I need help finding some books (about video game ratings and about stereotypes)

[SnoringFrog]

Recently, I had to choose topics for a persuasive speech. Due to some annoying qualifications that seemed harder to meet than they should have been (topic must be current, affect me daily, and not a "typical" topic), I got stuck with only two of my 5 topics being approved. Now that we've picked topics and such, our teacher decides to tell us some of the information we'll be needing (which would have changed my topic choices ahead of time:mutter:). Pretty soon I'll have to have some info on notecards, but that can come from online or books, so that's not too hard to find. However, I've also got to find two books that have info pertaining to my topic, and since we had to choose topics that weren't "typical", they're not the most written about topics. So I'm in a bind. I have two topics I can pick from, and I need to be able to find books (that my library or Books a Million/Barnes and Noble carry IN STOCK, because I highly doubt I'll be able to order them in time) for one of them. Here are my two topics:

"The ESRB's rating system for video games needs to be less vague." - This one I have speech material on already, but no books. I don't know of any online sources right off either (I'll need a few of those in the next couple days too, but those are easier to find), but the books are the hard part. Once I get this speech started, I've got an old essay of mine on the subject that'll help make content easier to think up. The book doesn't have to be directly about the topic; anything that mentions that the rating system is vague would be good enough. It's even better if it cites a problem caused by that.

"Presenting and believing stereotypes pushes people to fill them." - I feel more strongly about this one, but have less material prewritten. I have no books or online sources for this yet. Again, they don't have to be specifically about that topic, just need to mention it. A biography where the person felt pushed to live to fit a stereotype, or a psychology book that mentions this sort of thing. Anything like that works, I just don't know how exactly to search for something like that.

Any titles of books I could use would be amazing. Suggestions on how to locate books that would help or ideas on other ways to narrow the focus to something more easily found in a book would be great as well.

Alternately, if anyone has ideas for better topics that I could probably do better with that I think my teacher will accept, I think I could take the hit on my grade from having to skip the h/w that's due tomorrow (don't need sources for that, but do have to decide on a topic for sure) in order to have an easier process overall.

Thank you very much for any help you can give.

[Nate]

I'd help you on the first one but the problem is that the ESRB's ratings are pretty clear-cut and leave little room for vagueness. In fact, recently the ESRB was taken to task for content description on the Dead or Alive game for PSP where they put too much information. Combined with stuff like Penny Arcade's ad campaign (although they didn't do one for the AO rating but there aren't really many AO games so it hardly matters) and the ESRB is pretty much at the top of their game (and honestly they HAVE to be, if the government thought for one second that the ratings were too vague or the ESRB was ineffective they'd disband it and create a government-controlled ratings board).

The second one, I can't really help with. I think it's a great topic, no doubt, and it would be fantastic to do a presentation on...but you're right, I can't think of very many books or articles about it off the top of my head. I'll see if I can dig around though and maybe find something.

[SnoringFrog]

I'd help you on the first one but the problem is that the ESRB's ratings are pretty clear-cut and leave little room for vagueness. In fact, recently the ESRB was taken to task for content description on the Dead or Alive game for PSP where they put too much information. Combined with stuff like Penny Arcade's ad campaign (although they didn't do one for the AO rating but there aren't really many AO games so it hardly matters) and the ESRB is pretty much at the top of their game (and honestly they HAVE to be, if the government thought for one second that the ratings were too vague or the ESRB was ineffective they'd disband it and create a government-controlled ratings board).

The second one, I can't really help with. I think it's a great topic, no doubt, and it would be fantastic to do a presentation on...but you're right, I can't think of very many books or articles about it off the top of my head. I'll see if I can dig around though and maybe find something.

I was moreso referring to just the content descriptors on the back of the boxes. That's really all I ever check (I only just found out you can find full-length descriptions from the ESRB). But even so, I think I'd have to rework the topic into something else to make it workable anymore. Oh well. I wouldn't have minded arguing it even if I am starting to see the other side of it, but it doesn't matter, I ended up having to decide on the stereotype one anyways. Im' currently digging through way too many articles looking for stuff worth taking notes on so I can get to my other homework.