they ruining mental health or are they repairing it?

Video games are the source of enjoyment for hundreds of people of varying ages and races. They are the source by which many relationships come to be. Over the last 2 to 3 decades, video games have soared in popularity. This, however, changed over the last decade. As more tragedies, namely mass shootings, occurred, the overall culprit that was named for these egregious outbursts of violence were video games. The individuals behind these attacks were mentally distressed, so much so that it drove them to harm people. Mass media is the cause of the rise of the idea that video games affect mental health and that violent video games in particular push people to commit such abhorrent acts. Despite all the negative press that video games have garnered over the last decade, there are still those who believe video games can be a force of good. This paper will look into various sources with the topic of video games and mental health.

Source 1: Depressed and Anxious? These Video Games Want to Help

This article by Laura Parker talks about certain video games that may help those with mental health issues. The purpose of this article was two-fold. She first wanted to aid those with mental health issues, as shown by the title of the article, Depressed and Anxious? These Video Games Want to Help. She is calling out those who have mental health issues to in some way help them, or ease what it is they are experiencing. The second purpose is to bring to light a side of video games that is not normally talked about in this landscape. Due to the negative stigma video games get from media or parents, something like this, which aims to help people cements that video games can be a force of good. This is shown when Parker writes “While Ms. Rodriguez was already in treatment, she said, the game motivates her to be more honest and receptive to her therapist…. Eric Barone, the game’s creator, received hundreds of messages, he said. Players wrote to share their stories of how the game helped them cope with difficult periods in their lives.” Parker includes instances of people having positive reactions to video games of this nature. The audience of this article is composed of those suffering from poor mental health and to those who believe that video games promote violence or poor mental health. This article seeks to help people who need it and prove dissenters wrong. This article was found on the New York Times website. People who are browsing through online media, especially news articles are more likely to read the title and carry on. Parker forms her title around this aspect of people. She forms her title in a manner that conveys her message and tells the reader everything they need to know, that video games can help with poor mental health and in doing so, be more than the cause of many tragedies. Parker’s stance on the topic of mental health and video games is that she believes they can be a force of good and can help people with their depression and anxiety. This is shown by her tone throughout the article, which is one of compassion, hope, and wonder. She includes various examples of people’s experience with games and how they helped better someone’s depression or anxiety and also how more and more game creators are creating more content with mental health as the focal point.

Source 2: “Game Theory: Do Video Games Cause Violence? It’s Complicated.”

This particular source is a video essay by internet personality Matthew Patrick, where he delves into the topic of videogames and mental health and if they are the source of real-world violence, namely public mass shootings. Patrick will do this by evaluating three main points, which are: 1) Examining links between videogames and crime, 2) Looking at the various shooters’ profiles and the roles videogames played in their lives, and 3) Exploring videogame psychology and how they affect our perspective on violence. The purpose of this video is to figure out if videogames cause violence; if it doesn’t, Patrick wants himself and others who support the idea that videogames do not cause violence to be able to have the evidence to back up their claims against those who think videogames cause violence; if it does, he wants himself and others who support the idea that videogames do not cause violence to work with those who believe videogames cause violence, and as he puts it, “start correcting for it.” This is further shown as Patrick states “On the other hand, if…videogames are warping our minds…making us prone to violent impulses, making us less sensitized to violence, then I want us to hear that hard truth too. It’ll…be important for us to know because we can start figuring out a solution from there…. so that fewer people get hurt and die…. At the end of the day, I don’t want my son to grow up in a world where he feels like he has to be on guard for people trying to hurt him. At school. At church. At Walmart.” Patrick cements the fact that he is doing this to finally gain an answer for a debate that has been ongoing, seemingly with no end. He wants an answer and if it’s one he doesn’t like, he’ll live with it for the sake of his child’s future. The audience of this video is composed of various groups. One group is, obviously, his loyal subscribers. The second group is his haters. The third group is full of curious people who just stumble upon his video. The evidence used to compile what groups are watching this video is the like-dislike system and the comments section. At the time of writing this essay, there are 1.8 million views, 26 thousand comments, 153 thousand likes, and 2.5 thousand dislikes. The topic of videogames and mental health is quite polarizing and wide-reaching, people are very passionate about this topic, so even without the like-dislike system and the comments, the audience is very likely to be comprised of mainly these three groups. The medium Patrick uses is a video, on the platform known as YouTube. This is a very audience-centric platform, so it was the best media for him to send out this video, as he can not only voice his ideas and findings but also get feedback from the audience. His stance is one of indifference. This is shown through his tone. His tone is one of desperation as he is tired of this argument and just wants an answer, regardless of his bias.

Source 3: Video games and mental health: ‘Nobody’s properly talking’

This article by Alysia Judge not only talks about the effects of videogames on mental health but also about the groups involved in the debate of the effect videogames have on mental health. She talks about the researchers, videogame supporters and videogame naysayers. She talks about Johnny Chiodini, an advocate for all the good videogames can do. She also talks about Andy Przybylski, a researcher on how videogames affect mental health. Przybylski found that 0.3% of gamers may have trouble with regard to managing how many hours they play. He also critiques the various groups involved in the debate of whether or not videogames affect mental health. The purpose of this article is to talk about the effect videogames have on mental health, good and bad, and the various groups in this debate. The audience of this article is anyone that has to do with the videogames and mental health debate. Judge’s stance is not stated, but she has a bias toward videogames having a positive effect on mental health as she included Johnny Chiodini, who’s made it his career to show people the good videogames can do and included research from Andy Pryzybylski, whose findings heavily lean towards Judge’s bias. She has a very formal tone throughout her writing. The medium by which she sends this article out is a digital newspaper. This medium allows it to reach many people in a short time. There’s also the title, “Video games and mental health: ‘Nobody’s properly talking’”. It is clear, and it makes the topic and targeted audience quite clear.

