Essay One: Games
The essay “Games” by Steven Johnson discusses how books are beneficial for young minds and argues that playing video games should not be considered entirely a bad activity, though reading should be promoted more as a hobby than gaming. Besides the bad effects that video games have, they also offer many benefits, and the author compares these benefits with reading books. Books and video games are both good in their own ways and both provide a different and unique experience altogether. The essay is easy to read and persuades the readers to think upon the ideas that the author discusses in the essay.
Steven Johnson uses different forms of modes in his writing. He uses cause and effect to explain how “older” people think about the video games, and compare and contrast to explain what the differences are between reading and video games. He also uses classification/ division to identify the benefits of reading and video games. On the other hand, there is use of lower middle diction throughout the essay to make it easier to read and comprehend.
Most people think that video games have no benefits at all and that it is only a waste of time. But Johnson thinks video games may have many things to offer, as he says, “Playing video games may not actually be a complete waste of time.” (200). For example, video games improve the visual intelligence and manual dexterity of the player. Video games “may help promote eye- hand coordination in children.”(198). When a person plays video games, it seems like a story is being read to the player. A good story can teach a lot, even if it is just a video game narrative. A player is not just “reading” a story, he or she is “making” a story when they are playing the games. When a person is playing video games, they are choosing all the time. Video games can train a person’s decision making capabilities, which means that video games can help a person to learn to choose their options quickly. People however prefer to amplify the bad effects of video gaming. For example, when a teen kills someone, people would start asking questions like “was he playing too much video game?” and “Was he learning from the video game?” People always think video games affect people in the wrong way, encouraging them to kill people and do something negative.
Johnson uses simple vocabulary to compare and contrast, which makes his personal perception about reading and video games stand out. He says "Games are not novels, and the ways in which they harbor novelistic aspirations are invariably the least interesting thing about them"(199).The reader is forced to think in what ways are video games interesting and why video games should not seem like books and novels. The author explains that each has its own unique identity and must be treated differently.
Johnson use of classification and division to identify the reading benefits is evident throughout the essay. One example is as follows: Johnson says, “Reading requires effort, concentration, and attention” (199). Concentration and attention are very important for students; they affect the flow of study considerably. Johnson then compares reading and video gaming by pointing out how avid readers turn out to be better at cultural, social and humanitarian living and even adds a pinch of sarcasm in an upside down example by saying, “games have, for many years, engaged young minds in complex social relationships with their peers, building and exploring worlds together, books force the child to sequester him or herself in a quiet space, shut off from interaction with other children” (198). This sets a comparison between the relative infancy of gaming and gaming community and the fact that readers and reading communities have existed since a long time. Most individuals in this new generation play video games; they witnessed video games soon after they were born and that is the reason they accept video games so easily instead of taking reading as a hobby. There may be numerous reasons for this trend and the author tries to reverse it by focusing on the benefits of books, instead of complaining about the uselessness of video game. The essay is carefully written to let the reader understand that video games are not bad but reading books is a far better hobby than gaming. Johnson lays an argument for reading enumerating its benefits, and supports active reading to be beneficial as it involves the reader’s power of imagination and originality, rather than taking “prepackaged images” leaving no room for original thoughts (198).
On a personal note being a gamer myself, I totally agree on what the author has to say. After reading this book, I understand why people that video games are bad for us and why our parents would want us to read books. I also learned a lot about the benefits of reading, which includes inculcating a lifetime of good habits and qualities.
Work Cited
Johnson, Steven. “Games” 50Essays: A portable Anthology. Ed. Samuel Cohen. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.196-202. Print.
