Effects of Violent Video Games free essay sample

The author gives ample explanation on evidence used from his sources to give the optimal understanding to the reader of the results and/or findings given by the sources. The article connects to the modern age of gamers with examples from big name video games popular with today’s video gamers. Although Mr. Carey does give evidence that violent video games have been found to give short term negative effects he does reassure the reader through quotes and statements from his sources that no studies show consistent long term effects. The claim of the author about the research on the effects of violent video games is strongly supported and backed through his use of rhetorical appeals and scholarly evidence. Even though Mr. Carey is not an expert in this field of study his experience as a veteran of scientific writer, having written for Science Times and The New York Times for over 10 years, shows through his very valuable and knowledge sources that he quotes and uses examples from in this article. The author uses quotes from various researchers and scientist throughout this article such as economist, psychologist, and doctors all valuable sources that share the opinion of his claim. Mr. Carey then goes on to connect his sources statement with the ethos appeal by explaining their authority. Craig A. Anderson, a psychologist at Iowa State University, is an expert in his field of study which is the effects of violent media, including video games, on today’s adolescents. Mr. Carey uses the quote â€Å"None of these extreme acts, like a school shooting, occurs because of only one risk factor; there are many factors, including feeling socially isolated, being bullied, and so on,† from Dr. Anderson to support his claim by showing that most blame of violent outbreaks in society are blamed on one single thing, like video games, but if you look at the studies there are some many different factors that affect the behavior of today’s society. The author then goes on to say â€Å"Most researchers in the field agree with Dr. Anderson evidence and findings,† which establishes an accepted respect of authority for his source. This gives the reader a feeling of comfort in knowing that these sources are scholarly and can be trusted. Another source used by the author explains a recent experiment by psychologists at Iowa State University have found that after a short usage of the fighting game â€Å"Mortal Kombat† that they indeed acted slightly more aggressive shortly following the experiment but ultimately couldn’t find any results in long term effects. Mr. Carey states â€Å"Many similar studies have found the same thing: A dose of violent gaming makes people act a little more rudely than they would otherwise, at least for a few minutes after playing, but little is found about what actually follows,† this gives more support to his claim by displaying that his claim is the generally accepted and agreed upon opinion of most scholars in this field of study. Throughout the article the author gives each of his source’s full detailed background to explain why they are creditable and trustworthy sources. Mr. Carey’s use of providing credentials and authority to all his sources is used to give his claim creditability and make the reader respect his opinion. The author uses evidence from his sources throughout the article to connect logic thinking to his claim which goes along with the rhetorical appeal of logos. Mr. Carey uses real life situations to appeal to the reader’s logic so his claim makes more logically sense and can be backed easier. The author says â€Å"Many psychologists argue that violent video games â€Å"socialize† children over time, prompting them to imitate the behavior of the game’s characters, the cartoonish machismo, the hair-trigger rage, the dismissive brutality. Children also imitate flesh and blood people in their lives, of course — parents, friends, teachers, siblings — and one question that researchers have not yet answered is when, exactly, a habit is so consuming that its influence trumps the socializing effects of other major figures in a child’s life,† this statement from Mr. Carey used to bring all real life situations such as socializing, cartoon and video games characters, parents, etc. all together and uses that to how is claim is the logic choice when evaluating all these things in your life. The author then goes on to state, â€Å"Yet it is not at all clear whether, over longer periods, such a habit increases the likelihood that a person will commit a violent crime, like murder, rape, or assault, much less a Newtown-like massacre. (Such calculated rampages are too rare to study in any rigorous way, researchers agree. † which makes the reader really think logically about how much of an impact that video games has on violent behavior in today’s society. The author uses these examples which most people find to be the worst types of violent behavior in a way that is not charged or an error in logic because the way he uses them makes us thinking on a more realistic and deep level about how they are connected to violent video games. Mr. Care y tries to use every angle he can throughout his article including the rhetorical appeal of pathos through his use of tragic recent events and other statements that would make most readers feel on an emotional level. At the start of the article the author says, â€Å"The young men who opened fire at Columbine High School, at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. , and in other massacres had this in common: they were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage — or at least fueled their urges,† which for many readers hits directly on their heart strings because of how tragic the events he listed were and the toll they put emotional on most people in the United States when they happened. Mr. Carey uses this statement in such a way to really get the reader’s attention to his article that some other article may not because of how it connects with the reader’s emotions. Next the author states, â€Å"The issue is especially relevant today, because the games are more realistic and bloodier than ever, and because most American boys play them at some point,† which might makes most parents reading this article to think about their children especially those with boys about how the games they are playing effects them. This is another effective way the author uses the reader’s emotion to connect with his central claim about video games. Benedict Carey’s article â€Å"Shooting in the Dark† is effectively used by him to support his claim that there are no serious long term negative effects found from violent video games in today’s research. The author used rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos throughout his entire article to good effect with me the reader. With Mr. Carey’s ethos appeal of giving all his sources a high base authority by backing them with ample background crediting and evidence gives the reader a feeling of comfort when reading. In his logos appeal Carey appeals to the reader’s logic by using real life situations that most readers would face in their everyday lives to connect his claim about video games into a normally logical way of thinking for the reader. Lastly Mr. Carey appeals to the reader’s emotion in his article by touching on recent tragic events and facts that effect children as to connect to the reader’s more emotional side. Overall I feel the author’s use of rhetorical appeals and solid scholarly sources gives the reader a very trust worthy and valuable take on the argument about the true effects that violent video games play on today’s society. Works Cited Carey, Benedict. Shooting in the Dark. The New York Times. N. p. , 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.