Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Nomina: Radix, Sophie Morrison

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

No abstract provided.

Twine 7: Immaculate, Ryenne Carroll

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

Need to Know

When writing the concept for the game, I wrote this with some form of an understanding of the Persona 5 universe, but I do hope that within the limited storytelling with the minimalistic format, I wrote the lore for this twine game in a way that needs minimal understanding of any other games.

Game Inspirations

The game was inspired by Persona 5, where I drew the inspiration of having a reflective world that ran on purifying hearts. I also drew inspiration from NieR: Automata, which lightly discussed the idea of what beauty actually means, and the lengths …

Twine 6: Deathly Afraid, Jahliem Brown

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

Deathly Afraid's key concept is to scare the player and make them question their choices. I thought of different ideas and scenarios on how my game will present itself to the players. A constant theme in horror games is to make players choose a path of light or dark. The light side is when the player decides to be a hero, risks their life to save others and becomes the one to solve the mysterious evil that hunts the town or kills everybody. The dark side allows the player to explore the evil side by being the main villain and …

Twine 5: 2099: Project Icarus, Nick Devitz

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

For my Choose Your Own Adventure project, I created a cyberpunk, action-oriented story called 2099: Project Icarus. In this story you play as an unnamed, ungendered character who I imagined players giving any identity to them that they wished. The protagonist is a quick-thinking problem solver, able to adapt to any situation they are facing. The story, is that you were fired from your job at a company called Xerxes Technologies, after digging into an incident you believe they were trying to cover up. The main objective of the story is to bring down Xerxes, with hard evidence of their …

Twine 4: The Cost, Nicole Williams

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

The Cost is an interactive fiction told through second person, following the character (“you”) as they wake up to discover themselves in a world they hardly remember. Outside there is an apocalypse, and a doctor has fixed the character to help rectify the world. While there are choices to make at the end, all of them are focused on “immortality” and what the cost of that is.

I came into the process of this game with the world already in my mind, knowing that I wanted it to be an apocalypse type of story. But besides that, I didn’t know …

Twine 3: We Must Be Killers, Oliver Mckeone

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

I’ve always been a fan of murder mysteries, that much is true, but “We Must Be Killers” is a murder mystery based on “Who Killed Markiplier?”, a video based murder mystery made by YouTuber Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach. After watching Mark make a murder mystery where all his friends played roles as various characters, I figured it’d be fun to make “We Must Be Killers” along a similar vein. Each character is based on one of my friends, with input from them about what they wanted their characters to be like. I’ve had this idea bouncing around in my head for …

Twine 2: A Western, Matthew Bandy

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

My game has changed a lot since I originally came up with the concept. Obviously, I took inspiration from western media such as deadwood, Clint Eastwood films, and Red Dead Redemption. The game ended up much more in-depth than I originally planned, but I don’t believe that to be a bad thing in of itself. I believe the biggest flaw of this game was my inexperience with coding. I had so many ideas to add – inventory lists, a map, special text effects – but I didn’t have the knowledge or time to implement these. I think, though, I still …

Twine 1: Shepherding, Alexander Rainer

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

Shepherding will technically be the second creation in a greater project of mine I’ve been calling Project Bleak. The first creation is unfinished and still a WIP, but is meant to be an anomalous NES-style game called Bleak. The story behind it is that evidence of an obscure game development team from the late era of NES games has resurfaced, and a community of lost media gurus, classic game experts, and similar people (plus anyone else who wants to help) has formed to hopefully unravel the mystery of who they were.

Bleak is really just meant to be an odd …

Test File, Sandra M. Leonard

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

No abstract provided.

Earth Needs Help, Rhiannon C. Barto

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Humans destroy earth by polluting the atmosphere and wiping out other living things. Climate change is a human created problem that is increasing the rate at which the damage is occurring. The temperature is increasing at the fastest rate that it has in 10,000 years. With change happening this fast, it is hard for nature and animals, including ourselves, to adapt. Climate change is one of the biggest things causing this change and it is crucial to take action before it is too late. We need to stop deforestation, stop CO2 emissions, and stop the use of fossil fuels. The …

Estrangement Of War In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, Sophia L. Tornay

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

An application of Victor Shklovsky's Theory of Prose to Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five.

