Writing demands perseverance. It demands that you try to make sense out of something that at first may seem chaotic. It is a demanding task. You must write and re-write. Your papers will have gone through many drafts, before they are considered final.
Vigorous writing is concise.
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell. You will write two papers and take a final exam. Everyone will write a paper on Ellison, and each will choose to write one on either Douglass, Washington, Du Bois. Grades will be determined by the written work and class participation.