CHAPTER 16 / PRACTICE TEST 3 753
The following essay received 4 points out of a possible 6, meaning that it demonstrates adequate compe-
tencein that it- develops a point of view on the topic
- demonstrates some critical thinking, but perhaps not consistently
- uses some examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its thesis, but perhaps not adequately
- shows a general organization and focus, but shows occasional lapses in this regard
- demonstrates adequate but occasionally inconsistent facility with language
- contains occasional errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics
the children. It is perhaps the video game violence and
television/movie violence that can be held responsible.
Kids today are growing up in a society where vio-
lence is everywhere. It is difficult for a child to go
through the day without witnessing some violent act
on TV or hearing about a gruesome murder on the
radio. A recent study we learned about in class con-
cluded that because of what they see on television,
children become immune to violence, accept it as
something that is part of a “normal” life, and they
often times will attempt to imitate what they see on
television because it “looks fun.”
Something needs to be done to reverse this trend
of growing violence in our country and tighter regu-
lation of the amount of violence on television, in music,
and in the movies would be a great place to start. The
youth of this country need to be reminded that vio-
lence is not an acceptable part of daily existence and
that it should be avoided at all costs.People say that society today is much more violent due
to all of the media portrayal of violence we see on a
daily basis. The nightly news is often made up entirely
of stories about murders, muggings, arson, and other
gruesome crimes. The most successful shows on tele-
vision are the investigative crime shows in which they
solve disturbing murder mysteries. Movies like the
Lord of the Rings contain gory fight scenes that show
the death of hundreds of characters. It’s hard even to
find a video game anymore that doesn’t somehow re-
late back to fighting.
Those who don’t believe that violence breeds vio-
lence would argue that the United States murder rate
had declined to its lowest level in 30 years and that this
is proof that the violence in the media has not in fact
made for a more violent society. But what they conve-
niently leave out is the fact that at the same time,
youth gun killings were on the rise. This is who is
being affected by the increased exposure to violence—