Choose one section of a documentary and identify the rhetorical situation.

what is the rhetorical situation (of the overall documentary and not just the section)? is there a different rhetorical situation of the section you have chosen?

what are the reasons behind the documentary being filmed? is there a war? a race riot? is there any historical event or context influencing the reasons or composition of the documentary?

who are the people being interviewed? who are the narrators of the documentary? how do they establish their credibility or their ethos? is the narrator known from other previous works? what is the narrator’s reputation? what is the director’s reputation? do all the people in the documentary seem credible, knowledgeable, and objective in their discussions?

what is the purpose of the documentary (section)? to teach? entertain? persuade? inform? do you notice a time when the documentary attacks another person’s position? are they defending a position? are they urging change to occur?

who is the target audience? what are the values the target audience may share with the documentary? are there audiences that may not share these values? are there assumptions the author makes about the audience? what are the effects of these assumptions?