CLCS 187 - The Rhetoric of Animal Liberation

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

“A rhetorician,” writes Kenneth Burke, “is like one voice in a dialogue. Put several such voices together, with each voicing its own special assertion, let them act upon one another in co-operative competition, and you get a dialectic that, properly developed, can lead to views transcending the limitations of each” (“Rhetoric-Old and New”). This course asks students to identify in the work of others, and to develop in their own writing, the elements of challenging and meaningful discourse. We begin from the premise that writing is an act of teaching, and that teaching is not only about having something to say, but also about how ideas are communicated.

In this course, we explore our individual identities as readers, thinkers, and writers, deepening our knowledge of how and why we write-knowledge that will aid us throughout this course, our academic programs, and professional careers. To gain this insight, we work to develop a strong foundation in the elements of rhetoric that govern all communication (e.g., audience, purpose, occasion, community, and context). The focus of this course, therefore, is both the cultivation of effective research strategies and the presentation of original thought in writing. The course theme and individual readings have been chosen to highlight the rhetorical techniques we will employ in our own projects, and to provoke critical thought and robust discussion about the ideas they present. Over the course of the semester students explore in depth the issue of animal agriculture from various intellectual perspectives (nutrition, eco-criticism, and ethics), and across various modalities (including documentary films such as Forks Over Knives, Cowspiracy and Earthlings, novels such as T.C. Boyle’s When the Killing’s Done, and theoretical essays from David Foster Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster” to Jacques Derrida’s The Animal that Therefore I Am). Matthew Schultz.

Two 75-minute periods.