Ricardo Cortez Cruz is a Decatur, Illinois native, a Professor of English at Illinois State University, and the author of two novels and more than forty short stories. Professor Cruz recently visited Lincoln Land Community College, where he was interviewed by Deborah Brothers after speaking to LLCC composition students who had read his essay, “Welcome to the Land of Freedom,” (co-authored with his cousin Rodney Cruz). In Part One of this video, Professor Cruz discusses composing stylistics and the idea of sampling. In Part Two, he stresses complexity in writing as well as the importance of urgency.