Title: Teaching the Theatre of Argument in Fahrenheit 9/11
Abstract: Because Roger and Me, Bowling for Columbine, and Fahrenheit 9/11 make strong claims supported by personal interviews, news footage, and statistical evidence, a number of secondary and college instructors teach Michael Moore’s films as arguments. In fact, the director has created an on-line Teacher’s Guide to facilitate class discussion of his films. Nonetheless, Moore’s signature blend of humor, provocation, and allegation has an uneasy relation to academic discourse. When I explained to a fellow conference participant that I taught Fahrenheit 9/11 in a composition course focused on researched argument, for instance, she replied that this must have been “fun” for the students. Other colleagues have asked me pointedly why I do not teach more serious and “objective” political documentaries. Administrators at a community college in Salisbury, North Carolina, actually pulled instructor Davis March from his English composition classroom for showing the movie to his students, which administrators claim violated the school’s policy that staff members remain nonpartisan during election season. For these critics, Moore is a populist and provocateur who plays so fast and loose with argumentative principles that his work has no place within the classroom. I would reply that it is precisely Moore’s unsettling blend of argument and entertainment, solemnity and humor, which creates a useful standpoint from which to examine the kinds of rhetorical strategies so often discussed in composition
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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