Empty, Meaningless Video Games: Comparative Procedural Rhetoric Analysis The world has changed immensely in the way we teach, learn, and play. A lot of people in the world currently have a technological device, and those devices include computers, laptops, video game systems and cellular phones. These devices have changed the way we learn or have taught. Instead of going to a classroom and reading paper books we can take classes online and use eBooks. Our play has changed from being outside as much as possible to playing video games indoors. Procedural Rhetoric can be used to understand what the meaning or argument of video games. I believe that procedural rhetoric can be used to determine the argument of most video games, but it will not …show more content…
According to author Ian Bogost in the article, The Rhetoric of Video Games says, “when we talk about making claims or arguments about things, we enter the domain of rhetoric, the field of communication that deals with persuasive speech” (123). Bogost determined that there are many rhetorical strategies being used today. Those strategies include visual, written and digital rhetoric, but those strategies do not encompass the procedure and dynamics of video games (124-125). Bogost goes on to suggest, Procedural rhetoric for the practice of effective persuasion and expression using processes. Since assembling rules together to describe the function of systems produces procedural representation, assembling particular rules that suggest a particular function of a particular system characterizes procedural rhetoric… Procedural rhetoric affords a new and promising way to make claims about how things work... Video games do not simply distract or entertain with empty, meaningless content. Rather, video games can make claims about the world. …show more content…
Some of those games could include, Candy Crush Saga, Bejeweled and Charm King. Those games contradict Bogost’s statement: “Video games do not simply distract or entertain with empty, meaningless content” (125). The purpose of these games is to match three colors or more by swapping two items, and get enough points to pass a level. There is no hidden meaning or argument of substance that could be argued from a gamer standpoint. Take Candy Crush Saga for example, in this game once you match three or more pieces they disappear or create a new one with special abilities, but the replacement pieces fall randomly, as seen in fig 4. When you first start the games are so easy and you fly through the level, and times you may be able to be strategic, but that is luck of the replacement pieces. As the levels increase you will see repeats of layout with a minor change, multiples time to make it a more difficult. To me this shows lack of substance and ingenuity. There is an addictive quality and sense of accomplishment when passing levels, but I do not think that alone proves it can apply to procedural rhetoric. Trying to determine an argument from a developer standpoint is even harder. When accessing the candycrushsaga.com website you are bombarded by colorful childish images and it sends you to a completely different site to get any meaningful content about the
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
The question of what is rhetoric and what does it do has been a question since stories were even being recorded. However, now there are multiply different scholars who believe that they understand what rhetoric is and how to use it. For someone to use rhetoric correctly they must first have a definition of rhetoric that either they have made to fit themselves or they find a previous definition that suits them. In order for me to become an improved rhetor and be able to rhetorical discuss and evaluate pieces of literature or speeches like General Douglas MacArthur’s Farewell address, I must first define rhetoric in how I understand it. Rhetoric is the art of persuasive speaking aimed to sway your audience in a direction that has been chosen by the rhetor. The way in which a citizen uses rhetoric can change over time. The need to argue the same problem is invalid so the need to use the same rhetorical situations is invalid. You can use rhetoric in a multitude of different areas within our life however; we must choose to use it for good or for evil. In order for rhetoric to still be used in speech today one of two things must be true. There must either be a Truth in life and rhetoric or the more likely choice, that rhetoric changes throughout time and situations. You are not trying to change someone’s mind about something however; you are trying to convince them that you are also correct. I will be using multiple pieces of works that are defining rhetoric to support my definition and finish by evaluating General Douglas MacArthur’s Farewell Address using my definition of rhetoric.
Rhetoric is language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience. Propaganda is an example of rhetoric. Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or view. In both propaganda and rhetoric, there are rhetorical appeals used: ethos, pathos, and logos. In George Orwell's Animal Farm, all three are used throughout the novel to draw attention to it.
Some even actively engage using speech as well. Video games are now so completely realistic, that it is hard to tell whether you are witnessing live actions or actually participating in them - the fine line between reality and fantasy has become completely indistinguishable. Countless studies have shown that participating and witnessing this behavior in games corresponds to more aggressive behavior in life and a lack of empathy for the actual suffering of humanity. Participating in video game play may seem real, but like the cave prisoners, this interaction is nothing but an illusion. Video game play is precisely graphic trickery and as Plato writes it “was all a cheat and an illusion.” (paragraph 15)
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, and its uses the figures of speech and other compositional techniques. It’s designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience.
