Writing for Change: Advocacy Letters

Writing for Change: Advocacy Letters from: http://tricitylp.org/The_Poetic_Patriot.php Jeff, Jason M., & Cole from: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/words-of-protest-challenging-musics-lyrical-standards/ Music: Changes by David Bowie

Cole Upton Sinclair's The Jungle Upon reading The Jungle, President Franklin D. Roosevelt threw the book out of a White House window & immediately demanded change in the meat-packing industry. image from: http://winrowdojaella.blogspot.com/ Rachel Carson's Silent Spring Silent Spring brought the use of pesticides, such as DDT, into the public eye. DDT was outlawed shortly after the book was released. image from: http://www.alaskageographic.org/store/products/silent-spring Examples of Writing for Change

Letter by Samantha (1983): Dear Mr. Andropov, My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like to know why you want to conquer the world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live together in peace and not to fight. Sincerely, Samantha Smith image from: http://www.samanthasmith.info/samantha's_letter1.htm Cole The Effect of Letters: Samantha Smith

Cole The Effect of Letters: Samantha Smith Response from Yuri Andropov (excerpt): Dear Samantha, I received your letter, which is like many others that have reached me recently from your country and from other countries around the world. "Why do you want to wage war against the whole world or at least the United States?" We want nothing of the kind. No one in our country—neither workers, peasants, writers nor doctors, neither grown-ups nor children, nor members of the government—want either a big or "little" war. I invite you, if your parents will let you, to come to our country, the best time being this summer. You will find out about our country, meet with your contemporaries, visit an international children's camp—"Artek"—on the sea. And see for yourself: in the Soviet Union, everyone is for peace and friendship among peoples. Thank you for your letter. I wish you all the best in your young life. image from: http://www.russia-ic.com/people/general/a/88/

Cole Goal of the Advocacy Letter • Addresses a specific problem that you would like to change • Outlines a proposed solution to the problem image from: http://www.boneym.es/principal.html • Provides research that supports the need for change & proposed solution • Sent to an individual or group that is in position to make change happen image from: http://www.therubicon.org/index.php?s=glimpses

Rhetorical Devices, Logical Fallacies, and Advocacy Letters. A short explanation of methods which you can use to strengthen your advocacy letters. Anyone know who that guy is? > “How incredible it is that few men, using the abilities given to most men, have the power to interest, motivate, and persuade their fellow men.” – Crassus, in Cicero’s De oratore, I.30 Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M-T-Cicero.jpg Text Source: Cicero, Marcus Tullius.De Oratore. Trans. E.W. Sutton and H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1959. Jason Miller

As you watch, think about what rhetorical strategies are being used. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7fhIO7DG0 Jason Miller

What did you see? Appeal to Personal Character (Ethos) - Mr. Peterson tries to establish a connection with the audience by referencing his work in occupations commonly understood to be honorable. He appeals to his personal character: “I’ve been a farmer, business man, a cop, a marine during Vietnam.” And? Appeal to emotion (Pathos) - Mr. Peterson tries to access the fear he believes exists in the voters. He appeals to emotion: “Here we are, losing three family farms a day. Illegals bused in by the thousands, and Alabama’s unemployment’s at an all time high.” Anything else? Jason Miller

What about Appeal to Reason (logos)? An Appeal to Reason is just that: an appeal to whatever makes the most sense. This is a very useful rhetorical device. When speakers/writers can neither establish credibility through their personal character, nor manipulate the emotions of their audience/readers, they can always advance their argument by explaining why their position makes the most sense. Jason Miller

Lastly… The Appeal to Popular Belief (Argumentum ad Populum) In this logical fallacy the speaker/writer suggests that an idea is a good one simply because a large group of people believe that it is. Jason Miller

Bring Your Letter to Life With Writer’s Voice! http://blogs.sundaymercury.net/weirdscience/index.html?page=106

Mystery Authors • Read the following slides. • Try to guess the identity of the author based upon the author’s “voice.” • Think about the author’s: • Age • Gender • Race • Nationality • Audience • Purpose for writing http://writeanovelfast.com/three-ways-to-make-your-mystery-novel-stand-out-in-the-crowd/ Jeff Vincent

“A Harvard Medical School study has determined that rectal thermometers are still the best way to tell a baby's temperature. Plus, it really teaches the baby who's boss. ” Tina Fey (1970-Present) is a popular comedian and actress. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_fey -Tina Fey Jeff Vincent

“There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.” Mario Savio (1942 – 1996) was an Italian-American political activist. He was particularly interested in civil rights in the US south. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Savio -Mario Savio Speech at a civil rights rally at UC Berkeley 1964 Jeff Vincent

“My restlessness is my nemesis.It's hard to really chill and sit still. Committed to page, I write rhymes. Sometimes won't finish for days.Scrutinize my literature, from the large to the miniature.I mathematically add-minister.Subtract the wack.” Mos Def(1973-Present) is a well known hip hop artist. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_def -Mos Def “Hip-Hop” Jeff Vincent

“Great God, she thought, where do I start? Get somebody to write old Whitlow. See who took Patty and Rosa Lee. Somebody name Dunn got Ardelia and went West, she heard.” Toni Morrison (1931 – Present) is a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning American author editor and professor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison -Toni Morrison Beloved 1987 Jeff Vincent

“I want to suggest that these concerns – autonomy, authority, newness and difference, absolute power – not only become the major themes and presumptions of American literature, but that each one is made possible by, shaped by, activated by a complex awareness and employment of a constituted Africanism.” Toni Morrison (1931 – Present) is a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning American author, editor and professor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison -Toni Morrison Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination 1993 Jeff Vincent

Writing for Change: Advocacy Letters