Pick a documentary from our TCC Streaming library, Frontline Video, or an approved video from Netflix/Amazon/YouTube. You CANNOT watch a documentary focused on celebrities, crime, history, etc. The documentary you choose must be an hour in length, and there should be an attempt from the filmmaker to persuade the audience about the topic covered. Your essay will analyze the logical, emotional, and ethical appeals of this documentary. You will have to stop the video and write down names of experts, witnesses, and the journalists covering the story. The more specific you are, the better your essay will be.
Your introduction should cover the overall theme/argument of the documentary. You should have a thesis statement. The body of the essay should primarily discuss the logical and emotional appeals. You can also briefly cover the ethical appeal of the filmmaker. If you see any logical fallacies, you can point these out. Here is a reminder of logical appeals and logical fallacies. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/establishing_arguments/rhetorical_strategies.html Links to an external site.
Your essay should be 1,100 to 1,450 words. Cut out all phrases like, “I’m going to tell you about…” Make sure you cover the main topics of the film and address why certain logical and emotional appeals are successful or unsuccessful. Your conclusion can recommend an action or it can simply sum up the paper creatively. You can use up to three sources to back up or counter the film’s main points. You might also want to bring updated information since the film may have been made in the past. You can choose not to use any sources and simply evaluate the appeals made in the film.
If you want to choose a film NOT related to climate awareness, here are some possibilities from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and YouTube:
Free on YouTube: BBC Documentary – Hyper Evolution : Rise Of The Robots (Part 1) – YouTube
Where to Invade Next–Michael Moore, Heal (2017), The Game Changers (2018), Crip Camp (2020), Social Dilemma (2020), End Game (2018), Rotten (2017), American Factory (2019) A User’s Guide to Cheating Death (2017), Heroin(e) (2017), Forks and Knives (2011), Icarus (2017), The Truth about Alcohol (2016), Unrest (2017), Cooked (2016), In Defense of Food, After Innocence (2005), 13th (2016), Reversing Roe, This Changes Everything, Thin, Generation Wealth, etc.
If you want to choose a film related to climate awareness, here are some possibilities from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and YouTube: Some documentaries to consider are Seaconspiracy (2021), Blackfish, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014), Kiss the Ground, Mission Blue, Breaking Boundaries, Youth v. Gov. (2020), Before the Flood, The True Cost, Extinction: The Facts, Tomorrow, An Inconvenient Truth Sequel.
You can also pick any documentary from Frontline which is close to an hour or over an hour. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentaries/
You can review any of the episodes after episode #101 from The Years of Living Dangerously. We watched episode #1 in class. This documentary series examines climate change and how to move beyond polarizing discussions. Here is a free link to all the episodes in season #1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHsR4XNCoQw&list=PLmB1tUgTXBEpRhv9QuUf9NAKnU6Jsi1g5.
Here is a free link to Frontline’s documentary titled “The Power of Big Oil: Part I (Denial) https://www.pbs.org/video/the-power-of-big-oil-part-one-denial-redxh6/.
Here is a free link to a film titled, “Our Planet”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTQ3Ko9ZKg8.
Here is a free link to a film titled Living the Change: Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Futurehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq9sg397ee8.
Here is a free link to film titled, “A Simpler Way: Crisis as an Opportunity” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUwLAvfBCzw.
Here is a free link to a film titled, “Living in a Time of Dying” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UftuDAkwM3I.
