Historical, sociological, or dramatistical methodologies can be used to study social movements; however, the dramatistical approach is most useful in a course on the rhetoric of the gay liberation. More suited to examining a completed period, the historical approach has difficulty capturing a contemporary movement. Sociological methodology, which concentrates on leaders' rhetorical strategies, cannot accurately reflect the nonleader-centered gay liberation movement. The dramatistical approach, however, which depends on the idea of conflict with an oppressor, permits the class to examine the movement from a number of perspectives. Using the dramatistical approach, students can investigate the rhetorical strategies used in writing by gay rights activists, discover how the movement goaded established authority into a counter movement, and study the role of the devil figure, a concrete symbol of threats to moral enlightenment such as Anita Bryant, in uniting the gay and lesbian community and generating public sympathy. (MM)