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Andrew Zhang
Writing 2
Zack de Piero
14 February 2015
Relating Academic and Pop Culture Texts
Video games have become, what is seems like, a basic survival necessity for the kids of
today. Whether it be Playstation, WiiU, Gamecube, it seems like kids cant get their hands off
these game systems. However, video games arent limited to just game consoles. One of the
trendiest video games, League of Legends, actually happens to be on the computer. This game
has become so cosmopolitan and widespread that EASports has even created a professional
league for the game not just in the United States, but also in Asia. With that being said, the
question remains, if video games have become so popular, how do video games affect children
and adolescents? Are they hazardous or beneficial? Both Jodi L. Whitakers paper, A Review of
the Effects of Violent Video Games on Children and Adolescents, and Mark Griffiths article
from the Washington Post, Playing video games is good for your brain, speak directly
regarding the collection of effects video games pose on the adolescent population. Since these
two pieces deal with the same topic, what causes the two pieces to have different influences on
the readers? The answer lies within the moves of each writer. Both Whitaker and Griffiths
utilize a unique set of conventions and rhetorical devices in order to present their opinions in
ways that are equally appealing yet convincing to the readers.
Each piece is a unique piece because it contains its own set of criteria, otherwise known
as conventions. Having a specific set of conventions means that the piece falls under a certain
genre, but what separates one piece within a genre from another piece within the same genre?
The answer to that question is moves. A move is defined as a verb that means to take action or
make somebody act. Lets move before somebody sees us, or Dont make me move your
chair to the corner. However, the word, in todays world, has an added connotative meaning.

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Bro, hes about to annihilate my units, use your move to save me! In a connotative context, a
move is a repeated set of actions or conventions that almost define a person or thing. Moves
are prevalent throughout video games and sports, but moves are typically found throughout
writing as well. They serve a multitude of rhetorical purposes. According to Bunn, Considering
whether a technique is appropriate or effective lets you contemplate what the author might have
been trying to do and to decide whether a majority of readers would find the move successful.
(Bunn81) Understanding moves is a vital portion of rhetorical writing and they can not only
help to define a particular authors style, but they also have the potential to appeal to a wide
variety of readers.
In Whitakers paper, she begins her introduction by presenting an assortment of statistics.
On average, children spend about forty hours per week watching television and films, listening
to music, playing video games, and spending time online.(Whitaker1034) Although this
introductory move isnt too exciting, it gives the readers an idea of what kind of personality and
style the piece will be written in. It also provides a brief introduction to the argument of the
entire paper. The combination of an introduction to style and argument provide an effective, yet
summarizing first move to Whitakers paper. Similar to Whitakers introduction, Griffiths
introduction is written in an analogous fashion. Whether playing video games has negative
effects is something that has been debated for 30 years, in much the same way that rock and roll,
television, and even the novel faced similar criticisms in their time.(Griffith) Although his first
sentence doesnt place as much emphasis on logos as Whitakers, Griffith presents his argument
in a very debatable fashion, allowing the readers to find an answer for themselves before reading
his article. Both pieces of work utilize the introduction as a means of displaying the writers
move and by doing so, they both are able to not only capture the readers attention, but also
give a brief introduction to the arguments within their perspective works.

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Although both pieces cover the same topic of the effects of video games, they are of two
opposite genres. Whitakers work, a research paper/scientific report, provides loads of logical
evidence and studies to back up her argument. Just a glance of the structure of her work shows
how her piece is academically based. At the very beginning of the paper, she has a title page and
a table of contents page which provides a section by section break down of her entire argument.
Each section is labeled with an appropriate title, but each subsection title can also serve as a
descriptive title in a scientific report. For example, the section title Explanations for Short-Term
Effects, provides analysis of short-term changes that occur in childrens behaviors, thoughts,
feelings and arousal levels immediately after playing violent video games[].(Whitaker1040)
These titles provide not only a proper introduction and summary to the argument, but also an
analysis of certain effects of video games on children. Then at the bottom of each page is a list of
all the sources that she employs in order to fortify her argument. Utilizing a huge list of
references, Whitaker is immediately able to establish her logos as readers can instantly see the
amount of evidence she used.
Unlike Whitakers work, Griffiths work, an article, doesnt have as structured of a
backbone. This type of writing is evident of a free write in which the writer doesnt really take
into consideration structure, but rather emphasizes the writers content. Griffiths work doesnt
provide as much evidence as Whitakers work, but he uses opinions and personal experience to
establish a connection with the reader. For example, in the second paragraph, Griffith states, I
know from my own research examining both sides that my papers on video game addiction
receive far more publicity than my research into the social benefits of, for example, playing
online role-playing games.(Griffith) The use of the I in this scenario is crucial for Griffith to
connect with his readers. This not only makes the article conversational, but it also allows
Griffith to seem more relatable to the readers. In addition to the personal tone he uses, Griffith

