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The Rhetoric of Written Arguments in Context (RWS 200. 38)
Fall 2013
Professor: Stephany Farley
E-mail: sfarley@rohan.sdsu.edu
Class time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30-1:45
Classroom: TBD
Despite the important gains of antiracist social movements over the last half century, racism
hides from view within institutional structures, and its most reliable refuge is the prison
system. – Angela Y. Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?, 2003
The old patterns, no matter how cleverly rearranged to imitate progress, still condemn us to
cosmetically altered repetitions of the same old exchanges, the same old guilt, hatred,
recrimination, lamentation, and suspicion. – Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider, 1984
Description: This course will introduce and interrogate the prison-industrial complex in
the United States, and its affinity to older forms of institutionalized racism such as Jim Crow
Laws and chattel slavery as experienced by African-Americans prior to Emancipation. The
criminalization of men of color (esp. Black men) has recently been spotlighted in the massmedia via the Trayvon Martin case. This class, though attentive to the increasing
criminalization of Black men, will also turn its gaze toward the specific (and increasing)
criminalization of women, the poor, Latin@s, Native peoples, Arab-Americans, LGBT
communities, and certain segments of Asian-American communities.
Course Objectives:
This course is one of three courses that you will take in the General Education area of
Communication and Critical Thinking. Upon completing this area of our General Education
program, you will be able to:
1) craft well-reasoned arguments for specific audiences; 2) analyze a variety of texts
commonly encountered in the academic setting; 3) situate discourse within social, generic,
cultural, and historic contexts; and 4) assess the relative strengths of arguments and
supporting evidence.
Required Texts:
Are Prisons Obsolete?, Angela Y. Davis
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
Folder or 3-ring binder containing any and all other handouts/readings
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Additional required course materials may be found on BlackBoard.
Grading:
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Short Critical Responses (1 page, word-processed, double-spaced), due each
week: Critical responses are not summaries of the assigned readings. Rather, they
should demonstrate your understanding and engagement with the texts, draw
parallels among the various works (if applicable), and point out political, historical,
social, or other contexts. 15 points each/ 200 points total
Essays: Essays will require students to critically engage with one or more primary
works from the class. They will be between 4 and 6 pages (word-processed, doublespaced, 12 pt. font). Specific topics/prompts will be provided for each paper. 200
points each/600 points total
Preparation, Attendance, & Participation: We will be working together as a
learning community; as a result, attendance and informed participation are essential
components of this course. Students are expected to attend class prepared (meaning
they have closely read the material, critically considered their reading, and brought
the pertinent texts to class with them), and to come with an open mind and a
willingness to learn and contribute by posing questions, participating in discussions,
actively and respectfully listening to others, and being aware of current events
related to the course subject matter. Approximately 5 pop quizzes will take place
throughout the semester to ensure students are thoroughly prepared. If you are
absent, you will not be able to make up a quiz regardless of the reason for your
absence. No exceptions. 200 points
Letter Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
Points
930-1000
900-929
870-899
830-869
800-829
770-799
Letter Grade
C
CD+
D
DF
Points
730-769
700-729
670-699
630-669
600-629
0-599
Classroom Behavior and Conduct: Students and faculty both share responsibility for
maintaining a positive educational environment. Faculty have a responsibility to treat
students with understanding, dignity and respect. Faculty also have the right and the
authority to guide classroom discussion and to set reasonable limits on the manner in
which students express opinions. Disruptive students in the academic setting hinder the
educational environment. Students who fail to adhere to such reasonable limits shall be
subject to disciplinary action(s).
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“Disruption,” as applied to the academic setting, means verbal and other behavior in the
classroom that a faculty member judges as interfering with normal academic functions.
Anyone requiring clarification of the University’s policies on these matters should look to
the Center for Student Right’s and Responsibilities “Standards of Student Conduct,” at
http://csrr.sdsu.edu/conduct1.html
Accommodation for Physical or Learning Disabilities: No otherwise qualified
handicapped person shall, on the basis of handicap, be excluded from participation in, be
denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any academic or
other postsecondary education program receiving federal funds. If you are registered with
Disabled Student Services (DSS), I am happy to work with you to accommodate your
learning needs.
The Rules:
*Be sure to bring your books (or handouts) to class and consult your Reading-Assignment
Schedule.
*Please turn off and put away all cell phones during class. Absolutely no texting
allowed. Every time I see someone on their cell phone, I will subtract a participation point
from their grade. You may or may not see me write your name down, and I may or may not
tell you when I see you on your phone. It is your responsibility to stay off the phone during
class.
