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 antislavery, early woman's rights, women's liberation, 1960/70s black freedom, and gay rights movements. Work for this course includes readings (hard copy and online), exams, and quizzes.
With permission of instructor.