Writing Assignment #2: Manifestos (Due Wed 3/31 in class)

Thank you all for the lively readings of the manifestos in class.  As discussed, manifestos are bold statements of personal belief.  They are products of the author's immediate moment.  They take into consideration the past, yet are anti-history because they compel us to consider (with abandon) what the future could/should/need to be.  Some manifestos are loud but they can also be quiet; the most important thing is that they are action.

Your assignment for next week has 2 parts (not necessarily done in this order):

1) Write your own manifesto.

2) Find an example of a manifesto that you find fascinating and write an "ingredient lists" for it. 
In other words, what are the qualities that make it tick.  Keep in mind, those qualities can be literal, i.e. "exclamation points", or figurative, i.e. "running barefoot through a room full of mouse traps." 

Please bring turn in your manifestos in class next Wednesday.

NEWS FLASH: It has been brought to our attention that some of you have already written a manifesto in another class.  Great, you've got a head start, but you also have baggage.  For this assignment, you should either write a new manifesto for this new moment in your life, or really reconsider your previous manifesto and re-work it.  Really test it to see if it is still alive.  Honor system here folks.

Materials discussed in class:

• Futurist Manifesto (1909)
• The Gettysburg Address (1863)
• The Rat Manifesto, Erik Ehn (2001)