Writing Seminar II (111-DL-20)
Topic
Social Protest
Instructors
Tricia Lee Hermes
Tricia Hermes teaches full-time at DePaul University and is an adjunct in the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern University. She earned her BS in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, her Certificate in Creative nonfiction from Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies, and her MA in Writing from DePaul University. Tricia has three adult children and lives in Evanston. She is a native Chicagoan, life-long Cub Fan, and chocolate addict.
Meeting Info
Online: TBA
Overview of class
From civil rights and black power movements to women's liberation and gay rights activism, Americans have participated in social movements to protest precarious conditions and achieve a more livable life. In this course, students will study documents from The Declaration of Independence to the signs carried in the #MarchForOurLives. Students will choose their own topics for the three writing assignments and two presentations. This course will introduce students to the study of social movements from a rhetorical perspective. It will explore ways that social media has transformed American political participation by democratizing access to information, disrupting old models of power distribution, and allowing for rapid, broad coalition building and immediate moments of multimodal protest.
In this course students will read arguments critically, and write arguments that are persuasive. Students will build upon what they already know about rhetoric, call upon productive ideas from what they are learning about the world, and bring it together to frame a discussion about current topics. Students will also build upon their ability to enter the context of academic research and argumentation.
The course is conducted completely online. It will be asynchronous; students can participate in discussions and complete assignments by working at their own pace, as long as deadlines are met. A technology fee will be added to tuition.
Additional Information: ENGLISH 111-DL is a writing requirement course for the Bachelor of Science degree programs in SPS.
Registration Requirements
This course is limited to School of Professional Studies students only. Undergraduate students in other schools at Northwestern are not permitted to enroll in this course.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
develop your conception of writing as an interaction between writer and reader.
analyze the audience's knowledge, assumptions, and disposition.
develop the ability to read and evaluate the writing of others with accuracy, understanding, and insight.
apply your understanding of the rhetorical situation to communicate persuasively.
develop strategies of effective research, analyzing, summarizing, paraphrasing, and arranging.
understand how genre is used as a persuasive tool.
refine your skill of persuasive writing using different argumentative strategies.
conduct a rhetorical analysis on a historical document.
demonstrate proficiency in using the conventions of academic research to document sources.
Class Materials (Required)
All of the required readings for this course can be accessed in the Course Reserves.
Class Attributes
Asynchronous:Remote class-no scheduled mtg time