Something Bigger Than Ourselves

Words: 629
Pages: 3

Apart of a Bigger Picture: Rhetorical Strategies in McGonigal’s
“Becoming Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves” Video games have always been a source of entertainment that gives the player a sense of purpose and meaning. As games evolved over time, they were able to bring meaning and a feeling of community to its players that would allow them to be part of something bigger than themselves. This idea of games being a source of meaning in peoples lives is supported in the article “Becoming Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves” by Jane McGonigal. In this article, McGonigal talks about how games give gamers a chance to be part of a bigger picture through the power of games. She states that gamers coming together as a community allows for them to leave a lasting mark on the world. McGonigal tries to build her credibility in her article by incorporating data and stats, using the
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The event McGonigal references in her article is the mile stone that was reached in April 2009 by the Halo 3 community. As a community, they collectively reached “10 billion kills against their virtual enemy, the Covenant” (444). McGonigal then continues applying logos through describing some of the various stats and data that resulted from this milestones. Including a breakdown of the community's collective event where “they averaged 17.5 million Covenant kills a day, 730,000 kills per hour; 12,000 kills a minute” (445). The use of logos appeal gives McGonigal a way to show the community's impressive results through data and stats. Providing a clear sense of their achievements down to the digit. Overall, McGonigal uses the data and facts from this important event to show how much gamers can accomplish when they work towards a common goal. She encourages readers by stating that if more people join in these community goals, gamers would be able to accomplish much