Say It Loud

Say It Loud: The Rhetoric of American Social
Movements

This course examines the rhetorical strategies of
twentieth century American social movements: the
speeches, manifestos, essays, graphics, films and
music that helped shift the terms of political
debate and cultural understanding in favor of
previously subordinated peoples.
Taking two manifestos as our touchstones: the
Declaration of Independence and the Communist
Manifesto, we will analyze rhetorical documents
from the Labor Movement, the Civil Rights
Movement, Black Power, the American Indian
Movement, the Women's Movement, the Anti-War
Movement, the Environmental Movement, the
movement for LGBTQ rights, the Anti-Globalization
Movement, the Occupy Movement and the new Student
Movement. Along the way, students will generate
their own manifestoes, perform rhetorical
analyses and invent new ways of intervening in
contemporary social conflicts.