Honors Advanced Writing Seminar, Dr. Lettner Rust, Fall 2019
In English 400-51: The Rhetoric of Apology with Dr. Lettner-Rust, we learned about apologies and civic discourse from a rhetorical standpoint. After establishing a base of knowledge about this topic, we discussed it in relation to the history of educational Civil Rights in Prince Edward County. We had numerous speakers talk to us about what happened in P.E. County in the mid-twentieth century, including the public school closings and generational impact. Having an understanding of the history of the county and applying this to our coursework truly encompasses the citizen leadership that every Longwood student should hold. For our class project, we chose to attend the Community Prayer Breakfast that the Robert Russa Moton Museum hosts once each month. At this breakfast, me and a partner wrote an introductory statement explaining why we were there, which was followed by statements from each of our classmates explaining why they wanted to attend the breakfast. After the meal, two of our classmates read the prayer that they wrote for this event. It was truly eye-opening being able to see firsthand those who had been affected by the public school closings that we had learned about throughout the semester. It was rewarding to hear from numerous community members and staff of the Moton Museum and Longwood that our understanding of the history and desire to speak at the Moton Museum was appreciated and meant a lot. For our final exam, we had to write about the success of the Community Prayer Breakfast in a rhetorical analysis. I have attached this as my artifact from this course. Overall, I feel that this class helped me grow as a citizen leader and showed me the importance of understanding the history of where you live and sharing this with others.