Political Writing

Defined most simply, politics is that which pertains to the "affairs of the polis," one's community. In its real-life context, writing always interacts with a community in some way, engaging a defined audience to produce an intended effect. In this sense, writing always touches the affairs of a polis, and thus, writing is inherently political, regardless of whether the writer considers this during composition. In this class, we will focus on explicitly political writing by writers who are not politicians, that is to say, sanctioned experts in the affairs of the polis. Foregoing public policy memoranda and economic analyses, we will look at how journalists, grassroots organizers, and creative writers have consciously written to intervene in the affairs of their communities despite their outsider status. Using techniques of rhetorical analysis and logical structure, we will examine how these writers crafted works that inspire and move audiences through the conventions of several genres: essay, polemic, journalism, and satire. This course does not count toward the Creative Writing Concentration.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; AS HUM; AS SD I; AS WI I; FA HUM; AR HUM

Political Writing

AMERICAN CULTURE STUDIES 375W

Section 01

Section 02