“Documentary” is genre that defines a
broad category of writing: film, essay, biography, memoir, poetry, and
television. The point of this genre is to document some aspect of reality—however,
the boundaries of reality are up for discussion, as you will discover as we use
this genre to investigate our own writerly intentions and concerns. In this
course we will look at documentary as a type of “literature” in order to
discuss the art of composition and rhetoric. It is within the boundaries of “Documentary
& Lifestyle” that you will write papers that exhibit your understanding of
writing at the college level. In this course we will focus on the various
choices writers make, and how those choices relate to that particular writer’s
goals and audience. ENG190 will prepare you for the writing and the critical
thinking you will be engaged in at the university, and beyond.
All texts and films in this course will
be provided. To take this course you must have easy access to the Internet, as
we will be working on a blog. This is a writing intensive course—you will have
four major papers and smaller writing assignments that are designed to help you
with the composing process, search strategies, and writing from sources.