Source: Course Syllabus, College Writing R1A-018, UC Berkeley
Tags: driving question, art and oppression, autoethnography, critical reading, critical thinking, close reading, cultural analysis, liberation through culture, personal connection, rhetorical analysis, expository writing, argumentation
This course explores how art and culture relate to oppression and liberation, using a central "driving question" as a flexible analytical tool rather than a rigid formula. Students are expected to develop personal connections to the material (autoethnography), practise critical reading that goes beyond surface content, and build sustained thesis-driven arguments grounded in textual evidence.
Driving question
The recurring analytical prompt for the course: "How does art relate to oppression?" It functions as a classificatory tool for opening up inquiry, not as a filter that narrows it. Students should avoid repeating it verbatim and instead use it as a launchpad for more specific, detailed analysis.
Autoethnography
A method of inquiry that draws on personal experience and self-reflection to connect with broader cultural, political, or social themes. In this course, it means forging explicit links between your own life, attitudes, and experiences and the texts you study.
Critical reading
Reading that moves beyond what a text says to examine how and why the author conveys ideas. Includes attention to style, tone, genre, format, and mode of presentation as elements of meaning.
Rhetorical techniques / persuasive strategies
The tools writers use to persuade, including logical soundness, emotional appeal, and compelling presentation. The course asks you to identify these across written, audible, and visual arguments.
Thesis-based argument
A sustained, arguable claim supported by analysed textual evidence. "Arguable" means reasonable people could disagree with it; a self-evident statement is not a thesis.
Close reading
Detailed analysis of specific passages or quotations, examining word choice, structure, imagery, and context to build interpretive claims.
Expository writing
Writing that explains, informs, or analyses (as opposed to narrative or purely creative writing). The four graded essays in this course are works of exposition and/or argumentation.
Recursive writing process
The idea that reading, note-taking, brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising are not linear steps but overlapping, repeating activities. Identifying which strategies suit your temperament is a course goal.
The question "How does art relate to oppression?" is meant to be expansive, not restrictive
Each text and topic will suggest its own "species of art" or "strain of oppression," so your definitions should evolve across the semester rather than staying fixed
When writing, do not parrot the question's exact wording. Use it as a starting point, then develop more precise language for the specific text and argument you are pursuing
The driving question models the kind of critical thinking the course values: linking disparate ideas, contexts, and genres through a unifying inquiry
You are encouraged to connect course material to your own life in freewrites, discussions, and formal essays
This serves two purposes: it exercises the skill of forging connections across different domains, and it deepens your engagement with the material
Personal connection is not the same as anecdote for its own sake. The goal is to use personal experience as a lens for critical analysis
Critical reading: assess not just what a text conveys but how and why, with attention to style, tone, genre, and format
Rhetorical appraisal: recognise and evaluate persuasive strategies in written, audible, and visual arguments
Thesis-based argumentation: develop complex, sustained claims supported by analysed textual evidence and close reading of quotations
Reflective writing process: become conscious of your own thinking and composing habits, and refine them through peer review, revision, and portfolio reflection
The Well-Crafted Sentence (Nora Bacon) serves as the style and grammar handbook, with weekly exercises
The Disappointment Artist (Jonathan Lethem), Going All City (Stefano Bloch), and Wannabe (Aisha Harris) are the three thematically linked book-length texts explored through the driving question
Supplemental texts, videos, and resources on bCourses round out the reading
Developing nuanced, evolving definitions rather than settling on rigid ones
Classifying each cultural product, piece of art, or instance of oppression on its own terms
Using the driving question as an inclusive classificatory tool that opens possibilities rather than closing them
Forging connections across disparate realms: different texts, different genres, different life experiences
⚠️ The driving question should never appear verbatim in your essays. Always rephrase and sharpen it for the specific text and argument.
⚠️ Autoethnography is not optional flavour. The course values personal connection as a form of critical thinking, not just a warm-up exercise.
⚠️ "Critical reading" in R1A means analysing how and why, not just summarising what. Every essay rubric rewards this distinction.
⚠️ Definitions of "art," "culture," "oppression," and "liberation" are expected to evolve across the semester. Treating them as fixed from the start will limit your analysis.
Q: What is the driving question for the course, and how should you use it in your essays?
A: "How does art relate to oppression?" You should not repeat it word for word. Instead, use it as a starting point and develop more specific, detailed phrasing suited to the particular text and critical argument you are making.
Q: What does "autoethnography" mean in the context of R1A-018?
A: It means drawing on your own life, attitudes, and experiences to forge connections with the course material. The purpose is to exercise critical thinking by linking personal experience to broader cultural and textual analysis.
Q: What distinguishes critical reading from ordinary reading, according to the course goals?
A: Critical reading goes beyond understanding what a text says. It examines how and why the author conveys ideas, paying attention to style, tone, genre, format, and mode of presentation as carriers of meaning.
Q: Why does the syllabus describe the driving question as "classificatory" rather than "exclusionary"?
A: Because each new text should prompt you to identify a new species of art or strain of oppression, expanding your range of analysis. The question is meant to open possibilities, not narrow them.
Q: Name the four student learning outcomes for R1A-018.
A: Critical reading (how and why, not just what), rhetorical appraisal (evaluating persuasive strategies), thesis-based argumentation (sustained claims with analysed evidence), and reflective writing process (conscious revision and self-assessment).
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