English Language and Literature Commons^™

Characterizing The Female Main Character, Addison Leana Butler

Masters Theses

The strong female character is a term tossed around writing groups, book clubs, and TikTok as something to both strive to see and critique in literature. This research paper transformed throughout the actual research as it went from a study on cozy fantasy emergence and its effects to strong female characters and how to write them well, to its current iteration along similar lines of writing strong female characters. Qualitative and quantitative data was gathered through the use of a survey that I wrote and put to the field, research done primarily through JSTOR, and interviews conducted with experts in …

“I Passed First-Year Writing—What Now?” Adapting Strategies From First-Year Writing To Writing In The Disciplines, Amy T. Cicchino

Publications

This chapter foreshadows challenges you can experience as you adapt your writing beyond your first-year writing course to become a writer in your discipline.1 The essay contains a student scenario, defines key rhetorical concepts within discipline-specific writing situations, and gives you strategies for adapting these rhetorical concepts to new writing situations. After reading this chapter, you will better understand how the concepts introduced in first-year writing connect to the writing you will encounter in your upper-level, disciplinary courses and identify strategies that will help you intentionally adapt writing knowledge to new discipline-specific contexts.

Pedagogical Alliances Among Writing Instructors And Teaching Librarians Through A Writing Information Literacy Community Of Practice, Zoe Mcdonald, Deborah Minter

Department of English: Faculty Publications

In this praxis piece, a WPA and a writing instructor describe a writing information literacy community of practice among writing instructors and teaching librarians. Through paying attention to one resulting assignment, a full class annotated bibliography, the co-authors argue this professional development program extended collaborations among the writing program and the library to center contextual notions of authority and metacognition that connect to composition’s democratic political commitments.

The Cross And The Crime Scene: The Convergence Of Writing As A Christian And The Mystery Genre, Ellie Talalight

Senior Honors Theses

This creative thesis begins with a discussion of the different approaches to writing as a Christian. It describes the evangelistic approach, the integrative approach, and the thematic approach, which vary in the degree to which the author’s faith is explicitly or implicitly included. The thesis then focuses on the way Dorothy Sayers and G. K. Chesterton incorporated their faith into their mystery stories. It then includes excerpts from an original mystery novel. Finally, it considers the value and purpose of this project.

Engl 200: Writing About Writing (The Problem Of The University), Flora De Tournay

Open Educational Resources

"The Problem of the University" is a (largely) open education syllabus that marries a criticality of/with the university as a site and space of knowledge making and knowledge suppression with a metacognitive writing approach for undergraduate students. The syllabus' contents include texts from bell hooks, Paolo Freire, Derrida, Fred Moten and Stefano Harney, Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang, among others.

Complete and updated syllabus available at https://waboutw.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Eng 2800 (Great Works Of Literature I), Joseph Riccio

Open Educational Resources

In this course, we’ll be exploring a wide range of texts from ancient, medieval, and early modern cultures; from oral and written literary traditions; in a variety of genres (epic, lyric, tales, and drama). We will trace the development of themes, ideas, and characters across time and space. Our conversations about these texts will be shaped loosely around the role of literature and storytelling in relation to empires and various formations of power. We will read each of these works in context, thinking about the cultures that produced them, and consider how they relate to our own present moment. And, …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Eng 2150t (Writing Ii), Cathryn Crosby Grundleger

Open Educational Resources

Writing II is an intensification of Writing I. This course encourages students to read, reflect on, write about, and synthesize ideas from a range of genres and literary forms. Students examine and learn how to employ different styles, various appropriate uses of evidence and counter-evidence, multiple methods of interpretations, close readings of texts, and, finally, literary-cultural contextualizations. As the course proceeds, students further develop competency in the use and evaluation of multiple external sources as they shape and express their own ideas and cast them into well organized, thoughtful, and persuasive argumentative essays. This course is required for all undergraduate …

Engl 130: Writing About Literature In English, Kimberley A. Garcia

Open Educational Resources

This Open and Free Educational Resource (OER) and Zero-Cost Syllabus outlines a set of course materials for English 130: Writing about Literature in English. The course materials provided (all open education resources) include both written and visual texts to accompany and encourage multimodal assignments. The materials provided address literary analysis or composition practices and are adaptable to specific topics or literary works. The course model presented consists of three units (literary analysis, rhetorical analysis & scholarly engagement, and independent research).