Adhd: A Personal Struggle, Julianna Vanvalin

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

This paper attempts to show my struggles with ADHD and how not receiving proper care can hinder someone.

Death Is Alive In Letter Writing, Rebekah L. Smith

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

Language, according to Derrida, is a complex machine that is not just understood between two people, but between everyone.

Teaching The Power Of Pictures, Rachel Speranza

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

Though choosing sources that have specific copyright that allows for the reuse, modification, and redistribution of pictures is an important lesson for all students of all grade levels, what’s even a more important lesson is that of the power of social media. The perfect picture can spread like a wildfire across all social media platforms. Pictures have the power to change someone’s mood, political opinion, and even advocate for change on the other side of the world.

Genesis: A False Start, Tate Kollar

Honors Theses

Genesis is the first book of the Bible. As the starting block for humanity and creation, Genesis holds incredible weight. Genesis is the beginning of God’s foundational text for his people. Intuitively, one would expect the content of the narratives in Genesis to reflect this weight. One would expect models for human behavior. One would think it would be the first step on the path to redemption from the Fall in the garden. One would expect God to help his people in creating safe, efficient, supportive, functional communities and families. Contrary to these expectations, a majority of the Genesis narrative …

Rhetsec_ | Rhetorical Security, Jennifer Mead

Culminating Projects in English

Rhetsec_ examines the rhetorical situation, the rhetorical appeals, and how phishing emails simulate "real" emails in five categories of phishing emails. While the first focus of cybersecurity is security, you must also understand the language of computers to know how to secure them. Phishing is one way to compromise security using computers, and so the computer becomes a tool for malicious language (phishing emails and malware) to be transmitted. Therefore to be concerned with securing computers, then you must also be concerned with language. Language is rhetoric's domain, and the various rhetorical elements which create an identity of the phisher …

In Sickness And In Health, Katharine Keiser

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

Being the most sensitive person in my family was always a problem. My parents would constantly tell me I was exaggerating largely and making issues worse than they were, and I took this as a criticism every single time it was said. At 12 years old, I began to learn why they always told me not to exaggerate a circumstance. My grandmother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, but nobody told me she was battling cancer until after her major surgery. When my dad was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a year later, I truly understood what it meant to appreciate those …

If You Hate Group Projects Say, "I", Rebekah Smith

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

This is a blog post that strives to understand the hatred of group assignments in hopes to create a more collaborative classroom.

She Dreams In Burkean Color (Or, On Rhetoric And Writing Pedagogy), Paul Walker

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Developing The Writing-Information Literacy Nexus: Results Of A Three-Year Illinois Wesleyan Mellon Grant, Chris Sweet, Joel Haefner

Scholarly Publications

This presentation summarizes some of the successes and challenges of a 3-year Mellon Grant that targeted both Writing and Information Literacy in the disciplines. Grant activities included collaborative assignment design, pedagogical workshops, enhanced writing tutor training, and additional professional development opportunities.

Let Me Queer My Throat: Queer Rhetorics Of Negotiation: Marriage Equality And Homonormativity, Hillery Glasby

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

“Let Me Queer My Throat: Queer Rhetorics of Negotiation – Marriage Equality and Homonormativity" is a project that grew from personal tensions the author faced while simultaneously reading critical queer critiques of the marriage equality movement and homonormativity and planning her own same-sex wedding. Rather than argue a clear-cut position, the author explores conflicting discourses on same-sex marriage and openly struggles with her multiple subject positions. Blending photography, personal writing, alternative rhetorics, and traditional academic discourse, the author investigates what's at stake with her upcoming same-sex wedding, while remaining conscious of queer politics. This project argues that queer participation in …

Led Zeppelin Is The World's Greatest Rock Band - And Why You Should Care: Presentation, Sharine Borslien

Sharine Borslien

No abstract provided.