*Students are expected to come to class prepared. The instructor reserves the right to give
unannounced pop quizzes, which cannot be made up should the student be absent.
*Class attendance is mandatory. Work is done in class as well as out of class. If you do
not come to class and fail to turn in an assignment or miss a task, you will receive a zero for
that item. Assignments done in class cannot be made up. Note: More than two missed
classes will result in a lower grade.
*Written assignments will not be accepted late unless the student has contacted the
professor either in person or by email and received her permission in advance to turn in
the assignment either after class or at a later date.
*All assignments written outside of class must be typed or word-processed and stapled
and written in standard English—please be sure to include your name, the date, and the
course number on the title page and to number and include your last name on all of the
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subsequent pages. Don’t wait until the last minute to discuss your paper topics or final
presentation with the instructor, or to print out your essay!
*Plagiarism on any assignment is grounds for failure. Any assignment that is
plagiarized will receive a zero. Any student found to have plagiarized will be reported to
the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities as mandated in Executive Order 1006.
Please see me if you have any questions regarding plagiarism.
*Do not come to class late! Attendance will be taken on a regular basis; if you are late,
you will be marked absent. Should you have to leave early, be sure to notify the professor
prior to class.
Please do not ask me to waive any of these rules!
* ** *
Tentative Reading Schedule
T, 8/27: In Class- Gloria Yamato’s “Something About the Subject Makes it Hard to Name”
Th, 8/29: Peggy McIntosh’s “White Privilege and Male Privilege”
T, 9/3: Audre Lorde’s “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference”
Th, 9/5: Angela Davis’s “Introduction-Prison Reform or Prison Abolition?” and “The Prison
Industrial Complex” in Are Prisons Obsolete?
T, 9/10: Cornel West’s “Foreword” and Michelle Alexander’s “Preface” and “Introduction”
in Alexander’s The New Jim Crow
Th, 9/12: Continue discussion of Tuesday’s readings
T, 9/17: Angela Davis’s “Slavery, Civil Rights, and Abolitionist Perspectives Towards
Prison” in Are Prisons Obsolete?
Th, 9/19: Andrea Gibson’s “Prison Industrial” (also listen on YouTube)
T, 9/24: Michelle Alexander’s “The Rebirth of Caste” in The New Jim Crow
Th, 9/26: Angela Davis’s “Imprisonment and Reform” in Are Prisons Obsolete?
T, 10/1: Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” in The New Jim Crow (whole chapter
optional, pages 190-217 required)
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Th, 10/3: Michelle Alexander’s “The Lockdown” in The New Jim Crow (whole chapter
optional, pages 59-61 required)
T, 10/8: Class cancelled for mandatory conferencing (also offered on Monday, 10/7)
Th, 10/10: First paper due.
T, 10/15: Angela Davis’s “How Gender Structures the Prison System” in Are Prisons
Obsolete?
Th, 10/17: Statement by Critical Resistance and INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence,
“Gender Violence and the Prison-Industrial Complex and Tiloma Jayasinghe’s “When
Pregnancy is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will be Pregnant”
T, 10/22: Michelle Alexander’s “The Color of Justice” in The New Jim Crow
Th, 10/24: Short readings TBD
T, 10/29: Susan Roberta Katz’s “Presumed Guilty: How Schools Criminalize Latino Youth”
Th, 10/31: Short readings TBD
T, 11/5: Joey L. Mogul, Andrea J. Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock’s “Caging Deviance: Prisons as
Queer Spaces” (guest speaker)
Th, 11/7: Optional- Joey L. Mogul, Andrea J. Ritchie, and Kay Whitlock’s “Setting the
Historical Stage- Colonial Legacies” (guest speaker)
T, 11/12: Michelle Alexander’s “The Cruel Hand” in The New Jim Crow
Th, 11/14: Continue discussion of Tuesday’s readings
T, 11/19: Class cancelled for conferencing
Th, 11/21: Second paper due.
T, 11/26: Catch-up Day
Th, 11/28: No class, Thanksgiving Holiday
T, 12/3: Angela Davis’s “Abolitionist Alternatives” in Are Prisons Obsolete?
Th, 12/5: Michelle Alexander’s “The Fire This Time” in The New Jim Crow
T, 12/10: Wrap-up
W, 12/18: Final paper due.
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