Source 4: Playing violent video games altered men’s brain function

This next source is a research paper by Susan Birk on the effect of violent videogames on the minds of young men. The purpose of this research paper is to present the results of an experiment that tested whether or not videogames harmed the patients’ mental health. The audience of this paper is comprised of the researchers that are researching videogames and mental health. This is so because it is an official paper written for research purposes. The medium she had chosen was a paper published by the International Medical News Group. With that being said, she kept a very formal tone, indicative of research papers. Her stance is one of indifference as she merely reports on the details of the experiment and its results.

In conclusion, the various sources I’ve gathered are similar and different in a few ways. Except for the final source, the first three sources mention how videogames can help those suffering from poor mental health. The audience largely remains the same, as the core target audience is those who would benefit from videogames being a force for good. The second source is unique when compared to other sources because the author, Matthew Patrick has grown tired of the never-ending debate. For him, he’d rather get an answer, rather than argue endlessly as both sides do. He doesn’t necessarily tackle the good or bad effects videogames have on mental health, rather he tackles how videogames affect the real world when related to crime spikes, the role they played in the shooters’ lives and if they warp our minds regarding violence. The last source is a research paper, which when compared to the previous sources, two articles and a video, is much more formal in both audience, purpose and tone. It is also much more direct, as it only states the experiment, the goals of the experiment and the final results.

Works Cited Parker, Laura. “Depressed and Anxious? These Video Games Want to Help.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/24/technology/personaltech/depression-anxiety-video-games.html.

Theorists, The Game. “Game Theory: Do Video Games Cause Violence? It’s Complicated.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkVIqB8tw2A&t=12s.

Judge, Alysia. “Video Games and Mental Health: ‘Nobody’s Properly Talking’.” BBC News, BBC, 14 July 2018, www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44662669.

Birk, Susan. “Playing Violent Video Games Altered Men’s Brain Function.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, International Medical News Group, 1 Jan. 2012, go-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA297135735&v=2.1&u=cuny_ccny&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w.

• Terms of Service
• Creative Commons (CC) license unless otherwise noted

“The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost

In his article “The rhetoric of video games,” Ian Bogost writes about how video games are sophisticated statements reflecting the real life of people, their interactions, feelings, and worldviews. The games that we play can make arguments about society, persuade people to take a specific side in them, and express new ideas. However, games do not do so automatically; for understanding the intentions behind games, we should play them in a critical way and reflect on what they intend to convey. Thus, despite video games being misconceived for mindless attractions, they require in-depth analysis and the careful examination of intentions that the developers had when designing them.

Upon reflecting on the article, my attention was drawn to the two concepts explored in it: interrogating ideology and making and unpacking an argument. To illustrate these concepts, the author uses examples from video games. The first example is taken from America’s Army , a simulation of life in the United States military. The game was intended to become a public relations tool for recruiting citizens to serve their country, thus pushing the ideology of.

The game sparked my attention because both of my parents are retired military veterans, and the idea behind America’s Army was interesting. It shows that video games may be employed for promoting an ideology and thus influence the target audience in decision-making (Bogost, 2008). Importantly, there is also a likelihood of ideology becoming a tool for doing the public act in a certain way; in the article, the author appeals to Marx’s characterization of this concept: “they aren’t aware of it, but they do it” (Bogost, 2008, p. 128). This means that the game’s developers intended their creation to influence the decision-making of the target audience.

The second example that caught my attention is the game Bully developed by Rockstar Games, the makers of the famous Grand Theft Auto. It tells the story of Kimmy Hopkins, who is trapped in a high school full of bullies. The critics were quick to dub the game as a glorification of bullying, but in reality, it is far from being true. This case was interesting to me because the school social environment is complex and often hard on people.

Confronting bullies or being bullied has never been pleasant, and the social commentary that the game provides is extremely valuable. According to Bogost (2008), Bully may be inappropriate to be played in some circumstances, which is why it was meant to accomplish a unique goal of combining entertainment with raising awareness of the social problem of bullying.

My personal opinion on video games coincides with the author’s argument that they reflect the world around us. I think that there are multiple ways in which games can be interpreted, and it is the target audience who chooses the perspective from which they will look at their entertainment. As video games challenge us as individuals to look at a social problem from new perspectives, we should be open to new ideas and rhetoric to develop our own views on different situations.

Overall, I think that Bogost’s article is an informative piece that prompted me to reflect on my own perceptions of video games: they can be both entertaining and comment on social affairs that affect us on a daily basis.

Bogost, I. (2008). The rhetoric of video games. In K. Salen (Ed.), The ecology of games: Connecting youth, games, and learning (pp. 117-140). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, May 26). “The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost. Retrieved from https://studycorgi.com/the-rhetoric-of-video-games-by-ian-bogost/

StudyCorgi. (2021, May 26). “The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost. https://studycorgi.com/the-rhetoric-of-video-games-by-ian-bogost/

"“The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost." StudyCorgi , 26 May 2021, studycorgi.com/the-rhetoric-of-video-games-by-ian-bogost/.

1. StudyCorgi . "“The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost." May 26, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/the-rhetoric-of-video-games-by-ian-bogost/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "“The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost." May 26, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/the-rhetoric-of-video-games-by-ian-bogost/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "“The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost." May 26, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/the-rhetoric-of-video-games-by-ian-bogost/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) '“The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost'. 26 May.

This paper ““The Rhetoric of Video Games” by Ian Bogost” was written and submitted to our database by a student to assist your with your own studies. You are free to use it to write your own assignment, however you must reference it properly.

If you are the original creator of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal .