Thesis/Plan/Outline for the Research Essay

Does Media Violence Cause Social Violence?

In the article “Does Media Violence Cause Social Violence?” the author is able to present his ideas in a well explained and detailed manner. The author explains about the influence of the media on the normal live of individuals. The author has provided different examples in his explanation. These examples have played a major role in improving the understandability of the reader on the information being communicated. The author is able to explain both sides of the question in a distinct manner. He explains that media information does not influence the way of living to individuals. On the other hand, he explains how the media may play a role in influencing people’s behaviors. From reading the essays in the book, I find the essay “Does media violence cause social violence?” as the most effective based on the ethos, pathos, and logos.

The author used ethos to demonstrate the effectiveness of his information. Ethos may be defines as an appeal to a writers ethics where the writer uses his character in persuading the reader on his or her credibility. The author has authority in making his statements. He begins by stating that “violence is a disturbing and sometimes frightening undercurrent of life in the united states.” From this statement, one is able to judge that the author is confident in his writing. The writer is confident in informing the reader that the media is influencing the behavior in the United States. Crime rate has greatly increased in the country. The country is experiencing a rise in the rate of crime as the years pass. The author blames the rise in crime rate to the media. The author states that the media provided influential content that may negatively affect people’s behavior. Some media content show how crime can be easily committed. A repeated show of such content triggers behavior, leading to the influence on individuals.

The author used effectively used pathos to demonstrate the effectiveness of his information. Pathos is the appeal to emotion. It is a way of convincing the audience of an argument through creating emotional response. The author states that “the debate about the connection between media violence and violent behavior heats up whenever a particular horrible crime is linked to a movie.” He is able to show how the issue of media violence influencing behavior affects people. People are concerned with the rate at which media influences behavior. It is an issue that has let to people suing media houses and movie producer bout the content of their movies. People are trying to seek assistance from court without success. There is no evidence that may be used in supporting the argument. However, the courts should support the motion to control media contents.

The author managed to use logos in demonstrating the effectiveness of his information. Logos is the ability of a writer to provide logical appeal and having the ability of persuading a reader with reason. In this essay, the author is able to provide examples of how people claim to be influenced by media to perform certain acts. The author gave an example where “two teenagers, Sarah and Ben went on a murder spree and at their murder trial tried unsuccessfully to blame their actions on Oliver Stone’s Movie Natural Born Killer.” This example contributes to the understandability and the ability of the author to convince his readers though the use of logos. Evidence based information provides the reader basis for argument and evidence for the information.

From reading the essays in the book, I find the essay “Does media violence cause social violence?” as the most effective based on the ethos, pathos, and logos. The reader has demonstrated his ability to use logs, pathos, and ethos in explaining his information. Using these three appeals encourages understandability of a written content.