“Five graduate students at West Texas A&M University are presenting their rhetorical analyses Oct. 4 at the 2018 Texas Speech Communication Convention in Corpus Christi.
WTAMU graduate students whose work was accepted for presentation include Kyle Hodyc of Comfort, Bethany Thompson of Amarillo, James Hadnot of Mansfield, Miguel Soto of Friona, and Amanda Brookhart of Hereford.
Hodyc’s research is titled “The Elephant in the Room: An Ideological Criticism of Gran Torino.” Hodyc analyzed the film and categorized two ideologies uncovering the main character’s concept of racism.
Thompson’s research investigates slavery and “how history is consistently alluded to on a daily basis” in her paper, “Twelve Years a Slave: A Narrative Criticism about Slavery and Redemption.” Thompson is excited to “see the different papers presented not only by fellow classmates, but the panels presented by other professors and professionals.”
Hadnot’s research paper, “Paid in Full: A Narrative Critique,” is based on the film Paid in Full, a fictional narrative reflecting the lives of famous drug dealers. The focus of the narrative analysis is to decipher how Stone III achieved his goal of humanizing these men within the film.
Soto’s rhetorical analysis focuses on the Netflix film Bright through the lens of metaphorical criticism. Brookhart’s research paper also applied a metaphorical analysis to the film, American History X.
The students developed these papers as part of the course requirements for the graduate seminar in rhetorical criticism which focuses on how race is portrayed in popular movies. All of the papers will be considered for the Top Paper awarded annually by the Rhetoric and Communication Theory Interest Group.
The Texas Speech Communication Association convention is an annual event that boasts one of the largest memberships of secondary teachers and college communication professors in the nation. Past TSCA presidents include WTAMU communication faculty members Connie McKee and Trudy Hanson. Currently, Carolyn Baum, assistant lecturer in communication, serves as TSCA executive secretary.
For more information, contact Hanson at 806-651-2800 or thanson@wtamu.edu.”
-West Texas A&M University
