Genre Analysis
Introduction
Video games have been around for a long time, graphics have been key to what video game console is capable of, and how a game will develop. Growing up and watching the graphics change has been amazing from watching two poles from opposite ends hit a pixel like ball back and forth to having life like battles as a US soldier in the fields of Afghanistan. Technology has improved and has gotten really life like, and real graphic. Graphic wise the video games imitate real life and are considered to real for certain audience, 17 years of age and under, to play. Most of the popular games out there involve shooting and killing the enemy. Two genres will be analyzed and discussed with two different points of views in the video game violence effecting youths and if its effecting them to be violent and/or to be aggressive. The first would be a news paper cartoon by illustrator Kelly, depicting video game violence as a problem in society and how its affecting youths in today’s society, making them aggressive and potential killers. The second genre is from a blog written by Duke Ferris titled “Caution: Children at Play – The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games” published in 2005, this article simply defends against video game violence that video games do not effect anybody in being violent or cause to kill anybody. Both these genres have proven points on both sides of the issue. Each genre has special content, structure, and style which make each genre different and communicating two different measures on video game violence.
Audience and Purpose
The first genre is the cartoon with a mother reading news paper article on how video games makes kids aggressive, her comment to her husband “Honey, did you see this silly article on video games?” (Kelly, 2009) Key word being silly, implying that video game violence is no concern to most parents, and let their kids play whatever video games they want. In the rest of the illustration her husband lies on the floor dead after their son kills him with knife while playing violent video game. This particular cartoon is intended for parents with children who play video games to bring to their attention that games do affect the children that play them. In the cartoon the background shows the game still on and is showing a character shooting a handgun showing that the child is playing a violent videogame, which makes him aggressive. With this particular cartoon it’s stating that most of the audience is not aware of the issue at hand, two things come up in the cartoon first is in the mom’s comment of the article of video games being “silly”. The second would be what the dead fathers shirt states “Naïve Parents”. These two things indicated some of the parents out there don’t know if the video games their children are playing are effecting them, the way the cartoon puts it, in a negative way. People would react by really looking out what is out there what type of games are being produced and restrict their kids to play an M (Mature) rated game. They will closely look into what the game consist of regardless of the rating some games will warn if there’s “blood and gore”, “intense violence, “strong language”, “nudity”, etc. Some people wont react to the issue until a tragedy has already happened. The Artist’s purpose for this cartoon is to inform and educate people, especially parents with young children, on what’s going on with video games and the aggressiveness it causes among children, and possibly in their own home.
In comparison, the article by Duke Ferris “Caution: Children at Play The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games” does not have same visual effect as cartoonist would, but still manages to get points across with research and charts to prove points. Duke Ferris is a blogger/manifesto writer for gamerevolution.com. He goes on and states normally the website would not post such serious article, but the writer feels there needs to be evidence on defending the case. He normally writes game reviews and blogs about upcoming video games. This article he wrote is an answer to all people and media who are accusing video games the cause of youths being violent, shootings at schools, and killing others. Since this article is in response to all the accusations of video games being a problem people reading this article already know the issue at hand. What readers want to know is what proof this writer has come up with to show in argument. The time the audience will spend the information presented would be awhile since the writer used charts and graphs to prove his point, a quick glimpse at the chart, look at the information provided in the chart maybe possibly be surprised for the information on it. They’re going to go over the information again to make sure what it is they are seeing on the charts. By showing specific charts, the decrease in homicides from the ages 18 – 24 and how crime has gone down as well; he gets his point across to inform readers of the statistics. This article was written to inform of the situation on video game violence, to inform the actual information regarding it and providing proof that violent video games are not the cause of violent crimes, any murders or homicides, and any nonfatal firearm-related violent crimes. While reading the article it can also be for persuading the people who accuse video games of crime that statistically its inaccurate information due to graphs writer inputs in to article prove that violence in youths declined even after the release of PlayStation One and kept dropping after the release of Grand Theft Auto 3.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
For a cartoonist to draw something this effective and only be known through newspaper is good accomplishment. The cartoon gives illustrator good credibility because straight to the point lots going on in the cartoon but captures what he’s trying to say. Even in the lower right hand corner he draws him self about to draw saying “Game Over”, and signing the cartoon at upper right corner “Kelly”. The cartoon shows pathos because it shows emotion by bringing its viewer being surprised and appalled to the scene the illustration is portraying, especially to a person who knows nothing about the subject of video game violence. The evidence that shows that video game violence is affecting the youths in negative way is the image of the kid holding the bloody knife with a crazed look in his face. Also the fact the kid is still holding the remove control that is being connected to the system on TV and TV showing the image of person shooting the a gun depicting the video game being violent.
