Writing Against Power and Oppression

Option 1: Write a Creative NonFiction (CNF) essay about a time that you or someone else you know (a person, organization etc.) fought back against oppression. You will combine personal narrative with research to tell a story about activism and power at CCNY, or your community. Remember, that Creative Non-Fiction has to be real. You should use elements of storytelling such as vivid imagery and epiphanies but also include research using the CCNY library database to support your narrative. Your CNF piece will be 3-5 pages (750-1250 words), double-spaced, Times New Roman. 

Option 2: Think like a journalist and write a news feature exploring activism and power at CCNY. Do research, conduct interviews, facilitate surveys, and/or take field notes. Your news feature must be 3-5 pages (750-1250 words), double-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman. 

Your audience for this story is your CCNY community: your peers, instructors, administrators, and staffers; think of it as though you are writing an essay for a creative writing journal (for option 1) or for the college newspaper (for option 2),  and thus, consider your tone, language choices, organization, and rhetorical strategies. Creativity, language meshing, and experimentation are welcome in your writing! As always in our class, you are encouraged to draw on your native, home, and other languages and dialects. 

By doing this assignment, you will:

• Inform and entertain an audience by composing a CNF essay or news feature on a specific example of activism or activist organization at CCNY or in your community
• Practice using CCNY databases and doing research; select relevant sources 
• Conduct primary research (interviews, surveys, field notes) 
• Hone your academic writing skills including APA citation 
• Connect more deeply with activism and activist movements right here at CCNY 

What is a feature story? 

A feature story is a kind of news story that does more than report the facts. Features appeal to a wide audience by mixing accurate, factual information with human interest stories and are one of few genres characterized by equally appealing to ethos, logos, and pathos (again, don’t worry, we will learn about these types of appeals and practice together in class!). While the primary purpose of a feature is to inform, a good feature will also entertain your audience and make them want to keep reading.

Feature stories tend to be more engaging for readers than “hard” news. To write a news feature, you must focus on a specific topic that can be thoroughly covered within a given word count (for you, that’s 750-1250 words). It must also include firsthand accounts of real people (pathos), opinions from experts (ethos), and facts (logos) to establish the truth and gravity of the issue. Though feature stories have a specific focus, they also attempt to show that there’s a larger context for the issue.

Your feature story topic 

There is a long history of student and faculty activism at CCNY. There have been large scale strikes over tuition hikes and staff pay, historical anti-war protests, and free speech movements. For example, in 1969, Black and Latinx students (then just 9 percent of the student body) demanded more students of color be admitted. On February 6, 1969 the Black and Puerto Rican Student Community presented “Five Demands” to CCNY President Gallagher. In pursuit of those demands, more than 200 Black and Puerto Rican students closed the South Campus for two weeks. 

While the 1969 student strike is well-documented, activism isn’t always reported or archived. There are thousands of CCNY student activists working hard on racial, educational, gender, and disability equality and inclusion, voting rights, prison reform/abolition, environmental justice, labor movements, food access, housing, and cybersecurity and privacy, just to name a few! For your feature story, you will research and write about one specific example of activism or organization at CCNY, either past or present. 

Source requirements

Your CNF/News Feature must have at least five sources, though you’re certainly welcome to use more. You must use two academic sources (i.e. a peer-reviewed journal, academic text or website, encyclopedia), and three non-academic sources (newspaper or magazine article, biography, non-academic book or text, social media post, essay, blog post, etc.).  You can also use a primary source (an interview, survey, or field notes).  Don’t worry, we’ll do a source workshop in class 🙂

Please note that if you choose to either do an interview, survey, or field notes, you can use one peer reviewed source. However, if you choose not to use primary sources, you must have two peer-reviewed academic articles as your sources. 

Your sources need to be compiled in a Works Cited page (bibliography) that is submitted with your final draft.