Craft of Writing

Silence = Death: The Rhetoric of Social Movements
When does a rebel or writer become a hero; an uprising or aesthetic become a social movement? Why are some revolutionaries fanatics, and others dreamers; some movements successful while others fail? This course examines rhetoric within and around social movements as a means of interrogating the boundaries and characteristics of social movements through intellectual, aesthetic, physical, spiritual, and political frames, using theoretical, literary, and historical texts.

To engage students’ individual commitments, each student will choose a social movement to study for the main research project. Assignments and in-class work aim to develop analytical techniques such as textual analysis, argument construction, and bringing multiple texts into conversation.

In accordance with the University’s Reading and Composition (R&C) 1B requirement, this course offers rigorous training in analytical reading, thinking, and writing. We will reinforce skills from the 1A and introduce research methodologies, preparing students for successful academic careers across disciplines while presenting approaches and discourses from the field of rhetoric.