The blog shows logos because of the research done by the writer doing research for violent crime rates for ages 12+, homicide offending by age, and Nonfatal firearm-related violent crimes. “Believe it or not, I got that graph - and all the others in this piece - directly from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics . . . this is the actual, most recent government data on crime as used by the FBI” (Ferris, 2005, para.7). The statement “Believe it or not” implies that he really did his research using actual government data, and how simple it is to obtain this information. The article evokes shocking information that many people will take awhile to review the graphs. Looking at the graphs and seeing how both crime and violence among youths is dropping dramatically after the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 one can conclude that video games are not affecting are youths with proof provided by the writer.
Structure, Style and Language
An important aspect of the illustration genre is the language with very few words in the illustration the cartoon gets to the point. Strong words like “innocent kids” and “naïve parents”. Implying that parents have no idea what their kids are playing, and the consequences is leading to innocent kids being the victims of aggression and violence. The newspaper the mother is reading in the illustrations adds to parents being unaware of the issue, by having the title of “Do Violent Video Games make Kids Aggressive” and the title still questioning the issue is sending out the message of naïve. When in the back ground the kid just killed his father. Also the artist uses images like death in the background waiting for the kid to kill his parents as strong “words” to emphasize death as a consequence. The structure for the illustration is very simple to understand it takes on block for the illustration to take place. It’s not multiple blocks/sections as if it were a comic book reading. It has good flow for the eye to go all over the image and get all the information the illustration takes one block plenty of space to draw and get his point across.
In comparison with Ferris’ article, it’s not as visual as the illustration is; however the Ferris article still proves his point he’s trying to make its informative and defensive. The author states that he’s tired of accusations of video games being the reason for youths being violent now days. “Thanks to the current media frenzy and barrage of lawsuits surrounding violent video games, I cant tell people what I do for a living with out getting lecture on the current plague of youth violence” (Ferris, 2005, para. 1). With this statement the author shows the reader that he’s upset of the situation and is passionate of the subject since its part of his lifestyle, and for him to go out of his way to do an article he normally would not do shows dedication on defending the matter. Normally he does not make these types of writings “serious” as he puts it. “it is not in my nature to be serious, nor the nature of [Game Revolution] - but the issues are very serious indeed and the evidence is very real.” (Ferris, 2005, para. 2) By stating this in the article at all shows he’s done the research to prove his point and ready to defend it, and setting up simple structure for audience to follow. Simply states and shows violent crimes form age 12 and under how it decreases from 1994 to 2003 and pin point the releases of Grand Theft Auto 1 and 3. Then he goes on and discusses homicides by age and non-fatal firearm related crimes.
Conclusion
Both these genres are different one being political cartoon and other being an article and both these genres has different styles and structure, but both are effective. The have different ways on providing their point in designing an illustration or writing an article The one that is more effective than the other would be the blog by Duke Ferris. The writer does his research looking up statistics form the FBI using them as credible source. Also because this article is on the Internet were it would reach out to a wider audience then jus local newspaper would.
