Rhetorical Analysis of a Documentary Film

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Rhetorical Analysis of a Documentary Film: The Machine that Made Us
The rhetoric that is mostly applied by Fry in the documentary “The Machine that
made us” is the use of anecdotes. There are several instances in the documentary where
the anecdote is significantly employed (Fogg 168). The anecdotes are used to describe the
diverse situations that took place before and after the invention of the printing press. The
anecdotes that are used by Fry are used to be able to provide the background information
and also establish an informal and personal relationship between the viewers and the
documentary. The anecdotes that are used are also used to be able to capture the
imaginations of the different people who are found in the audience of the film. Stephen
Fry and the documentary present the idea of the printing press as a revolutionary idea and
invention as a rather linear story. There are no jumps between time periods, but instead
the audience follows Stephen through a step by step process, in which he demonstrates
the power of the press. Fry did not indicate the construction of the machine as this would
greatly be boring to the audience. The history of the printing press is shown especially the
evolutions that have taken place over the years. The invention of the printing press has
made it easy to be able to disseminate the desirable knowledge and information.
Throughout human civilization, man has always been a quest for knowledge. It doesn’t
matter how educated an individual or their background, as they are always going to have
questions regarding how something works. It is simply human nature, and as Stephen Fry 
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indicates, the print press and subsequently the books that come out of it, did help fuel this
drive and passion of individuals.
It is important for Stephen to demonstrate the actual construction of the print
press though. For the audience to understand exactly what the print press meant, it is
essential for them to see exactly what it takes to build such a device (Kostelnick 2). By
simply looking at a print press, it doesn’t look like much at all. An individual without the
basic understanding of the tools available at the time probably wouldn’t have thought of
much of anything when looking at the object. After all, as the introduction of the
documentary shows off, even modern children’s toys are able to do exactly what the print
press did. However, by viewing the construction demonstration, it becomes possible to
actually understand how much work it took to produce the print press and the overall
genius of Guttenberg.
Fry also makes use of contrasts to be able to bring to the fore the ideas that he
want to communicate to the different people. There are many different inventions over
the ages that have drastically gone on to improve human life significantly for the better.
However, very few have had as much of an influence as the book and the print press.
Every invention comes from a previous invention, and almost all modern inventions
today are able to draw directly on the importance of the book and the print press. With
the introduction and demonstration of Stephen Fry, it is that much more possible for the
audience to comprehend the sheer brilliance of the invention and what it truly means for
every individual currently and in the future living on the planet (Perelman 5). The
different technologies are significantly contrasted and this clearly shows the important
role that the new technology that was developed plays. 
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Sir Rowland Hill and his significance to the topic
Sir Rowland Hill was born in Worcestershire, England in 1795. He was a British
educator and administrator. He is important and relevant to the communication in history
due to the fact that he was the originator of the penny postage as well as the postal
service which was later adopted by the different countries of the world. Hill made
proposals that were geared towards the reformation of the postal services that were used
in the country. He formulated the proposals between 1835 and 1837 (Crowley, and Heyer
298). The reforms were based on his views that the tax revenues in a country should be
able to increase in tandem with the growth in the population as well as the national
prosperity. Hill made the proposal that lower taxes should be levied on letters as higher
taxes would lead to a reduction in the mail volumes and thus the revenues from the letters
and the mail would be significantly hurt. The other proposals that were made is the
uniform rate for postage for all letters regardless of the distance as diverse rates for letters
going to different locations would lead to an increase in the accounting expenses that are
incurred and finally that all the mail should be prepaid. Hill was responsible for the
invention of the postage stamp.
Montgomery Blair and why is he at all relevant to our topic
Montgomery Blair w