13.2: The Classroom Lecture and Activity

Understanding Rhetorical Appeals and Modes

In order to properly evaluate different types of arguments and further understand voice and tone, it is important to understand that while you may be writing a research essay, the sources you find may come from different types of media. It is common to use visual arguments in conjunction with academic articles in order to keep your sources relevant and to have a variety. In this lesson, you will learn how to evaluate and analyze a documentary. Many of you have watched documentaries and may even know of one that you can use in your research essay. In fact, some of you may be inspired to research a certain topic because you watched a documentary. Just like any other source, these visual texts need to be evaluated.

 

VISUAL TEXTS

Documentaries are just one type of visual texts. Poster ads, commercials, photos, and info-graphics are all texts that should be evaluated. The first thing you need to do is to determine if the text is argumentative. This way, you will know if you need to evaluate the argument as well as the general credibility. For instance, a commercial is an argument. It relies heavily on convincing the viewer to buy a product. On the other hand, an info-graphic could be argumentative or informative. Oftentimes, non-profit organizations use large colorful info-graphics with other icons to evoke emotion from the viewer and to establish authority. While a graph created from a study at a university is informational, it would still need to be evaluated to make sure the qualitative or quantitative data is represented correctly.

 

Just like any other source that you might find while doing research, the documentary can be used as a primary source or as a secondary source.  I can be considered primary if your focus is on the director’s work. There is also first-hand footage that is considered primary. However, many documentaries bring a variety of sources and methods together to make a claim. This can render the documentary as a whole to be secondary.

 

Aspects of a Documentary

Director’s Intent is the core of the documentary. This is their main purpose for shooting the film.

To inform: In documentaries that are used to inform, the director is often on the scene filming. The information that is gathered first hand on the film is considered primary. Often times, the director is also a scientist working to collect data. The director and their team sort through the data and produce the stats and facts. 

Examples: National Geographic nature and anthropological documentaries, Disney African Cats 

To persuade: This is what makes documentaries secondary sources. The director has thought about the topic, done research, and reached a claim on the topic. Their claim is embedded into the documentary. They interpret the information and synthesize the sources they find. This can happen when the director is a reporter or advocate. Also, in order to support their argument, they use personal interviews. These interview segments are considered primary information.

Example: Food Inc

 

Things to consider when analyzing a documentary:

Bias:

• Who produced the film?
• How was the film funded?
• Can the media company be checked using Allsides or other evaluation websites?

What does all this information show you about the bias or perspective of the film or film company as a whole?

 

Ethos- Authority 

• Who uploaded the video? Is it the same as the director or production company? Always try to look for the original documentary or double check to see if the version you watched is the same on their website.
• The Director: What do you know about the director? This can include other projects, educational background, or interviews and commentary with them from other sources.
• How is authority established in the film?
• What experts do they choose to interview?

Overall, how effective are all these elements in establishing authority?

 

Reliability

• How does the director use sources?
• What type of primary sources are used?
• Can you fact check the information used in the documentary? How?
• How does editing, sound/music, and images play a role in how the viewer processes the information?
• What about the pace of the film? Does the viewer need to rewatch the important facts to understand them?

Overall, can the viewer rely on the information obtained from the film?

 

Logos

• What is the claim?
• What questions does the director ask?
• How is the claim supported?

Overall, does the argument make sense and does it lack logical fallacies?

 

Pathos

• What does the director/producer want the viewer to feel?
• Were they successful?
• How did they achieve this?
• How does editing, sound/music, and images play a role in how the viewer feels about the information?

Overall, what emotional appeals are being made and how does this affect the way the viewer processes the information?

 

 

Classroom Activity 

In a notebook or on a sheet of paper, copy this chart. As you watch the following short documentaries, write down your reactions for each one.

 

Documentary Analysis Reaction Chart  The purpose of this chart is for you to record any reactions that will help you analyze the effect the rhetorical strategies are having on the audience: you.  THEN, you can compare your reactions to that of the intended audience. Is the documentary persuasive to the intended audience? Does it rely on fallacious content? It is possible that you are not the intended audience.
Rhetorical Strategies	Initial Reactions and Thoughts
Ethos  How is authority established?
Logos  What is the argument? Is it logical?
Pathos  How does the documentary make you feel?
Kairos  How timely is this film in discussing this topic?

 

Now, let's look at three samples of short documentaries on Youtube. For the purposes of this example, we will use the following research question: "How does living in Chicago impact cultural identity, educational opportunities, economic mobility, and food access? How is Chicago politically structured and how have policies shaped the lives of its’ citizens today?"

1. American segregation, mapped at day and night

2. Why Are Cities Still So Segregated? | Let's Talk | NPR

3. The Racist History Of Chicago's Housing Policies [Inside Chicago, Part 1]

Journal Question: Which documentary would you choose? Explain.

 

As you can see, all the documentaries are from completely different news outlets, display the information differently, but discuss the same topic. It's up to you as the researcher to choose the documentary that you feel best answers the question and fits your needs, but you wouldn't need all of the them because you would end up with too much repetition of information.

Finding Documentaries

If you are looking for a documentary to use as a source for your research essay, here are some places that you can look.

Library Database- The library has a wide variety of documentaries available to stream or borrow as a disk. Change the type of database to videos then search. They have Kanopy, Swank, and AVON just to name a few.

You Tube- Remember if you use YouTube, you should make sure it is the official channel of that company.

Vox, DW, BBC, A+J, Vice, NPR, and National Geographic are just a few.

Streaming Service- You can find some quality documentaries on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.

Cable Networks- You can find documentaries on cable channels especially channels dedicated to documentaries and reporting.