Rhetorical Analysis Of Gaming For Understanding By Brenda Romero

In general, people tend to shy away from teaching children about difficult times in history such as the Middle Passage, the Trail of Tears, and the Holocaust. This is understandable since they are children and tend to have other interests like playing games with their friends. What if one could combine education of these difficult topics with the allure of a kid friendly game? Brenda Romero did just that. In her Ted Talk, “Gaming for Understanding,” Romero mentions that she has been making all sorts of games since she was fifteen. However, recently she has been focusing on games with education and history. Romero shares personal stories about her family history and why it is important to her that her daughter understands what she has been taught

In the first 12 seconds, she uses pathos when talking in general about “when we think of games” and what comes to mind (00:12- 00:59). This way she appeals to her whole audience because everyone either has partaken in, heard of, or watched games being played. She also uses humor several times in the beginning when talking about how her mother cried at the end of Monopoly and how the Boston Red Sox won the world series after “351 years” (01:29). Later in the Ted Talk, she talks about her experience in game building. This establishes credibility with ethos. The seemingly off topic stories she tells meticulously set up her argument; education through games can be revolutionary and effective. Romero does not use logos once in her argument. However, if she had chosen to rely on logos instead of ethos and pathos, she would not have been as successful in catching and holding the audience’s

Romero heavily relies on the use of ethos and pathos to connect with and draw in her audience. This approach works to get her creative idea across; However, her message could be taken more seriously if she incorporates some sort of logos. For example, she could share the number of sales that some of her educational games have reached. This implies how feasible this idea is in being successful. Her confidence shows when talking about the educational games that she’s created. However, the audience would be more convinced by her success in creating these games if she disclosed the number of educational games that she has sold.
At first, it isn’t clear how Brenda’s topic pertains to a global issue. However, her strategic organization works in her favor. In the beginning, she catches the audience’s attention with her story telling and humor. They are intrigued by her style of presenting the issue of education as something that can be fun. Her approach is lighthearted. Romero revolutionizes the idea of education to be less cookie cutter. First, she gets the audience to connect with their individual, fun memories from playing games. Then, she introduces education as an aspect of these