References
Ferris, Duke. (2005, August 8). Caution: Children at Play The Truth About Violent
Youth and Video Games [Web Log Comment] Retrieved from
http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/violence_and_videogames
Kelly. “Video Game Violence.” Online Image. 18 June 2009. That Video Game Blog
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/06/18/videogames-are-sometimes-good-for-you-according-to-science/
Video games have been around for a long time, graphics have been key to what video game console is capable of, and how a game will develop. Growing up and watching the graphics change has been amazing from watching two poles from opposite ends hit a pixel like ball back and forth to having life like battles as a US soldier in the fields of Afghanistan. Technology has improved and has gotten really life like, and real graphic. Graphic wise the video games imitate real life and are considered to real for certain audience, 17 years of age and under, to play. Most of the popular games out there involve shooting and killing the enemy. Two genres will be analyzed and discussed with two different points of views in the video game violence effecting youths and if its effecting them to be violent and/or to be aggressive. The first would be a news paper cartoon by illustrator Kelly, depicting video game violence as a problem in society and how its affecting youths in today’s society, making them aggressive and potential killers. The second genre is from a blog written by Duke Ferris titled “Caution: Children at Play – The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games” published in 2005, this article simply defends against video game violence that video games do not effect anybody in being violent or cause to kill anybody. Both these genres have proven points on both sides of the issue. Each genre has special content, structure, and style which make each genre different and communicating two different measures on video game violence.
Audience and Purpose
The first genre is the cartoon with a mother reading news paper article on how video games makes kids aggressive, her comment to her husband “Honey, did you see this silly article on video games?” (Kelly, 2009) Key word being silly, implying that video game violence is no concern to most parents, and let their kids play whatever video games they want. In the rest of the illustration her husband lies on the floor dead after their son kills him with knife while playing violent video game. This particular cartoon is intended for parents with children who play video games to bring to their attention that games do affect the children that play them. In the cartoon the background shows the game still on and is showing a character shooting a handgun showing that the child is playing a violent videogame, which makes him aggressive. With this particular cartoon it’s stating that most of the audience is not aware of the issue at hand, two things come up in the cartoon first is in the mom’s comment of the article of video games being “silly”. The second would be what the dead fathers shirt states “Naïve Parents”. These two things indicated some of the parents out there don’t know if the video games their children are playing are effecting them, the way the cartoon puts it, in a negative way. People would react by really looking out what is out there what type of games are being produced and restrict their kids to play an M (Mature) rated game. They will closely look into what the game consist of regardless of the rating some games will warn if there’s “blood and gore”, “intense violence, “strong language”, “nudity”, etc. Some people wont react to the issue until a tragedy has already happened. The Artist’s purpose for this cartoon is to inform and educate people, especially parents with young children, on what’s going on with video games and the aggressiveness it causes among children, and possibly in their own home.
In comparison, the article by Duke Ferris “Caution: Children at Play The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games” does not have same visual effect as cartoonist would, but still manages to get points across with research and charts to prove points. Duke Ferris is a blogger/manifesto writer for gamerevolution.com. He goes on and states normally the website would not post such serious article, but the writer feels there needs to be evidence on defending the case. He normally writes game reviews and blogs about upcoming video games. This article he wrote is an answer to all people and media who are accusing video games the cause of youths being violent, shootings at schools, and killing others. Since this article is in response to all the accusations of video games being a problem people reading this article already know the issue at hand. What readers want to know is what proof this writer has come up with to show in argument. The time the audience will spend the information presented would be awhile since the writer used charts and graphs to prove his point, a quick glimpse at the chart, look at the information provided in the chart maybe possibly be surprised for the information on it. They’re going to go over the information again to make sure what it is they are seeing on the charts. By showing specific charts, the decrease in homicides from the ages 18 – 24 and how crime has gone down as well; he gets his point across to inform readers of the statistics. This article was written to inform of the situation on video game violence, to inform the actual information regarding it and providing proof that violent video games are not the cause of violent crimes, any murders or homicides, and any nonfatal firearm-related violent crimes. While reading the article it can also be for persuading the people who accuse video games of crime that statistically its inaccurate information due to graphs writer inputs in to article prove that violence in youths declined even after the release of PlayStation One and kept dropping after the release of Grand Theft Auto 3.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
For a cartoonist to draw something this effective and only be known through newspaper is good accomplishment. The cartoon gives illustrator good credibility because straight to the point lots going on in the cartoon but captures what he’s trying to say. Even in the lower right hand corner he draws him self about to draw saying “Game Over”, and signing the cartoon at upper right corner “Kelly”. The cartoon shows pathos because it shows emotion by bringing its viewer being surprised and appalled to the scene the illustration is portraying, especially to a person who knows nothing about the subject of video game violence. The evidence that shows that video game violence is affecting the youths in negative way is the image of the kid holding the bloody knife with a crazed look in his face. Also the fact the kid is still holding the remove control that is being connected to the system on TV and TV showing the image of person shooting the a gun depicting the video game being violent.
