Assignment Author
Kristin DorseyContext of Assignment
Final assignment in the course Rhetoric of Documentary. The assignment itself is divided into stages: 1) topic and research questions, 2) annotated research bibliography, 3) a proposal first draft/peer review, and 4) second draft of proposal and annotations.
Could be a multimedia assignment (videos instead of papers).
Pedagogical Goals of the Assignment
Research component. Annotation. Proposal argument. Creative approaches to audience. Engagement with course content (in this case, documentary).
Assignment Description
"Your final project for this class will be informed both by your research and your imagination. Imagine: you are given an unlimited amount of money, manpower, and time with which to create your own documentary. However, you have been asked by your benefactor to write a proposal for the film you intend to make, and to provide examples of the kind of research and archival materials of which you will make use. You will use the format of an academic proposal argument. That is to say, you will identify a specific problem (in this case, the need for the kind of film you are proposing), describe a solution (describe the film you want to make), and then justify the necessity of your solution to the problem and explain why it is the best course of action. In other words, argue that your film is the film to be made on the subject."