English Language and Literature Commons^™

A Historiographical Look Into The Origins Of Jazz, Rachel G. Zinck

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

Historiography handles the way that historians' writings on a given topic has changed over time. My paper, on the origins of jazz music in the United States, takes a particular look at 8 historians, works ranging from 1946 to 2001, and evaluates their arguments. I ultimately make the case for one particular historian as having the best and most comprehensive discussion on the topic.

American Negro Minstrelsy: Good, Bad, Or Somewhere In-Between?, Emily R. Wellmann

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

I chose my topic for this project early in the semester and began researching it soon after that. I used eight sources for my research and wrote an annotated bibliography. This bibliography was a huge benefit to the first draft of my paper, which just included a description of the sources. That draft was peer reviewed and given notes by my professor. The final paper was turned in shortly after, including an additional introduction and conclusion. After receiving my grade from my professor I edited it before turning it in here.

The Weight Of Love, Garrett P. Steele

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

This project examines the graphic novel Romeo and Juliet: The War and how it relates and connects to "The University of Dayton's Mission Statement on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition" (CIT). In order to get started on the project, I looked over my notes for the CIT as well as for Romeo and Juliet and made a list of themes that I thought were interesting and that connected nicely with both works. From there, I created an outline, preparing what I wanted to say in the essay and then wrote a first draft of the essay. The first draft was incomplete …

Frank Zhang: Hipster Extraordinaire, Myra C. Tumlos, Garrett P. Steele

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

After the delicate deliberation of the characters of the series Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan, it was decided by both writers that Frank Zhang, son of Mars, is the ultimate hipster demigod. The structure of this essay was based on a simple argument, and carefully dissects the full series in order to really convey who Frank Zhang really is. It was additionally concluded by both writers that as complicated and intricate a character as Frank Zhang is, we wanted the audience to be able to not only imagine the illustrations of the character, but to further empathize with the …

A Simple Syllable, Zach A. Snyder

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

This assignment was a simple literacy narrative about some point in my life that helped develop my love for reading. I choose a point early in my life where I had a speech impediment and had trouble speaking words clearly. I got over this difficult time by reading. The only research I had to do for this paper was figure or some smaller details from my parents that I could not remember since I was so young. Other than that all the information came from the deep depths on my mind. There were 3 drafts to this paper, a rough …

The Struggle For Meaningful Education, Maura Cullen

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

This assignment was to create an informational synthesis essay that compared two different sources that were discussed in class, and give an example on how the topic has affected my own life. I read Walker Percy's text, "The Loss of the Creature," and carefully analyzed the meanings behind the "preformed complexes" that society pushes on people. Then I looked into Paulo Freire and Donald Macedo's excerpt, Literacy: Reading the Word and the World. This reading emphasizes the implications of literacy, and I spent most of my time trying to figure out the complex ideas that these authors are portraying. …

And The Oscar Goes To, Jennifer M. Rondinelli

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

For my English 100 class, my professor required us to write a comparative rhetoric paper. We were given complete control over what kind of media we wanted to be the focus of our paper and what we topic we wanted to write about. I chose to write about the movie Spotlight, the recent Academy Award winning film that followed the investigative team that uncovered the priest pedophilia scandal in Boston in 2002. I had recently viewed the film and it had an enormous impact on me as a young Catholic attending a Catholic Marianist university. I chose for media …

‘How Little I Cared For Fame’: T. Sparrow And Women’S Investigative Journalism At The Fin De Siècle, Laura Vorachek

English Faculty Publications

This article analyzes the work of an overlooked female journalist, T. Sparrow, arguing that her career reveals the difficulties female journalists faced when negotiating between the expectations of middle-class gentility and the demands of investigative journalism.

Sparrow asserted her gentility rhetorically, in part because female reporters who took up investigative reporting were vulnerable to criticism for assaying beyond domestic subjects. Moreover, incognito investigative reporting often brought celebrity to its practitioners, which challenged the convention of middle-class female modesty.

