Special section of Rhetoric 1101

Yet another teaching post! Can you tell what's on my mind today? In the fall, I'll be teaching a special section of Rhetoric 1101 that has 15 seats reserved for students in the SEAM (Student Excellence in Academics and Multiculturalism) program. The same students will take the Rhetoric 1101 class and a couple of other classes together. In other words, they will be a "learning cohort," or small student learning community. Student learning communities and student living/learning communities are new initiatives that the university is taking to give students a positive learning experience and probably to improve retention rates as well. I want to, in this class, meet the requirements of 1101 but open the content up to forms of rhetorical expression that aren't necessarily traditional essays. I'll continue to use two books I've taught for a year now: A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid and Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. I might bring in lyrics from Common or Nas--songs that are making an argument. For example, I think the song "I Can" makes a relevant argument. This is all just off the top of my head, though...I'm excited but a bit intimidated about this opportunity. Part of teaching a SEAM section is collaborating with the instructors of the other SEAM classes that the students in the cohort are taking, so that will be nice.