Dr Thomasina Singh’s speech, “Pulling the plug on video games” clearly
addressed the issue of the physical and psychological effects of video games on
young and naïve children. In a light-hearted yet earnest tone, Singh contends that
video games have incredibly harmful and negative affects on the lives of
teenagers. With the inclusion of two slides, including on picture, Dr Singh is able
to capture the attention of her intended audience of parents, teachers and
students, persuading them to agree with her point of view.
Dr Singh begins her speech by arguing that the problem’s associated with video
games are quite widespread. Singh commenced her speech in a light-hearted and
casual tone, allowing the audience to initially feel at ease with the author. As a
result, this manipulates the readers into adopting the speakers view, as they feel
more comfortable in her presence. With the use of humor describing students
“shifting their seats”, Singh is able to generate feelings of laughter within her
crowd. This allows Singh to connect to her audience on a more personal level,
leading to the audience agreeing with Singh as they have been positioned in a
tension free environment. By interacting with the audience asking “Hands up…”,
Singh is able to physically involve engage the audience within her speech. This
forces the audience to feel as though they are directly associated with the issue
as they themselves have risen their hand’s. As a result, the audience is more
likely to agree with Singh’s contention as they have now been exposed to the
idea that they will be affects by the issue. By questioning the audience in two
different scenarios with “Who here plays video games?” and “Hands up all
parents who worry….”, Singh is able to appeal to both the parents and the
children present in the room. As the majority of Singh’s audience has directly
been associated with the issue, Singh is able to emphasize just how widespread
this problem is. This persuades the audience into agreeing with Singh as they can
now obviously see and have had first hand proof of the prevalence of the issue.
Singh continues her speech by detailing how videogames have a great propensity
to lead to addiction. By strategically alluding to well known video games such as
“World of Warcraft”, Singh is able to demonstrate her insight and familiarity with
the issue. This positions the audience to agree with Singh as they are now able to
trust her opinion due to her obvious knowledge and expertise with the issue.
With the embedment of an appeal to hip-pocket nerve “ongoing subscription
fees”, Singh is able to highlight the large sum of money paid by subscribers to
video companies. This angers the audience as they feel as though they are
wasting precious income on a game that ultimately generates harmful affects. As
a result, the audience is predisposed to agree with Singh in order to prevent
further waste of money being spent on such a negative activity. By shifting the
tone of the speech to a more serious manner, Singh is able to appeal greatly to
parents within the group, establishing the foundation for her following
persuasive techniques supporting her argument. The description of the feeling of
achievement within a video game as a ‘rush’ places a negative connotation upon
the emotion. Singh has managed to present the rewards of the game as an
addiction. As a result, the audience is left feeling outraged as they have now
associated the enjoyment of these games with previous beliefs of harmful
addictions such as gambling. By citing evidence from a “State University”, Singh
is able to add greater credibility to her arguments. This leads the audience into
becoming more inclined with the speaker as they feel as though Singh has
undertaken personal research in the issue, enabling them to trust her point of
view. This is supported by Singh’s first slide, which clearly depicts a number of
statistics such as “more than 8 percent… exhibit symptoms of addiction.”. Also
present on the slide is a set of effects of video games as expressed by
“PsychToday”. By using of this intertextuality, Singh is able to inform the
audience that another well informed company also posses her same views on the
issue. Hence, the audience is manipulated into agreeing with the contention as
they feel as though the majority of experts within this field obtain this same view
on the issue.
Singh conclude her speech by informing the parents that they must watch over
their children’s gaming. With the use of inclusive language such as “we can” and
“we really”, Singh is able to cause the parents to feel a sense of responsibility for
the happening of the issue. This fuels the audience into agreeing with Singh in an
attempt to resolve the issue in which they now feel as though they are slightly
accountable for. By listing the negative effects of video games such as
“withdrawal from friends and family, lack of interest…symptoms of depression
or anger… declining school marks..”, Singh is able to overwhelm the audience as
they are now aware of just have extensive and endless the effects of video games
are on children. This generates feelings of shock within the group, forcing them
to agree that teenagers must be watched carefully in order to prevent these
consequences from occurring. By appealing to family values, explaining how
video games can lead to an “obesity epidemic”, Singh is able to generate feelings
of alarm within the parents who now fear for the health and safety of their
children. This results in the parents grappling to find a solution to the issue,
forcing them to agree with Singh’s suggestions in desperation. The impact of the
effects if gaming is emphasized in the picture on the following slide. The
inclusion of the hyperbole “Video games ruined my life” emphasizes to the
audience the extremes of the effects of video games and their implications on a
person’s existence. The use of pixilated words allows the speaker to appeal to the
children and teenagers who are experienced with gaming and recognize the font,
hence positioning them to feel a sense of familiarity with Singh’s argument. The
use of a black and white picture highlights the distinct differences between the
negative affects of gaming in juxtaposition with those teenagers benefiting from
a healthy and active lifestyle where video games are absent. By shifting and
concluding her speech in a more positive tone, Singh is able to provide a sense of
optimism within her audience. This is supported by the “tips” Singh provides to
the parents such as “putting down the controller” and condoning a more healthy
lifestyle. By reserving these tips to the final paragraph, Singh is able to leave her
readers feeling as though they do posses a sense of control and hope for the
resolution of the issue.
In conclusion, Singh cohesively contends that video games have the ability to
affect the lives of teenager’s in a number of harmful ways. By arguing how
widespread and addicting the issue is, along with the use of many persuasive
techniques, Singh was able to generate feelings of fear and outrage within her
readers. This provided Singh with the opportunity to present how abundant this
issue truly is in today’s technology-driven society.