Embracing The Messy Business Of Learning: Serving Multiple Stakeholders In A Technical Communication Internship, Michael Klein, Scott Lunsford, Cindy Chiarello

Scott Lunsford

No abstract provided.

The 5-Sided Lego, Hanna Barker, Shawn Beaumont

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

The study of rhetoric usually concerns itself with analysis of discourse more clearly identifiable as a text, but often overlooked is how apparently non-textual elements may shape our own personal narratives. However, rhetorical theory can indeed be applied to something like LEGO, that beyond marketing and branding, most people do not immediately consider textual. Ultimately by using the Burkeian pentad as a terministic screen, this project aims to determine how the act of playing with LEGO, and even the LEGO brick itself, serve to construct realities, and how those realities impact our own.

A Need For Green: An Approach For Motivating Environmentally Sustainable Practices At The University Of Rhode Island, Alyssa Mason, Mary Vidal

Senior Honors Projects

“Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade

Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man details his yearlong experiment to live without creating any environmental impact. As sophomores we were inspired by Beavan’s journey but also skeptical of living a completely no-impact lifestyle as college-students. Although we were motivated to try to live sustainably, our efforts were dormant until our junior year. That year we decided that we would attempt to live up to the standards set forth by Beavan--understanding that some practices would be harder …

A Need For Green: An Approach For Motivating Environmentally Sustainable Practices At The University Of Rhode Island, Mary Vidal, Alyssa Mason

Senior Honors Projects

“Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade

Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man details his yearlong experiment to live without creating any environmental impact. As sophomores we were inspired by Beavan’s journey but also skeptical of living a completely no-impact lifestyle as college-students. Although we were motivated to try to live sustainably, our efforts were dormant until our junior year. That year we decided that we would attempt to live up to the standards set forth by Beavan--understanding that some practices would be harder …

Recitative: The Persuasive Tenor Of Jazz Culture In Langston Hughes, Billy Strayhorn, And John Coltrane, Andrew Vogel

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Jazz is more than music. Jazz is a culture defined by a progressive ethos encoded in sound. By putting the poetry and music of Langston Hughes, Billy Strayhorn, and John Coltrane into conversation, this essay demonstrates the versatility and vitality of jazz culture. However, jazz culture has come to be drowned out in America today, and so I argue for a return to the voices of jazz's past so that we can give a new ear to jazz artists working today. Such listening should be seen as a means to reinvigorate progressive values today and in the future.

Audiobiography: A Sonic Memoir Of The 1960s, John F. Barber

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This essay and its accompanying sound file speak to a personal narrative of the author's life in the 1960s, a time of tremendous social, political, and cultural change. By creating a narrative of his life at the time, sampled from period radio and television reports/programs, the author attempts to recreate the rhetorical context of his life at that time. The desired end result is a personal narrative with a broader appeal. Not a typical radio documentary, however, nor a narrated history, the intent of Sounds of My Life: A sixties radio narrative is instead to remix the medium of its …

Two Sound Pieces, Keith Dorwick

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

These two sound works gathered here ("At the Edge of Sleep" and "For Voices, No Longer Human") were assembled out of ordinary, even mundane sounds. In each, I slowed down the tempo of the original sound cues such as a cat eating kibbles or a voice uttering nonsense. Further manipulation of the sounds to make entirely new pieces created abstract sound landscapes, if you will, that take on (I hope) a mythic quality far removed from their original sources. In the case of "For Voices, No Longer Human," Harlot's review process resulted in a whole new (and much stronger) work, …

Scully And Me: Or, The X-Files, Revisited, Rita Malenczyk

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This essay reflects on the longevity of The X-Files phenomenon through the lens, primarily, of gender. The common interpretation of the two agents' roles as reversing traditional male/female stereotypes--Scully, the female, is rational, while the male Mulder is imaginative--has never seemed particularly right to me, especially when one throws Scully's Catholicism into the mix. Rather, it seems that, throughout the series, two belief systems come into conflict; while Mulder's appears privileged because of his gender, the show subtly critiques that privilege through its portrayal of Scully's Catholicism.(I suppose this essay is, in a way, an attempt to figure out what's …