Power of Rhetoric in Minecraft
Duncan Gans
Hillary Reisig
Honor LA 11
September 24, 201
Power of Rhetoric in Minecraft
Thesis
The video game cover for Minecraft successfully targets an audience of concerned mothers by using appeals of innocence and simplicity for the purpose of easing their doubts and fears of videogames, while at the same time, subtly engaging teenagers looking for an alternate and unconstrained escape from reality.
Appeals
Innocence is a prominent appeal present in the videogame cover for Minecraft. Primarily, in the foreground one can clearly see a pig, a dog, and other farm animals romping around a bright meadow. The audience will often associate these animals with the ones seen in kids’ stories. Viewers will automatically assume that the game is as safe and modest as the books they read as children. In addition, the character is smiling running around. This enforces the idea of carefree happiness that parents will approve of in the game. It could have shown the character fighting, or maybe killing the farm animals, but instead it shows him happily frolicking through a safe area. Lastly, the games’ graphics look very simple and blocky. You cannot see the details in the characters face, nor can you really see the buildings in the background. This could allow viewers to associate the game with games that existed in the 1980s. It does not at all look like one of the violent new games that have such an awful reputation. By using all of these seemingly unnoticeable features the cover effectively forces the reader to believe it is a safe and innocent game. Secondly, another more subtle appeal is the association to freedom. When looking at this cover one can undoubtedly see a vast open space that reaches to the sky. The vast amount of terrain on the cover could imply that the game has no limits. One is free to run where he or she likes and explore the animals and mountains. By showing everything from the ground to the sky, the cover imposes the idea of “the sky is
Hillary Reisig
Honor LA 11
September 24, 201
Power of Rhetoric in Minecraft
Thesis
The video game cover for Minecraft successfully targets an audience of concerned mothers by using appeals of innocence and simplicity for the purpose of easing their doubts and fears of videogames, while at the same time, subtly engaging teenagers looking for an alternate and unconstrained escape from reality.
Appeals
Innocence is a prominent appeal present in the videogame cover for Minecraft. Primarily, in the foreground one can clearly see a pig, a dog, and other farm animals romping around a bright meadow. The audience will often associate these animals with the ones seen in kids’ stories. Viewers will automatically assume that the game is as safe and modest as the books they read as children. In addition, the character is smiling running around. This enforces the idea of carefree happiness that parents will approve of in the game. It could have shown the character fighting, or maybe killing the farm animals, but instead it shows him happily frolicking through a safe area. Lastly, the games’ graphics look very simple and blocky. You cannot see the details in the characters face, nor can you really see the buildings in the background. This could allow viewers to associate the game with games that existed in the 1980s. It does not at all look like one of the violent new games that have such an awful reputation. By using all of these seemingly unnoticeable features the cover effectively forces the reader to believe it is a safe and innocent game. Secondly, another more subtle appeal is the association to freedom. When looking at this cover one can undoubtedly see a vast open space that reaches to the sky. The vast amount of terrain on the cover could imply that the game has no limits. One is free to run where he or she likes and explore the animals and mountains. By showing everything from the ground to the sky, the cover imposes the idea of “the sky is