The Critical Intersection of Documentary & Journalism: Hell House and Rhetorical Articulation

Abstract

Because of their mutual interest in nonfiction storytelling, documentary and journalism are assumed to be quite similar, which results in confusion and misunderstanding. This article addresses this problem by analyzing the differences between these two forms, demonstrating ways in which documentary can help to articulate journalism, enhancing our literacy in both areas. After an analytic discussion of these differences, an analysis grounded in rhetoric shows how literacies in the two nonfiction forms can illuminate each other. These questions are brought together through a critical rhetorical analysis of the documentary Hell House (2001).