ipl-logo

Reality Is Broken Rhetorical Analysis

940 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of video games on teenagers

Nigel Dinh
Ms. Maloney
English II Honors
26 February 2023
Games Are A Distant Reality
The power of video games is helping with real-life problems and helping gamers escape reality. The phrase “reality is broken” forms the central thesis of Jane McGonigal’s story, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. In the book, McGonigal explains the idea that games have the power to fix real-life problems by giving players a sense of purpose, positive emotions, and social connections. As well as wanting to show the world what the future is going to be for those who gamers and are not familiar with video games. The argument Mcgonigal makes is games are a powerful tool in helping with mental and emotional health. McGonigal …show more content…

An anecdote is a short story to make a larger point and engage the audience. This way of writing is to make a fact more memorable and brings the message to life. Jane McGonigal incorporates a story, “In the opening book of The Histories, Herodotus writes …”(Mcgonigal 6-7) This way of writing that Mcgonigal used is also a way to illustrate a concept and adds some emotional impact to the reader. This is important because it reaches out to the reader in different ways. By including an anecdote, McGonigal can make an emotional connection with the reader and persuade them. McGonigal states, “Herodotus invented history as we know it, and he has described the goal of history as uncovering moral problems and moral truths in the concrete data of experience.” (McGonigal 8). An added reason why anecdotes are so powerful is that it shares one's experience. By telling a reader a real event that happened, they could change their view, helping with illustrating the point or claim. Anecdotes could be humorous, serious, or sentimental but McGonigal used the story to make her point stronger to the …show more content…

She also includes in her argument information that games have a positive impact on these gamers, “And we are creating a massive virtual silo of cognitive effort, emotional energy, and collective attention lavished on game worlds instead of the real world.”(Mcgonigal 6). Video games have the potential to make us happier, and more motivated, and maybe even could change the world. Games could as well help gamers gain confidence in progressing throughout the game. Jane McGonigal includes numbers that “Globally, the online gamer community–including console, PC, and mobile phone gamers–counts more than 4 million gamers in the Middle East, 10 million in Russia, 105 million in India, 10 million in Vietnam, 10 million in Mexico, 13 million in Central and South America, 15 million in Australia, 17 million in South Korea, 100 million in Europe, and 200 million in China” providing evidence for the claim and adding important backup assertions with evidence that is supporting the claim (McGonigal 5). Using numbers and statistics can help prove evidence and make sure the argument is more convincing. As “Economist Edward Castronnova calls it a “Mass exodus” to game spaces, and you can see it already happening in the numbers” (Mcgonigal 5). With numbers and stats, it helps prove information, establish credibility, and make a comparison which Jane McGonigal

Show More
Related
553 Words | 3 Pages

Video games may resemble books in a small portion, but not to a great enough extent and books are better are the elements encased in “Games”. Steven Johnson does a wonderful job in his essay and proves his points quite well. His essay provides information towards his argument and makes it strong. In the paper, it is easily seen what he was trying to get

Read More
480 Words | 2 Pages

By using this example of an anecdote, it is a short, true account of a real incident that happened to someone and it contains a clear plot, setting, and characters. Additionally, the

Read More
1312 Words | 6 Pages

Although some aspects the famous writers contributed benefited the narrator. The tone Tobias Wolff uses to describe the writing contest is to initially improve the students’ writing skills by learning from the visiting authors. Before the contest, the narrator’s stories appeared to be dishonest and as they were “props in an act” (Wolff 110). The “props” characterized his dishonest background in his stories, making himself seem more like the other boys in his school. However Hemingway stepped in to teach the narrator that it was acceptable to have flaws in himself and his stories, in addition that he should be honest in his writing, therefore also influencing the narrator positively.

