War Simulations

1. On the first website, http://www.americasarmy.com/, there are a few rhetoric devices that quickly draw the attention of a viewer. First off, there are few colors on the page to begin with and because of that, the red draws your eyes only to the most important words or images. The rest of the page is very bland and doesn't seem too appealing, at least color wise, to the common eye. Near the bottom of the page, there is a congratulatory notice to draw the attention of the reader to see the 'newest hero' which is implies that they are trying to get the audience to join too. This kind of message influences or tries to influence more people to join by indirectly stating that 'you can also be like this'. The layout is also very full and informative. To a reader, it could look like a lot of information that one wouldn't exactly want to read, but with that, the website designers did post up important information in bolded words. They also stated the amount of players on the web. To any gamer, the more gamers there are, the more challenge one would have.
The other website, http://events.americasarmy.com/, lists the events going on that support the game. The layout is very simple, which makes the words pop out to a reader. There is a 'sign-up' button that is constantly swelling and going back down. The ad for their t-shirts is white and completely sticks out of the page.


2. The intended audience is ranged from ages 20 - early 30s. As a game, it draws the attention to a percentage of gamers who are guys. The website effectively, at least in the sense of putting myself into their 'suggested audience', is appealing because of the layout. The rhetoric appeal is mostly in the graphics as listed above in question one.


3. In a sense, I agree with Boyle because it is true how the game indoctrinates the ideology of war by making it very realistic. These war games do help, perhaps not physically, but definitely emotionally and make these men think quick on their feet.
The media portrays the Iraq War in a way that it is completely violent as if the US has no complete tactic.


4.First off, everyone is a different person and responds differently to certain situations. This video game can possibly influence the mind of an individual to be more aggressive or violent, but rarely do teens go out and even think about doing these kinds of actions in real life. As said in one of the articles, one needs to escape into a fantasy world or a realistic world which isn't so real. This game is a real war game and does put a person through what would go on in war, at least in the mental sense. Most people would take this game as just a game. There are a few people out there who aren't exactly straight or going in the right path in their mind and end up like the people who are shooters. I don't believe we can control that. A person chooses what they do even though we try to prevent it. It also depends on their mental state of mind from how they grew up. As long as violence isn't introduced at such a young age where it completely influences and takes over the mind of a child, it shouldn't be too bad. I'll wonder off into that subject by saying that perhaps there is a certain age where children are heavily influenced and if something such as a violent video game is introduced to them at that age, they can 'be like the game'.