Welcome to Composition 102

Hello and welcome to your new English Class! This semester will be a bit different from 101, because the aim of the class is to work closely with the art of persuasion. Aristotle once said, "Anyone can get angry — that is easy — or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for everyone, nor is it easy."  As such, we’ll be exploring the techniques used by various artists to transform anger (or grief, guilt, frustration, passion, etc.) into a convincing and persuasive personal and public narrative.  In each unit, we will investigate some aspect of persuasion. 

In this class, we will refine our focus even more than other 102 courses by examining texts that deal with race, racism and African American identity. We will investigate the arguments and philosophies embedded in a series of essays, songs, music videos and visual art texts. While our attention will be on modern texts, we will start out each unit by looking at a text from an earlier era, in order to better contextualize the arguments and narratives being made today.

Two important concepts will act as themes throughout the course—audience and rhetorical stance. We will define these ideas right away and begin our discussion of each text by considering how audience and stance impact the composition. We will hear a wide variety of voices, and hopefully this process of close reading and analysis will lead you toward developing an effective, persuasive voice as well.

Every week there will be some recurring events, such as: 


Monday Presentations-- Student presentations on the artist, writer or musician we are studying that week. Please use multi media sources such as power point, youtube videos, articles, biographies and even film clips. Be formal, entertaining and articulate. This constitutes a portion of your homework grade.

Africa Wednesdays-- The collective reading of one article from a news source about that huge continent we so often over simplify in modern discourse.

Friday Presentations-- Student presentations on a news event or historical issue that relates to our unit's theme. Again, follow the guidelines for presentations detailed under "Monday Presentations."

Just as a head's up, the units this semester will be:

James Baldwin

"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" This unit will focus on notions of black families through the examination of four personal essays, by James Baldwin, Michael Thomas, Eula Biss and Emily Raboteau. Your presentations for the Fridays of this unit will focus on any bit of news that deals with blackness and perceptions of family (while you are encouraged to think of one of your own, ideas for articles or pieces of media to present during this unit may include Bill Cosby's controversial "Pound Cake Speech," the Clinton-era debate over "welfare moms," the seminal journalistic text entitled "Random Family," Gordon Parks' famous photographic portrayal of blacks in Harlem, criticism of the film "Blind Side," etc.)

Erykah Badu

"Lady Sings the Blues" This portion of the class will delve into musical narratives that illuminate aspects of black womanhood in popular song. Though the phrase refers directly to Billie Holiday, we will start the unit by looking into the lyrics of Nina Simone, then we will delve into the videos and lyrics of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and Janelle Monae. Friday presentations for this unit should be easy to find and will need to focus primarily on black female musicians and any controversial discussions that have been had about their portrayal, their impact, etc.

Kara Walker

"Cut and Paste" For the final section of our class we will look into the art made by and about African Americans. We will look at the collages of Romare Bearden, at the conceptual art of Adrian Piper and Kara Walker, and the portraiture by Kehinde Wiley. Your Friday presentations will focus on representation of blackness, for which I highly encourage one or all of you to research the critical writings of philosopher (and yes she spells her names with no caps) bell hooks.

Ultimately, you are encouraged to come to class with diligence, an open mind, and a sense of playfulness. While we all have a lot of work to do, if our approach to it is not fun, we probably won't learn half as much. Instead of waiting for class to interest you, try to take the initiative to be creative and enterprising, there is certainly a space for that this semester.

Blog note: Please be both honest and respectful in your blog postings. While you should not oversimplify your arguments out of fear or shame, you should also be as careful as possible that you relay your opinions with a mind to whether or not you are respecting another person's right to an opinion, and certainly their emotions.