Thursday, February 16, 2017

Documentary Impact on Writing

   Documentaries work as great tools in teaching rhetorical knowledge and skill, they are considered rhetoric as well as informational.  Rhetorical materials consist of an ability to persuade or motivate and use language to leave an effective impression upon a group, this is exactly what a documentary attempts to do.  Analyzing a film's purpose, focusing on the director's intended influence on the audience, uncovering strategies and organization, and unveiling the mood, tone, and bias, helps a writer learns how to study rhetorical material as well as use it for their own writing.    

   Working with a documentary can help frame an understanding of exploring good questions and problems by focusing on specific ideas, concepts, or topics that are important in the film.  Training the mind to cover a distinct topic will prevent loading information into a paper may either cover a broad idea or not have any focus at all.  Good questions and problems about a documentary can be discussed in depth and investigated thoroughly; precise evidence, assumptions, reflection, or opinions regarding the questions and problems provide an exact focus for a paper and shows a writer's true understanding of the material at hand.


   There is great value for using a documentary as a tool to teach writing; a film has a story perceived differently by every individual in its audience because of its numerous perspectives and angles.  A writer can reflect heavily on the film or of oneself and provide authentic ideas and opinions that can be expressed in their writing.  Because of its different elements that creates a documentary, it allows various routes of writing styles from one single source and helps expand writing techniques such as a summary, rhetorical, critical, or objective analysis.


   Overall, a documentary can help expand the mind of a writer and forces them to think and write critically about what they watched.  

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