Katie Denton

English 540

Campbell Assignment

Context: Teaching Campbell to women students who are interested in abolitionist and/or female rhetoric and who have heard of the big female rhetors of the time.

The assignment sequence:

In Part II of The Philosophy of Rhetoric, George Campbell discusses the nature of experience and how experience can be a way to connect personal experience to the audience you wish to reach.  Throughout this sequence, we will consider the implications of incorporating experience into discourse.  In particular, we will consider the limits of acceptability and ethos as use of experience applies to standards for men’s versus women’s speech.

To begin, reread pages 47-49 of The Philosophy of Rhetoric, the section titled “The nature and origin of Experience.”  Consider how Campbell defines experience, and how he believes a speaker or writer can use experience.  Underline and annotate as necessary.

Based on what Campbell says about experience, create a working theory of how incorporating “experience” differs across gender lines.  We will discuss this in class.

Part I.

The goal for this part of the sequence is to take a critical look at gendered differences in the way male and female orators use experience in their speeches.

We will read Francis Watkins Harper’s “Duty to Dependent Races” and Frederick Douglass’s “What the Black Man Wants.”

Independently, and then as a class, we will try to derive from these two speeches the “rules” for incorporating experience.  How do these rules differ for men and women? 

Before class discussion, bring to class one letter to the editor written by a male, and one written by a female.  Use these letters to support your assertions about gendered uses of experience.

We will compare and contrast the “rules” you have arrived at, and consider how they apply to men and women.  Consider, too, that since there is usually more to a speech than one meaning, we could map the "layers" of meaning that are present in a speech (Douglass relating his experiences as a slave, Douglass obtaining literacy, Douglass as abolitionist--all intertwine but have discreet functions too) and how experience plays into those layers.

Part II.

Here is where we apply what we learned about experience to our own writing. 

For this assignment, you will create two letters to the editor.  Here is the premise: you are going to create a persuasive letter to the editor.  In this letter, you will try to persuade your audience that true womanhood either is or is not violated when women speak in public.  For each letter, you will keep your chosen stance.  However, you will address one letter to a male audience, and the other letter to a female audience.  Given your audience, how will you incorporate personal experience into your letter?

In class, we will discuss your finished products and the choices you made in how you used personal experiences for your two different audiences.