Under the Main Essays tab, you will find two documentaries about Walmart that were created in 2005. Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices (2005) takes the position that Walmart is a destructive influence on our society by causing small businesses to close, paying workers insufficient wages, not providing them with proper benefits, abuses international workers, etc. Why Walmart Works and Why that Drives People Crazy (2005) takes the position that charges against Walmart are unfair, that businesses that fail are outdated and are replaced by better businesses, workers are well paid and have good insurance, and that international works are treated fairly and have better jobs than they would without Walmart. In our study of how media persuades others, we have looked at how public service announcements used ethos, pathos, logos, visual and sound techniques to put forward an argument on some important issue like drinking and driving, smoking, texting and driving, using drugs, etc. In this paper you will be looking at both sides of an issue through one of the arguments shared by both documentaries.

For this essay, you will take one argument shared by both documentaries, evaluate the techniques used on each side, and then offer your opinion about which documentary presented the better argument. While both documentaries have many arguments, only a small number are covered in both documentaries. The arguments covered by both documentaries are:

Impact on Small Businesses

Wages

Insurance

Impact on International Workers

Walmart Greed/Generosity

I want you to watch both documentaries, which are available under the “Main Essays” tab and choose one of these topics to write about. Below you will find the time codes for the matching sections in the two documentaries.

Walmart’s Impact on Small Businesses

0:00-15:35 Walmart’s Negative Impact on Small Businesses. Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices.

27:52-37:27 “Mom and Pop” Why Walmart Works.

Wages of Employees

15.11-18:04 Walmart employees are not paid enough. Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices.

40:45-47.22 “Wages” Why Walmart Works

Insurance

18:15-25:00 Walmart does not provide adequate insurance. Walmart: the High Cost of Low Prices

20:27-27:48 “Healthcare” Why Walmart Works

Impact on International Workers

1:00:13- 1:11:57 Walmart treats international workers unfairly. Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices

16:16-20:25 “Globalization” Why Walmart Works

You will choose one, and only one of these arguments and watch how each documentary presents and defends their position on that one issue. If you choose to look at worker’s wages, you will watch both the Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices documentary on worker’s wages and then watch the Why Walmart Works and Why that Drives People Crazy documentary on worker’s wages. Do not go beyond the time code ranges I have given you. Some people get confused and don’t know what sections match, some evaluate the whole documentary, and I want to make sure you understand you are just looking both sides of one argument.

The paper itself will be fairly simple, and it will use a lot of the same techniques as Paper Two: Argument in Public Service Announcements. Below is the general organization of the paper:

Introduction

The reader knows nothing about these two documentaries, so in the introduction you will identify the two documentaries, say when they were made, and explain what the position of each documentary is on Walmart. You will then mention that both documentaries address a particular argument and you will explain that they each use different techniques like ethos, pathos, logos and visual and sound techniques to convince their audience they are right. Write it as if it was going to be published and the people don’t know anything about it.

Analysis of Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices on the argument you have chosen

You will then turn to the first documentary, Walmart the High Cost of Low Prices and explain to the reader generally what happens in the section on your argument. Write about what kind of experts or people appear, what kind of topics are covered. Just give the reader a clear idea of what happens in that section of the documentary.

Next, evaluate ethos and how it used by the filmmakers to help them persuade the audience. In documentaries, who made it is not as important as it was for the public service announcements. Your main source of ethos will be experts and people impacted by Walmart, positively and negatively. There are no celebrities in these documentaries, so that won’t be an issue.

Next, evaluate Pathos as it is used in the Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices. This will be anything used to stir the viewer’s emotions and manipulate them into feeling sad or angry or some other emotion that can draw in the viewer and get them to care about the issues.

Next, evaluate Logos. You will be giving facts from the experts and you will sometimes see facts shown on screen. There will be logical arguments presented by people in the documentary.

Next evaluate Visual Techniques. How was the camera used to more effectively communicate information or to impact the audience emotionally? Did the film maker use black and white or show the audience certain things to persuade them? One visual theme that runs through the first documentary are shots of the American flag. Why are they doing that?

Finally, evaluate Sound Techniques. How is music used to impact the audience? How are sound effects used? How is the audience being manipulated by the music or sound to persuade the viewer that their argument is right.

Evaluate Why Walmart Works and Why that Drives People Crazy on the argument you have chosen

You will now do the exact same thing with the answering argument from the second documentary. If you looked at Impact on Small Businesses in the first documentary, you are now evaluating Impact on Small Businesses in the second documentary.

You will then turn to the second documentary, Why Walmart Works and Why Does that Drive People Crazy and explain to the reader generally what happens in the section on your argument. Write about what kind of experts or people appear, what kind of topics are covered. Just give the reader a clear idea of what happens in that section of the documentary.

Next, evaluate ethos and how it used by the filmmakers to help them persuade the audience. In documentaries, who made it is not as important as it was for the public service announcements. Your main source of ethos will be experts and people impacted by Walmart, positively and negatively. There are no celebrities in these documentaries, so that won’t be an issue. This documentary has A LOT of experts.

Next, evaluate Pathos as it is used in the Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices. This will be anything used to stir the viewer’s emotions and manipulate them into feeling sad or angry or some other emotion that can draw in the viewer and get them to care about the issues.

Next, evaluate Logos. You will be giving facts from the experts and you will sometimes see facts shown on screen or by the narrator. There will be logical arguments presented by people in the documentary.

Next evaluate Visual Techniques. How was the camera used to more effectively communicate information or to impact the audience emotionally? Did the film maker use black and white or show the audience certain things to persuade them? This documentary is a bit less flashy than the first, but it still uses visual techniques.

Finally, evaluate Sound Techniques. How is music used to impact the audience? How are sound effects used? How is the audience being manipulated by the music or sound to persuade the viewer that their argument is right.

Conclusion

In the conclusion, you need to explain which documentary you think did a better job on the one argument you are evaluating. Which one was more convincing and used the above techniques best? You may have your own opinion on Walmart, and you can share that a little, but this is mostly about who you think presented their case more effectively. You may disagree with a documentary but think they did the best job making their case.

This is a long handout, and the paper will be the longest of the course. It should run to five to seven pages. .

You will not need a Works Cited page for this essay. Since I am providing the two documentaries, I know where you are getting your information. You cannot use any other sources in this paper. Like Paper Two, this is just you, alone, evaluating the techniques used in the two documentaries

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1 day ago