October 27

Today we looked at the Clergymen's Statement and listed the points they made about the unrest in Birmingham in 1963. We then looked at King's reply and noticed the order in which he replied to the clergymen's points. The Clergy's points were that:

-Laws should not be broken

-Civil rights issues should be resolved through negotiation in the course

-Circumstances in Birmingham are improving; now is NOT the time for action

-Outsiders should not be involved

-Nonviolent measures are in fact violent, are not working, and should not be used.

In our discussion of King we observed that his first extended argument was to establish his right to speak. In rhetoric - this is an ethos appeal - a move to establish speaker's authority. We talked in some detail about why and how King chose to make an ethos move first. We also discussed the different kinds of ethos moves he made: he established his identity as a leader of the SCLC and their connections to Birmingham, as well as his connection by virtue of being a human being and a citizen of the United States. He also established his authority by connecting to other texts and the actions of earlier leaders as described in those texts.

We then talked about how these two different ways to establish authority are used in different kinds of texts - in letters, and in academic writing. In letters ethos is established through personal identity and experience; in academic writing it is established through references to other writing, and to "experts."

During the second part of class you workshopped your essays. The product of your conference was an email where you:

- Named the three texts you were analyzing
1. Stated your focus.
2. described the life circumstances, concerns, identity of your audience
3. summarized your texts with respect to the focus (identified the common features)
4. short discussioin of what your analysis shows: similarities + differences + what they mean
5. describe your essay's organization + transitions.

For homework:
Re-red King. Number the paragraphs and send me an email with a list of the paragraphs where he makes each of the following points in reply to the Clergyman's statement.
- we need to break the law
- we can't negotiate
- NOW is the time
- non-violent means are necessary

Your revised draft for Project 1 is due Thursday, October 29.

NOTE: You will not have class on November 3, or on November 19. You will have one-on0one conferences (optional) where you can work on the essay of your choice.