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Effects of Violent Video Games

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Effects of Violent Video Games
Rhetorical Analysis Essay According to the article “Shooting in the Dark” author, Benedict Carey, states that studies today on violent video games show no concrete evidence on actually long term negative effects on gamers. Mr. Carey is not a researcher or scientist but is a veteran writer of neuroscience, neurology, and psychology. Throughout this article he gives factual evidence and quotes from scholarly sources such as doctors and researchers in the fields of behavior and psychology. The author gives ample explanation on evidence used from his sources to give the optimal understanding to the reader of the results and/or findings given by the sources. The article connects to the modern age of gamers with examples from big name video games popular with today’s video gamers. Although Mr. Carey does give evidence that violent video games have been found to give short term negative effects he does reassure the reader through quotes and statements from his sources that no studies show consistent long term effects. The claim of the author about the research on the effects of violent video games is strongly supported and backed through his use of rhetorical appeals and scholarly evidence. Even though Mr. Carey is not an expert in this field of study his experience as a veteran of scientific writer, having written for Science Times and The New York Times for over 10 years, shows through his very valuable and knowledge sources that he quotes and uses examples from in this article. The author uses quotes from various researchers and scientist throughout this article such as economist, psychologist, and doctors all valuable sources that share the opinion of his claim. Mr. Carey then goes on to connect his sources statement with the ethos appeal by explaining their authority. Craig A. Anderson, a psychologist at Iowa State University, is an expert in his field of study which is the effects of violent media, including video games, on today’s adolescents. Mr. Carey uses


Cited: Carey, Benedict. "Shooting in the Dark." The New York Times. N.p., 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
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