In the same also different way, the coach in Marshall speech also using pathos when he said “ They don’t know your heart. I do. I’ve seen it. You have shown it to me...You have shown just exactly who you are in here.” This is pathos because the coach bring up how good the team have become. Whether they’re losing or winning, the only thing will matter is no one will have a great heart as the players have. They don’t need to win the championship to show that they’re the best, they just need to show how much passion they have with football to show that they’re the best team. The coach also said: “ When you take that field today, you’ve gotta lay that heart on the line, men. From the souls of your feet, with every ounce of blood you’ve got in your body, lay it on the line until the final.” He doesn’t put pressure on the players that they have to win, he speaked how he feel, he speaked from his heart, he just wanted that when the team take the field today, they just need to put all their effort and passion on the field.
The gaming discourse community is a most interesting group of people. Its members come from all ages and walks of life who are drawn to this community for many reasons. Typically, these the members of this discourse community fall in the age range of early teens to late thirties. They come from unique backgrounds, experiences, and nationalities. This diversity brings a life and culture to this community that is unlike any other.
“Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” is an article written by world famous cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. In this article, Yo-Yo Ma identifies and discusses the role of arts in the world, stressing the point that these arts are a necessary element in the education system. Ma believes that the skills learned from these arts, are in fact, “essential” to the kind of balanced thinking that is needed in today’s world. Throughout this article, Yo-Yo Ma brilliantly portrays his thoughts, and gains the support of his audience through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos, while also maintaining a clear and concise stance.
In the story, What is Rhetoric by William Covino and David Jolliffe, there are a wide variety of topics discussed that are inextricably interwoven with the concept “rhetoric.” Rhetoric, as defined by the authors, is “the study and practice of shaping content.” Consequently, my first thought was: Ok, this is a rather broad and opaque description; my successive thought, however, was one of astonishment, inasmuch as the authors went on to further elucidated this jargon. In doing so, the authors distilled the most crucial elements of what is rhetoric— the prevalence of discourse community, and how appealing language is often a precursor to persuasion.
Video games have quickly risen to a sprawling media since their first conception nearly fifty years ago. As they grew, video games have become an incredible new medium for art and design. However, video game developers, especially large ones, have collected several core problems that misconceive the potential of games. Further, this problem represses this potential by suffocating this potential artistry merit with meaningless traditions and poor business practices. These observations have led to the assertion that video games as a media are ineffective as an art form compared to other art mediums due to several problems stemming from the structure and values of the video game industry.
Clark (2016) suggests that rhetoric isn’t limited to oral communication, but currently has a permanent foothold in written works: magazine or newspaper excerpts, novels, and scientific reports. Not only written
Rhetoric is the art of effective speaking or writing, and persuasion. Most people use rhetoric numerous of times in their everyday life without their concern or knowing.
There has been an increasing movement of advocates that want to take this concept and apply it to video games, a gamification of education. All this would really entail is that formal institutes of education need to engage students through the use of games and design elements from these games. The theoretical simplicity of this goal does not mean that this goal should be dismissed as easy or not worthwhile. Schools are facing a crisis right now in which students are having trouble being engaged in school; a problem of engagement is not limited to schools alone, this is an issue that concerns society at large. As a society, too much time and effort has been placed on making recreational activities, our play, more engaging and fun that real life activities have been been growing with more and more negative connotation. Work is boring, frustrating, and it is something that should be left alone in favor of play. If refreshing your social media wall is more engaging than school or work, than something is wrong. The goal of gamification, and indeed all institutes of work and education, should be that all work should be play and that all play should enrich our lives. This should be the purpose behind
...deo games are a great way for kids and even adults to get away from the world for a while. Players are wrapped up in their own virtual world and can express how they are feeling through the game. Video games can also have great positive side effects and could even be the training mechanism of the future for many professions. The people who argue against video games on the grounds of violence and desensitization misunderstand the attitude of children toward video games and imply that humans are no more complicated than “monkey-see monkey-do.” Video games still have a lot of potential and they can be used for much more than just relaxation and fun. They can be a social medium, an agent of change. A good video game can be like a work of art that inspires people to try new things or change the way they think about something. But above all else, video games sure are fun.
There are several negative stereotypes associated with video games and those who play them; some of these may often hold true. However, there are plenty of learning opportunities in video games. While the direct purpose of some games is to educate or train, other games that do not directly have this purpose can still become a learning experience for the player. As Ntiedo Etuk, president of the educational video game company Tabula Digital said, “The traditional view of video games has been that they are distractions from the task of learning” (Electronic Education Report 1). Video games are an effective tool for learning and retaining skills both inside and outside the classroom environment. The basic cycle of game play--the introduction to the game, game play, collaboration, improvement of these between each round, and evaluation at the end of the game (Klievink and Janssen 159)--are nearly parallel to the traditional classroom learning cycle of reading a textbook or listening to a lecture, taking a quiz, studying, focusing on items missed on the quiz, and taking a test or exam. Within this cycle, there are many opportunities to develop and perfect both educational, life, and occupational skills.