Hannah Amerson

Mentor: Dr. Ed Hinck
Research: The Effectiveness of Angela Davis's Rhetoric in Are Prisons Obsolete?

This study investigated the writing style of Angela Davis as depicted in her 2003 text Are Prisons Obsolete? to determine opportunities for transformative dialogue surrounding controversial topics. Though she was able to inspire the world fifty years ago to revolt against the American prison system, there are still over 2 million people imprisoned in the United States today. By analyzing her writing to identify tactics and possible shortcomings, the content in the text could be adapted to have a greater effect on more readers. Extensive literature review provided context to the study, and rhetorical analysis was conducted utilizing ideological critique. This review of the text found that there was a minimal amount of inflammatory language, anecdotal evidence, or other factors that might be alienating to audiences, suggesting that its limited reach is more related to access and distribution rather than content or method. Research is ongoing.