The blog shows logos because of the research done by the writer doing research for violent crime rates for ages 12+, homicide offending by age, and Nonfatal firearm-related violent crimes. “Believe it or not, I got that graph - and all the others in this piece - directly from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics . . . this is the actual, most recent government data on crime as used by the FBI” (Ferris, 2005, para.7). The statement “Believe it or not” implies that he really did his research using actual government data, and how simple it is to obtain this information. The article evokes shocking information that many people will take awhile to review the graphs. Looking at the graphs and seeing how both crime and violence among youths is dropping dramatically after the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 one can conclude that video games are not affecting are youths with proof provided by the writer.
Structure, Style and Language
An important aspect of the illustration genre is the language with very few words in the illustration the cartoon gets to the point. Strong words like “innocent kids” and “naïve parents”. Implying that parents have no idea what their kids are playing, and the consequences is leading to innocent kids being the victims of aggression and violence. The newspaper the mother is reading in the illustrations adds to parents being unaware of the issue, by having the title of “Do Violent Video Games make Kids Aggressive” and the title still questioning the issue is sending out the message of naïve. When in the back ground the kid just killed his father. Also the artist uses images like death in the background waiting for the kid to kill his parents as strong “words” to emphasize death as a consequence. The structure for the illustration is very simple to understand it takes on block for the illustration to take place. It’s not multiple blocks/sections as if it were a comic book reading. It has good flow for the eye to go all over the image and get all the information the illustration takes one block plenty of space to draw and get his point across.
In comparison with Ferris’ article, it’s not as visual as the illustration is; however the Ferris article still proves his point he’s trying to make its informative and defensive. The author states that he’s tired of accusations of video games being the reason for youths being violent now days. “Thanks to the current media frenzy and barrage of lawsuits surrounding violent video games, I cant tell people what I do for a living with out getting lecture on the current plague of youth violence” (Ferris, 2005, para. 1). With this statement the author shows the reader that he’s upset of the situation and is passionate of the subject since its part of his lifestyle, and for him to go out of his way to do an article he normally would not do shows dedication on defending the matter. Normally he does not make these types of writings “serious” as he puts it. “it is not in my nature to be serious, nor the nature of [Game Revolution] - but the issues are very serious indeed and the evidence is very real.” (Ferris, 2005, para. 2) By stating this in the article at all shows he’s done the research to prove his point and ready to defend it, and setting up simple structure for audience to follow. Simply states and shows violent crimes form age 12 and under how it decreases from 1994 to 2003 and pin point the releases of Grand Theft Auto 1 and 3. Then he goes on and discusses homicides by age and non-fatal firearm related crimes.
Conclusion
Both these genres are different one being political cartoon and other being an article and both these genres has different styles and structure, but both are effective. The have different ways on providing their point in designing an illustration or writing an article The one that is more effective than the other would be the blog by Duke Ferris. The writer does his research looking up statistics form the FBI using them as credible source. Also because this article is on the Internet were it would reach out to a wider audience then jus local newspaper would.
References
Ferris, Duke. (2005, August 8). Caution: Children at Play The Truth About Violent
Youth and Video Games [Web Log Comment] Retrieved from
http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/violence_and_videogames
Kelly. “Video Game Violence.” Online Image. 18 June 2009. That Video Game Blog
http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/06/18/videogames-are-sometimes-good-for-you-according-to-science/
