English 319, Literature and Social Change

Rhetorical Activism and
U.S. Civil Rights Movements

Fall 2004

http://www.umich.edu/~alisse/ENGL319f04/index.html

 

Professor Alisse Portnoy
alisse@umich.edu

4172 Angell Hall
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Michigan
763-4279

Graders:
Betsy Mitchell, Ramji Kaul

 


Course Description

Registration AND WAITLIST Information
NOTE: UPDATED ON JUNE 25, 2004




Course Description

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. How did these ordinary people accomplish extraordinary things by speaking up and speaking out? More broadly, how does our language define, sustain, reform, and even revolutionize the worlds in which we live? That will be our central question as we study texts representing a range of positions from several U.S. civil rights movements: the early woman's rights, antislavery, women's liberation, 1960s civil rights, and gay rights movements. Work for this course includes weekly readings (hard copy and online), exams, and quizzes. This course satisfies the Race and Ethnicity requirement for LS&A students as well as the New Traditions and American Literature requirements for English concentrators.

 


Registration Information

I will not make any adjustments to the class roster (i.e., oversubscribe or drop students) until after the second class meeting. At that point, I will automatically drop any student who has not attended both of the first two classes. After the second class, if there are spaces available I will authorize students who have been attending class to register for the course until the course has again met its maximum capacity (please note that attending class does not guarantee you a seat in the course).  I am sorry, but there are no exceptions to this policy. Please do not email me requesting an exception.

NOTE: ON JUNE 24TH, THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ADDED A WAITLIST FOR THIS COURSE.  IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING THIS COURSE IN FALL 2004, PLEASE BE SURE TO PUT YOURSELF ON THE COURSE WAITLIST THROUGH WOLVERINE ACCESS.

 

Most recent update: September 5, 2004.
http://www.umich.edu/~alisse