Everything that makes me eager to talk in class.

• Knowing my classmates makes me more comfortable speaking up.
• Having a professor who actually listens to what you have to say.
• Knowing the material being discussed.

Everything that makes me reticent to speak in class.

• Not knowing the material
• Being put on the spot.
• Having a teacher who is quick to point out mistakes or flaws (in front of everyone).
• If what I am sharing if deeply personal.

What is the point, or claim, Johnson is attempting to get his reader to accept?

The claim that he is trying to get his readers to accept is that video games are not a mindless activity, that by playing games the user benefits by building skills in other areas not directly related to the game at hand.

What reason does he give to support this claim? What evidence supports the reason?

His reason is that we ignore content in many activities in our daily lives that society tends to accept as good for our brains. To support this, he mentions students who are taught algebra in school don’t always use algebra when they leave the classroom, but they have built the mental muscle that allows them for work their way through other tasks in life.

Besides the reason and evidence, do you see any other kind of rhetorical appeals and operating in this passage?

Yes, I would say he uses pathos by appealing to an audience of people who care about their body when he chooses to bring up why people go to the gym. Many people take their physical health very personally and it can be an emotional issue for some.

Do you find this argument convincing? Why or why not?

I do find his argument convincing. He used a broad range of evidence to support his claim which is good for getting the attention of multiple audiences. When he mentioned how students do not use algebra after leaving the classroom (a thought that I’ve always had), it made me consider the work that my brain did while taking those classes. While I may not use algebra every day I did gain other skills from taking those particular classes. This makes me keen to consider the idea that video games, and the skills required and acquired to play them effectively are more than just mindless staring at a TV screen.