Wave By Wave: A Fantasy Author's Guide For Refining A Creative Writing Style, Michael Bose

Senior Honors Theses

Writing a novel is a great undertaking. Many would-be writers have set out to create a novel and give up halfway through, uncertain where or how they failed. This project aims to help prospective authors get past that barrier. By analyzing one’s own writing style, a writer can ascertain greater insight into the strengths and weaknesses of one’s own work and therefore help rectify mistakes one might make otherwise, or learn to see a chapter from a new angle. The author will demonstrate this method on himself first by way of focused revisions. A sample chapter of a fantasy novel, …

Nature, Magic, And Healing: How Leslie Silko Builds Her Native World, Ashton Q. Record

Student Publications

An essay examining how Leslie M. Silko utilizes the relationship between Nature and Native American Mystic Arts to create a full and vibrant world in her novel Ceremony.

The Supporting Role: Cultivating A Writing Life To Prevent And Combat Writer's Block, Molly Elizabeth Hanberry

Masters Theses

Every writer will suffer from writer’s block from time to time, and there are two general schools of thought in dealing with this affliction: wait it out or struggle through. The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the nature of writer’s block from a fundamental level, beginning with the neuroscience of creativity. From there, it will explore the three root causes of writer’s block: lack of inspiration, burnout, and fear. And finally, with an understanding of its causes, it will be possible to examine ways to combat writer’s block through methods based in neuroscience, personal experience, and professional advice …

The Prevalence Of Grammar In Virginia Higher Education, Caroline Nicatie Stimpson

Masters Theses

This thesis describes why the prescriptive grammar model should be implemented in public education rather than the descriptive grammar model. For the purposes of this paper, prescriptive grammar refers to how words ought to be used, while descriptive grammar refers to how words are used by native speakers in natural settings. The central issue I address in this thesis is how prescriptive grammar enables students to read and write properly, heightens their linguistic knowledge, improves their ability to express themselves, and teaches them useful skills for future educational and employment opportunities. Additionally, it outlines the flaws inherent in the descriptive …

Engl 152w Readings In American Literature, Weiheng Sun

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Independence And Interdependence In The Writing Center, Candace Heki

Tutor's Column

The writing center should be a space where we, as tutors, promote both independence and interdependence. We should strive to help students improve their skills, so they have the confidence to move forward with their paper and future papers on their own. We should also encourage interdependence through collaboration with the writing center. Students can benefit from their tutor offering unique perspectives and a place where the writer can talk through their ideas. Tutors need to be available to meet students’ individual needs by offering a balance between our focuses on self-sufficiency and collaboration.

Constructive Criticism: Analyzing And Implementing Student Feedback As A Tutor, Gracie Jo Averett

Tutor's Column

Writing centers are subject to student feedback as they operate, collecting both negative and positive comments through exit surveys after appointments. This essay analyzes these types of feedback and how tutors and writing centers can use both types of feedback to their advantage when serving their students. Being able to analyze the feedback that they receive can allow a tutor to make adjustments, when needed, to their tutoring process.

The Enemy Of Writing: Standardized Testing, Catelynn Pasterchick

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

As the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Act of 2001 enforced frequent standardized testing, the US Department of Education established a curriculum centered around drilling test material to meet nationwide requirements. Consequently, students are still offered a limited education, encouraging skills like memorization and quick thinking to be reflected in their scores. Particularly in writing, these tests and timed assignments stifle creativity, as they leave little room for students to be thoughtful and critical in their responses. Standardized tests lead both teachers and students to forget the purpose of writing as a tool for authentic expression and individuality. Furthermore, the …

Speed Dating Peer Review Activity, Gloria Gianoulis, Susan Rocco

Open Educational Resources

Peer Review of student writing in a fully online, synchronous learning environment can be challenging. By drawing on the principles of speed dating, this activity meets 3 goals for fostering student success: fosters student-student engagement, encourages student investment in peer review, and improves students' accountability for participation.