Read More
512 Words | 3 Pages

For example, in the story "The Man I Killed," O’Brien describes the killing of a young Vietnamese soldier by one of his fellow soldiers. While the "Happening Truth" of the story is that a man was killed, the "Story Truth" is the emotional weight that the killing carries, both for the soldier who committed the act and for the narrator himself. By exploring these emotional and psychological realities, O’Brien is able to create a more nuanced and complex portrayal of the Vietnam War and its impact on those who lived through

Read More
1057 Words | 5 Pages

A storyteller invents comprehensible facts to fill in a story’s missing aspects. O’Brien continues to elaborate by explaining how “The pictures get jumbled; you tend to miss a lot. And then afterward, when you go to tell about it, there is always that surreal seemingness, which makes the story seem untrue, but which in fact represents the hard and exact truth as it seemed” (O’Brien 67). Again, as a soldier, especially in the Vietnam War, it proves difficult to realize what actually occurs and find the ability to remember specific details to completely and precisely retell it some time afterwards. Tim implies imagination’s role when he writes, “The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head.

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

Testimonies are accounts in which the narrator is a central participant in the story or is close to the characters in the story. The concept of testimonies is that these stories accumulate sympathy from their listeners. Testimonies are filled with more details and personal investments than story lines. They are

Read More
914 Words | 4 Pages

In addition to that, the author allows the readers to see what it was like to be in the middle of the most tragic history

Read More
1361 Words | 6 Pages

Take for example the story of the Alabama-born writer Mary Shipman Andrews. As the story goes, one day, her son Paul’s history teacher, Walter Burlingame, evoked a story to his class about hearing Edward Everett tell his father, diplomat Anson Burlingame, that the president “wrote his address on a piece of

Read More
942 Words | 4 Pages

The chapter “‘You’ll Never Believe What Happened’ Is Always a Good Place to Start” from the Native Narrative “The Truth About Stories” by Thomas King explores the twisting path of how stories shape who we are, how we understand things, and how we interact with the world around us. Thomas King strengthens his argument by giving a detailed example that better, proves what he is trying to say. He tells a story about the moment he discovered what happened to his father, which I believe answered a lot of questions in his life. The author's father left when he was a little boy. The father remarried two more times, had seven more children who never knew that the authors nor his brother existed until the day of all their father's funeral.

Read More
849 Words | 4 Pages

Three of the most important aspects of any story are the point of view, characterization and plot. In the short stories “Geraldine Moore the Poet,” “The Story-Teller,” and “Enemy Territory” this statement proves to be true. With a good analysis, all of these things can be found in the stories. Additionally, the point of view, characterization and plot can relate to the theme. The point of view needs to be scrutinized throughout the whole story.

Read More
797 Words | 4 Pages

The anecdotal story is also used to provide the reader with what the author feels about his father. After explaining that his hammer’s handle is made out of hickory, the speaker

Read More
550 Words | 3 Pages

For example, the author talks about him knowing "woods so dark that" his "hands disappeared" before his eyes and "night skies in which meteors left smoky trails across sugary spreads of stars." Specifically, this is a very good way to initially get the reader engaged, for it not only shows an interesting story, but it supports the claim that he brings up later in the passage. Also, people typically like anecdotes because they convey emotion directly to the reader and help get the point across clearly and concisely.

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

According to Doctor Ferguson, ”Young adults both male and female who play violent video games long-term handle stress better than non-playing adults and become less depressed and less

Read More
994 Words | 4 Pages

But today researchers are finding that video games can actually change us for the better and improve both our mind and body. Which is why today I am going to persuade you that video games are beneficial not just a waste of time. In this speech I will be talking about the benefits of video games on us and why it makes our life better by explaining:

Read More
1350 Words | 6 Pages

Various games are activities that have been around since the beginning of time has evolved into a technology based forum for all ages called video games. These types of games have become an extremely popular activity and are a big part of a lot of people’s everyday lives. Instead of looking at video games as a leisurely hobby that one plays in their spare time, it is now looked as a positive benefit for people to play. Playing video games are beneficial, according to some studies they can develop cognitive skills, create social connections, and stimulate creativity.

Read More

More about Reality Is Broken Rhetorical Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document