Civil Rights, Weekly Assignment, Music Round-up

Well, we had quite a class yesterday discussing the Civil Rights movement, the "travel ban," and some ground- breaking music. Why do we focus on all of these topics in an English class? Well, the short answer is, you write better when you have something to say. I would prefer to challenge your argument in a way to teach you to argue effectively than to have you write boring summaries. If we want to look at some excellent writing, those that have challenged our national and global beliefs have often mastered rhetoric in such a way to change the world. I believe that is worth a closer look.   

Our discussion showed that many of you have not been exposed to the Civil Rights movement much. That's okay. I believe learning is a life-long process and that it's never too late to learn. We will be reading both a "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and the letter that inspired it next week, along with our regular readings. This week, just work on reading our text; you should read up through Chapter 8 by next Tuesday, and keep a journal of your thoughts or reactions to the story. This will help you be better prepared for discussion, and it gives you some writing practice. Another thing to help you would be to do some very basic research on Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Wikipedia is fine for this. This will provide the historical context of our novel, and possibly give you a better understanding for your rhetorical analysis, due the end of the month. We will talk about that more this coming week. 

For those of you that missed our class, here's a list of the music we listened to. Beware--some of this is difficult to listen to but important for our understanding of the history. Language is powerful. Language put to music can be revolutionary. 

First, we listened to Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit." Next, we listened to Nina Simone's "Backlash Blues." Then, one of my favorites, Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." We ended with a discussion of the Harlem Renaissance, an incredibly important movement impacting American literature, music, and culture, and Louis Armstrong's uplifting "A Wonderful World." 

Remember to also read the first five points in Element of Style's fifth section. Mine begins on page 66, titled "An Approach to Style: With a list of Reminders." You will end on the section "revise and rewrite." This is a short reading, perhaps 5-6 pages worth. 

Also, either bring me something that tells me your research project, or you can send me an email with your topic. I always feel like our class needs just a little more time. :) 

Have a great week!

*Also, if you like learning history and literature together, I'll be teaching American Literature and U.S. History this fall in a combined course that would count for two high school credits. The class will run about three hours, but we will cover great literature, major historical events that shaped America, and of course, the artists and musicians of each era. We will not focus as much on rhetoric and composition, but there will certainly be lots of reading and writing. :) If you have any questions, feel free to ask.