Rhetorical Analysis Essay

A Critique of Karen Wright’s “Guns, Lies, and Video”
      In her short article “Guns, Lies, and Video”, Karen Wright lays out an overview of the issue of the relationship between media violence and real life violence. She writes that there is considerable debate on the subject, with some experts claiming there is strong evidence for a link between media violence and real aggression, and some experts claiming there is none. According to Wright, determining how media violence actually relates to real aggression is complicated by many factors. Wright also cites several studies, including a long-term study that implies a correlation between exposure to media violence and violent behavior, and a study that determined that violent video games trigger a unique pattern of brain activity compared to otherwise equally exciting nonviolent games. Wright concludes that while authorities on the subject recommend parental control rather than censorship, adults should be careful, as they are also susceptible to the effects of media violence.
      Wright provides a good overview of the issue of the relationship between media violence and real-life violence; however, her article has some inadequacies, especially regarding the nature of video games compared to movies, television, and music.   Wright strives to appeal to the pathos of the audience throughout her article.   A pathos type of argument is one that tries to appeal to the emotions and values of the target audience.   Wright makes the assumption that her audience members are good people who don’t want their children to become violent members of society—and it is just these values that Wright petitions throughout.
      In her introduction, Wright brings the reader's attention to video games—specifically, she contends that the prevalent practice of allowing children to play violent video games while forbidding them to play with toy guns is questionable, because it seems to assume that toy guns encourage violence while...