PWR 1AGA: The Rhetoric of TV Criticism

What is television? A technological medium? A cultural form? An assortment of audiovisual texts? All three, and more? In October 2025, journalist Derek Thompson argued that digital media was converging, and that it was all “turning into television,” resulting in “one thing: the continuous flow of episodic video.”  Reading and writing about television’s essential narrative mode – the series – empowers us to understand and critique its multiple meanings and widespread effects. Across scenes, episodes, and seasons, viewers worldwide follow storylines in a multitude of fictional worlds. Comedies and dramas alike encourage and reward continual involvement, whether that is rewatching classics such as Star Trek and The Office with family and friends, indulging in two-day binges of the newest Black Mirror, or committing to multi-year waits between seasons, as with Severance and Andor. Television shows not only amuse, soothe, and excite viewers, but also bore, frustrate, and disappoint them, depending on what’s happening onscreen, from intense shockers such as Squid Game and The Last of Us to satirical social criticism such as The White Lotus and Succession.

In this writing and research course, you’ll choose one narrative television series for your research project. With this in-depth study, you’ll develop skills in descriptive and analytical writing, informed by your engagement with academic frameworks and arguments. Television criticism provides insightful perspectives on the plots, settings, genres, themes, and meanings of specific shows, and conceptualizes creative, industrial, and technological practices across broadcast television, cable television, and streaming platforms.  Research topics focusing on one series could include an examination of: narrative structure; adaptation; themes and symbolism; ideology and politics; stars and celebrity; fan cultures; genre hybridity; show runners-as-authors; remakes, reboots, and spinoffs; viewing practices; critical reception.

PWR 1 Assignment Sequence

Rhetorical Assignment

(1200-1500 words: 4-5 pages): With the RA, you’ll analyze the rhetoric of a written article or video analysis of the TV series you plan to work on for the course. You’ll consider how the writer makes an argument about this series, why they make the argument the way they do, and what this reveals and reflects about their position in relation to the TV series and the broader cultural context. This assignment is designed to introduce you to strategies writers employ in their argumentation and the complexities of rhetorical situations.

Texts in Conversation

(1800-2400 words; 6-8 pages): With the TIC assignment, you’ll compare and contrast academic texts with one another. Depending on the series and the direction of your research, these texts could directly focus on your TV series or engage with concepts and theories you’ll be using in your research project. You’ll examine how different writers make their arguments, analyze important conceptual, theoretical, and methodological differences, and explain why the writers overlap and diverge. The TIC assignment will enable you to develop your understanding and practice of research, establishing a foundation for your work in the RBA assignment.

Research-Based Argument

(3000-3600 words; 10-12 pages): With the RBA assignment, you will develop and compose a research-based argument about your TV series, informed by the conversation you mapped in the TIC. The RBA will feature a sustained, close analysis of one representative episode, which will support and illustrate your broader argument about a specific aspect of the series.