Rhetoric of Documentary Films

Through studying a variety of critically acclaimed documentary films, this course will develop students' understanding of the rhetorical dimensions of documentary films and prepare them for documentary filmmaking and media journalism. The course will engage students in a critical exploration of the rhetoric of documentary films by examining issues such as image icons and ideology, narrative and discourse, voices and authority, audience and rhetorical situation. Course assignments will include rhetorical criticism of documentary films as well as research and proposal writing for a short documentary film. (lec 4) cr 3. Crosslisted with FILM 2826.