Welcome Welcome to English 319. This course has as its focus a phenomenon very basic and yet incredibly complex: the use of language to affect the world in which we live. When we think of language as action, as having consequences in the world (rather than simply reflecting or representing the world), we are thinking of rhetorical activism. In this class, we'll study the words of ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things with language, people who have had inspiring effects on the ways United States citizens experience civil rights in this country. The signers of the United States Constitution recognized the power of rhetorical activism when they declared freedom of expression the most important right of United States citizens. Susan B. Anthony and dozens of other women spent eight decades using the only power they had, the power of language, to ensure women their right to vote in this country. The persuasive eloquence of Martin Luther King, Jr. changed this nation's consciousness as well as the experience of civil rights for all of its citizens. And although the United States did not ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, people like Shirley Chisholm and Betty Friedan forever altered the expectations and opportunities for women and men in this country. How did these ordinary men and women accomplish extraordinary things by speaking up and speaking out? More broadly, how do people use language to define, reform, and even revolutionize politics and society? That will be our central question as we study texts from several United States civil rights movements: the antislavery, early woman's rights, women's liberation, 1960s Civil Rights, and gay rights movements. This class focuses on rhetorical activism, rather than the history of these civil rights movements. That focus has important consequences, two of which warrant particular attention. First, the texts we'll study have been selected primarily because of the rhetorical principles they illustrate. They are not historically representative of the civil rights movements we're studying. I'll say more about that when I introduce the texts for the course. Second, we will approach the content of the course—the movement texts—as rhetorical critics, rather than as historians. Although we will need to know the circumstances surrounding these texts, we will concentrate on the rhetorical functions of the texts rather than their placement in history. For example, we will concern ourselves with things like the kinds of appeals a rhetor uses, the patterns of arrangement in a text, how a text reflects and/or constitutes its audience, and the figures of speech and other elements of style that emphasize or even demonstrate a text's arguments. At the end of a semester-long history course you might expect to know well the key figures and major ideas of the civil rights movements. On the other hand, at the end of this course—if you participate fully and complete the course requirements successfully—you can expect to understand language as action, rather than representation; rhetorical activism as an indispensable component of civic life; and, in pragmatic and technical (if introductory) ways, how people use language to define, reform, and even revolutionize politics and society.

Texts for the Course Selecting the readings for this class was challenging but fun. The biggest challenge was narrowing the list. There are dozens of texts that belong in a course like this, but because of time constraints and to ensure rhetorical variety, I had to eliminate some really wonderful ones. I believe the final group of readings is interesting and provocative. I hope you will enjoy reading for this class, even if you don't agree with some of the points of view expressed. I already mentioned that I selected texts based on the rhetorical principles they illustrate, rather than the ways they historically represent the antislavery, woman's rights, Civil Rights, women's liberation, or gay rights movements. So, for example, we're not reading about women's reproductive rights when we read from the women's liberation movement, nor are we reading about labor issues within the Civil Rights movement. There simply isn't time. Also, for instance, we're reading more of Stokely Carmichael's rhetorical activism than Malcolm X's, even though Malcolm X was arguably a more popular figure in the Civil Rights movement. But each selection we're reading is on the list for a particular reason, and we'll talk about these reasons during the semester. The readings have been compiled for your convenience and they are being stored at EXCEL, a test preparation and copy center. You may use this set of readings to make a copy for yourself at EXCEL. Their copies cost $.07 per page, with optional additional charges if you want your copies bound or three-whole punched. EXCEL is located at 1117 South University, above the Ulrich's computer and engineering store. Their phone number is 996-1500. If you prefer, I will provide you with a bibliography and you may make copies of the readings on your own. I ask people to refer directly to the texts during discussion. Please bring assigned readings to class so that you can easily and quickly find the passage(s) under consideration. This semester, in response to student evaluations and comments from previous semesters, I have ordered an optional text that may be used as reinforcement for the rhetorical theory we discuss in class. That text, Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee's Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, is on reserve at the undergraduate library. If you would like more information about the rhetorical theory we'll use in this course, please check in with me via email or during office hours. We can talk more about it then, and I will be happy to suggest additional readings in Ancient Rhetorics if that would be useful.