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displays glimpses of scientific work throughout this particular piece. In a series of experiments
on small numbers of gamers (10 to 14 people in each study), the researchers reported that gamers
with previous experience of playing such action video games were better at perceptual tasks such
as pattern discrimination than gamers with less experience.(Griffith) The key words In a series
of experiments indicate that Griffith is utilizing data from experiments and analyzing them.
Although Griffiths work still isnt as data based as Whitakers, these key words and phrases not
only bolster the logos in this argument, but also transforms a freely written article, into an article
tailored to a specific audience.
After analyzing and comparing Griffiths and Whitakers works, both pieces come down
to one thing: audience expectation. Whitakers work is a research based scientific paper while
Griffiths work is simply a free written article. These two sets of pieces have completely different
audiences with completely different audience expectations. While Whitakers readers are the
more intellectual and informational readers seeking to maybe utilize her work in their own
studies, Griffiths readers are probably readers who either enjoy reading the Washington Post or
are fans of Griffiths work. In regards to information provided, Whitakers paper provided more
detailed analysis of the experimental data she was provided. However, one of the take aways
from Griffiths work has to be the relationship that he builds with his readers. By using the
pronoun I, Griffith establishes a personal connection with the reader and by doing so, instantly
increases his credibility amongst his readers. In terms of persuasiveness, one would think that
Whitaker would be far more convincing than Griffith due to the amount of evidence she
provides, however, because of how Griffith establishes his connection with the readers, his terse
article could potentially have as much persuasive abilities as that of Whitakers. Again, this all
depends on who the reader is and what the reader is expecting.

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Moves are present in many different areas, basketball, football, etc., but moves are also
present in writing. Although the word moves is denoted as literal movements of people or
objects, connotatively, it refers to a repeated set of actions or conventions that can define a
person or object. Moves play a critical role in the reason why various pieces of literature and
writing have different feels and styles. For example, in Jodi L. Whitakers paper, A Review of
the Effects of Violent Video Games on Children and Adolescents, Whitaker chose to present her
information in an objective, logical manner whereas in Mark Griffiths article from the
Washington Post, Playing video games is good for your brain, Griffith chose to write his article
in a subjective, semi-formal fashion. Even though both of these works talk about similar topics,
they utilize different rhetorical techniques in order to not only portray their argument in a logical,
understandable manner, but also convince the readers to devise their own opinions based on what
they have both experienced and read in other peoples works.

Work Cited
Bunn, Mike. How to Read Like a Writer. Writing Space: Reading on Writing. Ed. Charles
Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. West Lafayette, Indiana. 2010. Print.
Griffiths, Mark. Playing video games is good for your brain. The Washington Post. 11
November 2014. Web. 5 January 2015.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/11/playing-video-games-isgood-for-your-brain/

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Whitaker, Jodi L. and Brad J. Bushman, A Review of the Effects of Violent Video Games on
Children and Adolescents, A. Wash. and Lee L. Rev. 66 (2009): 1033.

Thesis Statement
Use of Evidence
from Articles
Use of Course
Readings
Analysis
Organization/Struc
ture
Attention to
Genre/Conventions
and Rhetorical
Factors
Sentence-level
Clarity, Mechanics,
Flow

Did Not Meet

Expectations

Met
Expectations

Exceeded
Expectations

Dr. Zhang,
Other Comments
Wow, what an excellent piece. You did a tremendous
job here, and it was a pleasure to see you kick this
assignments ass.
Heres what I think you need to do to bump this up to
the next level: 1, get suuuuuuper specific in your
thesis statementwhat, exactly, are you going to be
arguing in this paper?; 2, take control of your topic
sentencesthey need to the idea anchors of your
paragraphs; 3, no more free-floating quotes; 4, weave
in the course readings a bit more.
All told, though, you did a very very very good job
here.
Z
A-

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