Dr. Jane McGonigal- Games Can Make a Better World

In Dr. Jane McGonigal’s video “Games can make a better world,” she gives many valid points to why it may be important for us to play more games online. As she said in the video she wants to be able to make it just as easy to save the world in real life as it is to save the world in online games. With this goal she has made a plan to convince more people to playing bigger and better games. Throughout her video she states various reasons for her argument. One of her arguments that really struck my attention was a picture of a gamer when he was about to accomplish an “epic win.” In the picture it shows a gamer that is in deep focus and is tackling a major problem. With this picture, she claims that this face needs to be on more problem solvers all over the world. Dr. McGonigal believes that gamers are not confident in real life as much as they are in the gaming world. Within the gaming world it gives gamers a sense of motivation to something that may seem to actually matter. She uses the example that in an online game called world of warcraft, it gives people the option to trust others in a lifesaving mission and so many other people are willing to help which is not found in reality. In her video she quotes an economist by the name of Edward Castronova that states that “it makes sense for gamers to spend time on games because they can achieve so much more then in reality.” The more I watched Dr. Jane McGonigal’s video I started to agree with what she had studied for so long. When someone talks about gamers I usually think of people that do nothing with their life but sit at a computer or in front of a television playing games. I believe that if we get more people to focus on solving problems throughout reality as they do in the gaming world we will be able to become more of a successful economy.  

Writers on writing

In Kent Haruf’s article, “Writers on Writing” (2000) he declares that each writer has their own way of getting their words down on paper. Haruf supports his claim by giving examples of how other writers such as Thomas Wolfe, Flannery O’Conner and Eudora Welty of their specific ways of writing. Kent Haruf’s purpose in this article is to tell writers that whatever they need to do to get their creative juices flowing and to get their words on paper, it is okay to do no matter how odd it may be. In order for Haruf to help his readers he gives a description of the room that he writes in and explains the certain paper he uses for his first drafts that he blindly writes. Kent Haruf seemed to be writing to writers that get writers block and gives them support to find their certain ways to getting their words and creativity on paper.

Rhetorical Precis- Choices 2.0

In Joe Marshall Hardin’s introduction to his book Choices 2.0 (2010), he states that some college students are not confident in their writing and other students are successful writers. People believe that others are just more talented at a certain thing then another. Hardin presents a couple examples to becoming a successful writer. One way students can make their writing more effective is to plan, revise and have someone else read their writing. Doing those few simple steps will help them improve their writing by getting rid of certain things or reorganizing your writing. Another example to becoming a more successful writer is to become more familiar with correct grammar. The more you write you will begin to notice what kind of things sound right and the common mistakes you make. Joe Hardin’s purpose is to help college students that feel like their writing is not as strong as it should be. He seems to make his writing easy to read so students wouldn’t have trouble paying attention and they are able to follow what he is saying.

In chapter one of Joe Marshall Hardin’s book Choice 2.0 (2010), he states a writing process for students to follow that allows them to observe their writing. Hardin’s steps are prewriting, drafting, revising, and proofing. Joe Hardin’s first step is prewriting allows the writer to find out the major ideas of their project and to group ideas together. His second step is drafting which lets the writer bring their ideas together and start to make a plan for their writing and also allows the writer to make changes to the writing. Hardin’s third step is revising. He claims that it is better to revise writing on paper then on a computer screen. With revising a project, it is important to be willing to change anything throughout the writing, By having a peer read over a project, it was help you notice things that wouldn’thave been noticed before. His last step is proofing and editing. This step allows the writer to make last minute changes and make sure that the spelling and grammar are correct throughout the writing. Joe Marshall Hardin also talks about making choices about rhetoric. Rhetoric helps a writer choice how they will present their writing, how the writer will address the reader and also, what kinds of language and arguments the writer will use to communicate with the reader.  He also included that writers should relate to their readers by using ethos (ethics), pathos (emotion) and logos (logic). Hardin's audience is college students that need to improve their process for writing and makes it easy for them to read and follow.