Sparrow, therefore, strove for a delicate balance in her career—assuming the stance of a middle-class woman who lived among the poor, someone …

Activism, Community And Cultural Heritage: “Communitism” In Creek Literature, Rachel Maria Cain

Honors Theses

"Communitism" refers to literature that encourages activism by celebrating and promoting American Indian communities. This thesis investigates how the literary works, The Fus Fixico Letters (1902 – 1908) and Drowning in Fire (2004), are communitist by supporting specific political and social changes in Creek communities. Through The Fus Fixico Letters Alexander Posey promoted his progressive political convictions, including that Creeks should embrace land allotment and endorse the creation a separate state for American Indians. Drowning in Fire, by Craig Womack, takes place throughout 1904 – 1993 and relates traditional Creek stories and practices to modern life. The novel delves …

Poetry And The Post-Apocalyptic Paradox: North American Indigenous Disruptions To The Westernized Self, Joseph Benjamin Ziegler Ferber

Honors Theses

This three-chapter project explores the work of three poets, each identifying with different North American indigenous tribes. Their work challenges western poetic conventions and notions of individualism to offer alternative worldviews and complicate mainstream oversimplifications of American Indian identity. Brandi MacDougall investigates assumptions of the Western Self represented by the "I" Perspective common in Western thought; Sherman Alexie revises the sonnet form to portray the complexity of how contemporary American Indians navigate the blending of capitalist institutions and native traditions; Kristi Leora offers readers an enlightened conception of self-hood by balancing processes of western socialization with native cosmology. Ultimately, this …

The Demons Of Coed Intramural Sports, Amanda M. Schleper

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The purpose of this assignment was to select a topic within the realms of gender issues, complete research in the library, and conduct personal research in the form of a survey or an interview. I knew I wanted to select a topic that was relative to me and my community. After talking to several of my peers, I realized there was a large controversy over the topic of gender specific rules in coed intramural sports. Thus, I decided to delve into the issue by undertaking it as my essay topic. Researching in the library and finding many scholarly sources as …

'Let It Go': Disney's New Approach To Copyright Enforcement, Kathryn W. O'Rourke

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

After the research paper had been assigned, I began researching possible topics. Once I found an area that interested me, I narrowed down my research and formulated a working argument. There have been many writings about Disney's strict enforcement of copyright; I however took a different approach. I gathered scholarly and popular sources that ranged from background information, similar arguments, and counter points. For the rough draft, I first crafted an outline, then wrote the body paragraphs, and finally the introduction and conclusion. In class, we had a peer review session and my professor gave us constructive notes on our …

Black Widow: Avenger Of Feminism, Elizabeth G. Michalenko

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The purpose of the assignment was to construct a well-researched argument regarding a socially different superhero and their role in society. The argument needed to address the super’s social difference, as well as how that social difference defines the super’s role. Through class brainstorming sessions and individual research, I determined that emerging gender issues in American society and culture would provide the impetus for my investigation. I searched for the quintessential female hero and found Black Widow from the Marvel universe. Black Widow defies the stereotypes of women and superheroes by living within the constraints of both worlds without succumbing …

Flawed Heroes, Flawless Villain, Lauren N. Geiser

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

This assignment was a textual analysis of the graphic novel Watchmen. The two course objectives of ENG 200H were addressed: to “demonstrate abilities to read complicated and complex texts closely and critically” and to “explore the relevance of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT) in reading, writing, and rhetoric.” Reading Watchmen, we aimed to demonstrate how the novel is related to the CIT, either through connections or disconnections. Because the assignment is a textual analysis, I had to pay close attention to the context of Watchmen and the CIT, include a summary of the text though a specific angle, narrow …

Copyright Laws In The Music Industry, Elise M. Erhart

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

This assignment was to write an argumentative research paper on a topic related to the course theme, which was Remix Culture. After browsing through a list of suggested topics and reading about a number of famous copyright cases, I finally chose my topic. My biggest struggle during the composition of this paper was figuring out how to organize all of my thoughts and weave them into the research that I gathered. Having both a peer review day in class and a conference with my professor was very helpful and gave me a fresh perspective on my work, making it much …

Women In Engineering: Shifting The Balance, Samuel A. Barnhart

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

This writing was submitted as the final research paper for my English class. The paper includes analysis of multiple sources and my original research done via survey of female engineering students at the University of Dayton. The paper underwent several peer reviews in class, assessed by the professor before submission, and was critiqued at the Write Place before submission.

