Writing Project 2: Developing a Manifesto for a Specific Group

Part 1: Writing for Readers

Part 1 “Writing for Readers”;

Part 2 “Critical Reading, Thinking, and Argument”;

Part 3 “Presenting Your Work”; Part 11 “Words and Style”

The Situation: Although Kathleen Hanna wrote the Riot Grrrl Manifesto for a popular audience, it is also a document of interest to academic thinkers, especially those concerned with the politics of gender and identity.

Hanna’s manifesto calls attention to how certain groups of people are stereotyped, marginalized, or discriminated against on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, economic class, disability, age, etc. As lead singer of the all-girl punk band Bikini Kill.

Hanna wrote her manifesto to define and to challenge a double standard within the punk rock movement: i.e. while the ethos of punk professed itself to be an egalitarian, non-discriminatory movement for everyone, many women felt left out in the male-dominated world of punk music.

Those like Hanna resented the tendency for women in the punk scene to be limited to the role of audience member, fan and/or girlfriend of male punk rockers. Perhaps an underlying question in Hanna’s manifesto asks, “Why shouldn’t women be on stage playing loud, angry, politically-charged music instead of just being stuck in the audience?

” The manifesto genre can be a creative and effective way for members of an academic community to call attention to a problem and to provoke people to think more about it. Hanna’s manifesto, rather than saying “You should think about this,” simply lists the problems (using tough, angry, but thoughtful language behind the repeated word “Because…”) that punk women face.

Your Task: Write a manifesto that calls attention to problems faced by a particular group. That might consist of people—or something else (e.g. animals, ecological systems, etc.). Try to write inventively, to get readers to pay attention. Your tone might be angry, humorous, pissed off, sarcastic, urgent, upbeat, or some combination of these.

You might use anaphora (as Hanna does), repeating the same word or words at the start of every sentence—or you might use some other rhetorical device. Your manifesto should be designed to get your fellow UIC students and professors thinking and talking about your issue.

Evaluation Rubric: For a successful manifesto, you should:

Compose your manifesto so that it clearly articulates a set of problems particular to your issue. 

Suggest solutions to your issue/problem, even if only implied. 

Suggest why UIC students, faculty, and others need to think more about the issue/problem your manifesto addresses. 

Be written in inventive, interesting, and rhetorically effective language. 

Be free of grammatical and mechanical errors (unless obviously intentional).

Learning Outcomes After completing Writing Project 2 Students will be able to:

1. Develop an understanding of writing in relation to academic identities, institutions, and communities.

2. Defend a position in relation to the range of ideas surrounding a topic.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of writing as a process, including consideration of peer and instructor feedback, from initial draft to final revision.

4. Demonstrate control over organization and sentence-level correctness.

Deadlines: Complete First Draft: Thursday, October 7 Final Draft: Thursday, October 21 HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR PAPER DRAFT TO BLACKBOARD: 1) Click on the link that corresponds to your assignment from the menu on the left-hand side. 2)

In the box that reads “Attach Files” click on “Browse Local Files” and upload your draft as a Word.docx file.