Awakenings

By the start of next class, please watch Eyes on the Prize: "Awakenings" (below) and, in your learning journal, write a response to the prompt. The documentary episode covers both the murder of Emmett Till and Montgomery Bus Boycott. The prompt is focused on the boycott, but please watch the full episode (it's about an hour long), so that we can talk about both events in class. Also, please be aware that some of the incidents and images in the documentary are violent and potentially upsetting.

The prompt

We've discussed how to use the concept of the rhetorical situation to understand strategies for making change. Use that concept to help you answer these questions about the Montgomery Bus Boycott:

• From the point of view of the boycotters, what was the exigence in this situation? And how was their sense of the exigence similar to or different from that of, say, the mayor or the president of the bus company? 
• Who was the rhetorical audience for the boycott when it started, and in what ways did that audience grow or change as the boycott proceeded? 
• The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is so powerful that it helped launch a nationwide movement for racial justice. And, even now, more than 60 years later, that story is told and retold all around the world. How do you account for that? That is, what makes this story such an extraordinarily potent symbol for the idea of a Beloved Community?

Please don't feel obligated to write a big, long essay here; we're just planting some seeds to grow when we talk in class. 2-4 sentences for each question will be plenty.

***Instructions for creating and sharing your learning journal as a Google Doc are on the "sharing" tab on our blog.

***Also, if you want to refresh your memory, here are the slides we looked at in class: