Mastery of Appeals
Which option best describes the move when McGonigal converts weekly playtime into a “part-time job”?
A) Emotional anecdote
B) Historical comparison
C) Statistical framing/equivalence
D) Definition by negation
C — “What is statistical framing/equivalence?”
The author of "Reality is Broken".
Who is Jane McGonigal?
Which claim does McGonigal most directly make about real life versus games?
A) Reality is safer than games
B) Reality, compared to games, is broken
C) Reality is identical to games
D) Reality only feels broken to teens
B — “What is ‘Reality, compared to games, is broken’?”
“This sentence means exactly what it says: ‘The thermometer reads 32°F.’”
What is literal language?
Accept “literal statement.”
Which option best defines a claim in argument writing?
A) The main point the writer wants the audience to accept
B) A list of background facts with no opinion
C) A quote used only for decoration
D) The final sentence of any paragraph
What is A — claim
Scale
Why does McGonigal list national and regional gamer totals (e.g., U.S. and global counts)?
A) To prove surveys are biased
B) To demonstrate the scope/scale of participation
C) To compare consoles to mobile
D) To predict future hardware sales
B — “What is to demonstrate the scope/scale of participation?”
A set of reasons or evidence put forward to oppose an idea or theory developed in another argument.
What is a counterargument?
Why does McGonigal include U.S. and global gamer totals?
A) To argue surveys are unreliable
B) To compare consoles vs. PC
C) To demonstrate the scale of participation
D) To prove games are a temporary fad
C — “What is to demonstrate the scale of participation?”
“This sentence is not meant to be taken exactly: ‘My backpack weighs a ton.’”
What is figurative language?
Which option best defines evidence?
A) Facts, examples, statistics, or quotations used to support a claim
B) The writer’s feelings about the topic
C) The title and subheadings of an article
D) A prediction about the future
What is A — evidence?
Contrast/Pivot
Which line most clearly signals a pivot away from praising games toward critiquing reality?
A) “Gamers have had enough of reality.”
B) “Carefully designed pleasures and powerful social bonding…”
C) “Reality doesn’t motivate us effectively… isn’t engineered to maximize our potential.”
D) “Maybe this sounds hard to believe.”
C — “What is ‘Reality doesn’t motivate us…’ (the contrast/pivot)?”
The author allows that some of what the opposing argument is claiming is true.
Then, in the rebuttal, the author refutes the rest of the opposing argument.
What is a concession and rebuttal?
Identify the rhetorical move in this line: “twenty-two hours a week … the equivalent of a part-time job.”
A) Emotional appeal
B) Historical allusion
C) Statistical framing / equivalence
D) Definition by negation
C — “What is statistical framing/equivalence?”
“Name the figurative device: ‘The storm punched the coastline.’”
What is personification?
Which option best defines a rhetorical move?
A) A deliberate technique (e.g., contrast, analogy, statistical framing) used to shape reader response
B) A random sentence added for variety
C) A grammar rule about commas
D) A plot twist in a short story
What is A — rhetorical move?
Definition
When McGonigal clarifies what games provide (e.g., structured challenge, feedback, bonding), which rhetorical purpose is she most directly serving?
A) Refutation
B) Operational definition (defining by features/functions)
C) Cause/effect
D) Analogy
B — “What is operational definition?”
The two opposing parties that McGonigal talks about in the excerpt.
How does the text describe public reaction to gaming’s rapid growth?
A) Completely positive among educators
B) Ignored by policymakers
C) Met with alarm by some and eagerness by others
D) Treated as a national emergency requiring bans
C — “What is alarm by some and eagerness by others?”
“Choose the literal revision of this line: ‘Her words were a dagger.’”
A) Her words literally cut skin.
B) Her words felt painfully sharp.
C) Her words caused emotional harm.
D) Her words were harsh and hurtful.
What is D?
Which option best defines contrast/pivot in argument?
A) Repeating the same word for emphasis
B) Listing three unrelated examples
C) A shift that highlights a difference or turns from one idea to another
D) Adding a footnote for a source
What is C — contrast/pivot
Audience Effect
What audience effect is most likely when readers meet the “part-time job” equivalence?
A) They dismiss gaming as childish.
B) They reclassify gaming as serious, sustained commitment.
C) They fear games will replace school.
D) They assume all gamers are professionals.
B — “What is reclassifying gaming as serious, sustained commitment?”
According to McGonigal, this is the opposing parties view of gaming?
What is a waste of time?
Which historical example does McGonigal use to frame purposeful escape through games?
A) Roman gladiators
B) Medieval tournaments
C) Herodotus’s account of the Lydians during a famine
D) Renaissance chess guilds
C — “What is Herodotus’s account of the Lydians during a famine?”
You read a graph: game time = 22 hours/week; labeled “equivalent to a part-time job.”
“Write one observation and one inference from the graph.”
Observation: What is “the graph shows 22 hours/week labeled as ‘equivalent to a part-time job’”?
Inference: What is “the author is framing gaming time as serious commitment”?
Which option best defines scale in an argument about a phenomenon?
A) The moral or lesson of the text
B) The cause that started everything
C) The size/scope of participation or impact (totals, rates, reach)
D) The order of events from first to last
What is C-Scale?