Changing Princess Peach, Christian A. Matico

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The main assignment for this paper was to gather sources from academia and various news sources and create a synthesis argument on a topic dealing with women in a certain field. All of the students chose a topic they felt strongly about and that showed how women have been encompassed in my field. Due to my admiration of video games, I decided to show how specifically female characters were being portrayed in popular titled games. A lot of research came from our presentations we had to do before hand on our topic and further research was done to gather statistics …

Fake Characters: Real Suffering, Brian P. Callahan

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

In this paper, I was asked to describe positive or negative literacy sponsors I have encountered in my life.

A Letter To A Struggling German Catholic During The Reformation, Rachel G. Zinck

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The assignment presented was to write a position paper in the format of a letter to a German Catholic friend undergoing an existential crisis during the Reformation period. First, we needed to analyze Martin Luther's 3 Walls of the Romanists, and then take a stance either choosing to follow or ignore Luther. In writing this essay, I spent a lot of time reading over Luther's arguments and reflecting on my own personal views and compared them with careful consideration. I was aware that the situation at the time was a matter of life and death for many, and attempted to …

Degree Of Change: The Ma In English Studies, Margaret M. Strain, Rebecca C. Potter

English Faculty Publications

From the publisher: As the needs of those seeking an MA in English studies have evolved, so too have the degree’s mission and identity. Margaret M. Strain and Rebecca C. Potter, editors of Degree of Change: The MA in English Studies, argue that the MA is positioned in a dynamic contact zone—“a place where disciplinary knowledge, student need, and local exigencies interact and where disciplinary identity is constantly negotiated.”

Looking primarily at stand-alone master’s programs, this volume examines the design, delivery, and value of a master’s degree in English in the twenty-first century and challenges the characterization that MA programs …

Teaching Anglo-American Academic Writing And Intercultural Rhetoric: A Grounded Theory Study Of Practice In Ontario Secondary Schools, Amir Kalan

English Faculty Publications

This qualitative research project is a grounded theory study of the experiences of five EAL (English as an additional language) academic writing instructors with intercultural rhetoric. Following the academic conversation about contrastive/intercultural rhetoric, this investigation explores narratives of classroom practice in Ontario secondary schools in order to underline L2 writing activities that are sensitive to intercultural rhetoric. This paper includes explanations of the phenomenon of intercultural rhetoric as identified by the interviewed instructors and lists practical strategies employed by the participants. These strategies are organized in three categories: (1) strategies that use the potential of students’ first languages and mother …

Adolescent Literacy And Collaborative Inquiry, Rob Simon, Amir Kalan

English Faculty Publications

In a teacher education classroom in Toronto, groups of middle school students, teacher candidates, and university researchers, members of our research collaborative, the Teaching to Learn Project (Simon et al., 2014; Simon & the Teaching to Learn Project, 2014), discuss projects developed from curricula they coauthored for Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1986). Maus documents Spiegelman’s father’s recollections of the Holocaust and the author’s own struggles to come to terms with what it means to be the child of a Holocaust survivor.

Youth and teachers involved in the Teaching to Learn Project collectively worked through what historian …

Access, Oppression, And Social (In)Justice In Epidemic Control: Race, Profession, And Communication In Sars Outbreaks In Canada And Singapore, Huiling Ding, Xiaoli Li, Austin Caldwell Haigler

English Faculty Publications

This article investigates issues of social injustice experienced by various oppressed groups in SARS outbreaks in 2003, paying particular attention to medical care workers in Canada and Singapore, with many of them being immigrants from East Asia and Southeast Asia. It identifies communication strategies employed by civic networks, especially nonprofit organizations, to help marginalized groups acquire institutional and literacy accesses so that they could respond more effectively to such injustices in complicated and multicultural contexts. Through combined use of Jost and Kay’s work on the three types of social justice (2010), oppression (Young, 1990), and access (Porter, 1998), this study …