Analysis Of Gerard Jones's Essay Violent Media Is Good For Kids
Professor Emily Kobayashi
English 2000
5 February 2012
Violent Media is Good for Kids Gerard Jones, in “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” expresses personal experiences about how violent comic books can often help children break through their shells of self-isolation. Because Jones largely discusses his own opinions, I feel the essay should provide more statistical evidence to support his thoughts. Although I agree with his point that children do need to have an outlet to express their underlying rage, I think a boundary of how extreme we can allow children to stretch this idea needs to be set. Jones’s essay does a good job of connecting himself to the audience, even in his first example, where he uses his own personal experience of how The Hulk saved him in his childhood to introduce his point. The violence of the comic books helped him both get over his fears and find an identity for himself, as seen when Gerard states that he later wrote comic books and action movies in his thirties. In the essay, Gerard has many real life examples of how comics, rich in combat and killings, have helped children become stronger individuals. I think his use of real life examples really captures …show more content…
This passage has examples of kids committing acts of violence much like they saw and read in their favorite comic book. This example illustrated a significant issue because a group of New York boys attacked another boy, twisting his arm and breaking it in two places (Nyberg). This is an extreme example of children taking what they read into a comic book and imitating it in their lives. Since they are children, it is hard for them to understand what is fiction, which simply serves as entertainment, and what should be real. Examples like the one provided “Seal of Approval” are issues that Jones did not include in his
English 2000
5 February 2012
Violent Media is Good for Kids Gerard Jones, in “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” expresses personal experiences about how violent comic books can often help children break through their shells of self-isolation. Because Jones largely discusses his own opinions, I feel the essay should provide more statistical evidence to support his thoughts. Although I agree with his point that children do need to have an outlet to express their underlying rage, I think a boundary of how extreme we can allow children to stretch this idea needs to be set. Jones’s essay does a good job of connecting himself to the audience, even in his first example, where he uses his own personal experience of how The Hulk saved him in his childhood to introduce his point. The violence of the comic books helped him both get over his fears and find an identity for himself, as seen when Gerard states that he later wrote comic books and action movies in his thirties. In the essay, Gerard has many real life examples of how comics, rich in combat and killings, have helped children become stronger individuals. I think his use of real life examples really captures …show more content…
This passage has examples of kids committing acts of violence much like they saw and read in their favorite comic book. This example illustrated a significant issue because a group of New York boys attacked another boy, twisting his arm and breaking it in two places (Nyberg). This is an extreme example of children taking what they read into a comic book and imitating it in their lives. Since they are children, it is hard for them to understand what is fiction, which simply serves as entertainment, and what should be real. Examples like the one provided “Seal of Approval” are issues that Jones did not include in his