Primary Activities The schedule of assignments includes readings and two exams. In addition, there will be occasional quizzes during the semester. You can replace one quiz grade with an optional critical essay due at the start of class on December 4. Readings I expect you to read all of the texts on the syllabus carefully and come to class ready to talk about your reactions to them. I recommend that you read with a pen in your hand, so you can jot notes or ideas in the margins of your book. I use a color such as blue or red to contrast with the black ink publishers use—that way, I can find my notes easily by paging through the text. Stay away from highlighters: they encourage passive reading, particularly since they cause you simply to mark a passage without writing a note or a thought. I also outline speeches and essays on a separate sheet of paper, especially listing passages which deal with key themes of the course or that seem to have particular significance in the text itself. Imagine how that kind of active reading will help you when you want to make a point in class or on your quizzes or exams. What other kinds of "active reading" strategies work for you? Quizzes There will be several quizzes, usually unannounced, during the semester. These quizzes will help you focus your reading, practice rhetorical analysis, and synthesize and integrate issues important to the rhetorical activism we'll be studying. They will also help you prepare for exams. A missed quiz will result in a grade of zero for that quiz. You may replace your lowest quiz grade with your grade on an optional critical essay due at the start of class on December 4. We will talk more about this optional assignment in class. Exams There will be two exams during the semester. These exams will include sections in which you may be asked to define rhetorical terms, identify and briefly comment on the significance of passages from assigned texts, and write longer responses to questions that ask you to synthesize material from the course. We will talk more about these exams in class. Participation Class participation will be informally but clearly reflected in your quizzes and exams, since these graded activities will benefit from the clarity of thought and expression and the exchange of ideas which classroom activities promote. I expect you to come to each session prepared, with reading assignments completed. I also expect you to be attentive and responsive to other members of this class—your colleagues. This classroom must be one of mutual respect and open exchange. The University's Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities explains that the University of Michigan "is dedicated to supporting and maintaining a scholarly community. As its central purpose, this community promotes intellectual inquiry through vigorous discourse. Values which undergird this purpose include civility, dignity, diversity, education, equality, freedom, honesty, and safety." If you have any questions, please review this Statement at http://www.umich.edu/~oscr/20010701SRR.html or call the Office of Student Conflict Resolution at 936- 6308.

Services for Students with Disabilities If you think you may need an accommodation for any sort of disability, please contact Services for Students with Disabilities (G-625 Haven Hall, 763-3000) and make an appointment to see me during my office hours within the first two weeks of the semester.

Meeting Requirements This class meets three requirements: the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts's Race and Ethnicity requirement and the Department of English Language and Literature's New Traditions and American Literature requirements. LS&A's Race and Ethnicity Requirement Students enrolled in the College of LS&A are required to take a course which meets the college's Race and Ethnicity requirement. As the college's website explains, R&E courses "address issues arising from racial and ethnic intolerance." Because in this course we will consider the influence of racism (as well as sexism and heterosexism) and the ways in which intolerance results in inequality in the United States, and because we will also attend to comparisons of discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors, this class has been approved by the College of LS&A to fulfill its "Race and Ethnicity" requirement. English's New Traditions and American Literature Requirements The Department of English Language and Literature requires English concentrators to successfully complete one course in American Literature and one course designated "New Traditions." According to the department's website, a "course designated 'New Traditions' . . . focus[es] on the cultural traditions of women, minority ethnic groups, and people of color." This course has been identified as one which fulfills these requirements.

Office Hours I will hold office hours throughout the semester. Office hours are an extension of the classroom. You are welcome to come by with questions, comments, and concerns. If you are enjoying a reading and would like to discuss it further, if you are having a problem with something in the course, if you don't understand something, please come and see me.

Communication With Me The most efficient way to get in touch with me outside of class time and office hours is email. During the semester, I usually check my email every weekday—more frequently than I check my campus mailbox for notes. I have an answering machine on my office phone, but I check that only on days when our class meets. Email is by far the best option. I will use email to contact class members in case class is canceled because of snow or some other emergency, or if I want to pass on useful information about the course. I also will post this sort of information on the website for the course, http://www.umich.edu/~alisse/ENGL319f03/index.html. With Your Classmates Your classmates are an integral part of your English 319 experience. I recommend that you introduce yourself to people in this class (you will have opportunities to do so early in the semester), and that you exchange email addresses with several classmates so that you can form study groups, find out what you missed in case of an absence, etc. This email exchange is voluntary, so if someone declines to give you his or her email address, please respect that choice.

Grading Your final grade in this course is determined as follows: Quizzes 20% First Exam 40% Second Exam 40%. Remember that you may replace your lowest quiz grade with your grade on the optional critical essay, even if that grade is a zero resulting from a missed quiz.

Academic Integrity Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, cheating, aiding and abetting dishonesty, and fabrication, will not be tolerated. Please read carefully the Department of English Language and Literature's memo on plagiarism which is posted at http://www.lsa.umich.edu/english/undergraduate/plag.htm. If you have any questions about "what counts," see me.

Some Final Notes Commercial Notetaking The collection, recounting, promulgation, or selling of materials based on this course, including its website, lectures, compiled readings, handouts, or other activities and materials is prohibited. Changes in the Policies and Schedule of Assignments These course policies and the schedule of assignments are subject to change. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out about such changes.

Most recent update: August 21, 2003.

A.P. 2003