The African American Prophetic Tradition

Students in this survey class will examine the prophetic rhetorical tradition of African Americans. By engaging in a careful reading of texts that make up the African American oratorical and literary canons, students will examine how the African American prophetic tradition builds, forms, and transforms its audiences and communities. Moreover, students will examine how this rhetoric critiques, challenges and charges all of society to live up to the ideals which it espouses and finally how speakers adopt a “prophetic persona” in the delivery of these messages. In addition, the class will place emphasis on the rhetorical strategies used and how these strategies changed and/or remained the same over time.

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