Writing Priorities Across Academic Disciplines, Ashley Conway

Summer Scholarship, Creative Arts and Research Projects (SCARP)

This project examines the writing priorities of varied disciplines at Elizabethtown College to better understand what they value in student writing. A survey sent to faculty collected discipline-specific writing concerns and information about writing requirements beyond foundational courses. It also gathered thoughts on how EN100, Etown’s introductory English composition course, supports or fails upper-level writing. Follow-up interviews were conducted with select faculty. Faculty responded that sentence mechanics errors, paragraphs that lack unity or feel disorganized, failure to find effective sources when needed, and lack of clarity at the word or sentence level were the most problematic common writing errors when …

Et Cetera, 2019-2021, Marshall University

Et Cetera

Founded in 1953, Et Cetera is an annual literary magazine that publishes the creative writing and artwork of Marshall University students and affiliates. Et Cetera is free to the Marshall University community.

Et Cetera welcomes submissions in literary and film criticism, poetry, short stories, drama, all types of creative non-fiction, photography, and art.

The Storying Of Colombian Writing Centers, Jennifer Erin Pretzer

Masters Theses

Using the results from a study conducted on Colombian writing centers, this thesis applies principles from narrative theory to posit a grand narrative for Colombian writing center professionals. The study was modeled on one Jackie Grutsch McKinney used to examine US writing center professionals’ descriptions of their work, and the thesis includes a comparison with her results. Respondents were asked to answer seven questions, two of which were multiple choice and five of which were short answer. The questions asked respondents to describe their tutoring staff composition, their center’s operations, writing centers in general, and ways their center resembles and …

Low Textbook Cost Syllabus For Eng 2150 (Writing Ii), Maxine Krenzel

Open Educational Resources

Welcome to English 2150, a writing and reading intensive course that will introduce you to the practice and process of conducting original research. This class will walk you through the research process step-by-step, from drafting an initial research question, to reading and analyzing archival and secondary sources, and eventually mapping out your findings in a final research portfolio. You will learn over the course of the semester that the research process begins with simply asking a question that addresses a topic or issue that impacts you in some way; it is my hope that by the end of the semester, …

Growth Theory, Samantha Leon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

GROWTH THEORY reckons with a natural world in distress and imagines what attributes and learnings are needed for the individual to become a more beneficial part of the natural world. What does a person’s interaction with their surroundings say about them, and say about the surroundings? Violence, art, relationships, community are all examined along with the mediums through which we record our reality: speaking, writing, singing, taking photos. Despite covering a breadth of physical places and topics, a central tension that takes place between fear and curiosity colors the manuscript throughout. Poems are ordered by subject or temporal consideration, but …

Writing For Engineers, Alexander J. Moser

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Freshman Composition: Early College Initiative, Julianne Davidow

Open Educational Resources

The purpose of this course is to provide further practice with a variety of genres that you’ll use throughout your college career and in your professional life. These genres include reflection, analysis, reporting, arguing, and self-assessment. While you likely had experience with these genres in your primary and secondary education, this class will provide you with an opportunity to expand and develop your range. In addition to exploring these genres, we will also develop our research practices to make use of City College’s virtual library.

Connecting Our Pedagogical Questions And Goals: An Exercise For Writing Teacher Development, Jessica Rivera-Mueller

English Faculty Publications

In this article, the author argues writing teachers can more fully inquire into their questions about teaching writing by paying closer attention to the ways their goals for teacher development shape their engagement in pedagogical inquiry. To explain these connections and illustrate these possibilities, the author shares findings from a narrative-inquiry study that examined the development of pedagogical inquiry in the lives of four teachers of writing. Using the participating teachers' shared goals for teacher development, the author demonstrates how writing teachers can reflect upon the development of pedagogical inquiry, stretch themselves to practice other aspects of pedagogical inquiry, and …

We Found Language In A Lonely Place: A Rumination Into Quieting The Fears Of El Students And Quieting Our Own Fears About Effectively Tutoring Them, Zoe Baldwin

Tutor's Column

This text shares the concern that many tutors face in effectively tutoring EL students by helping their confidence as writers, addressing their concerns, and helping them build long-term writing skills. The text will address what tutors can do in their tutoring sessions to help EL students with their writing concerns. There is discussion about some of the most common EL concerns such as grammar, or cohesion. These concerns are met with suggestions such as addressing grammar, talking about the ideas that the writer wants to convey, brainstorming ideas and getting them to write them down, and being mindful of how …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Eng 2150 (Writing Ii), Elizabeth Mannion

Open Educational Resources

In this class, the second of a two-course sequence in the Pathways Required Core, we’ll explore how language and other meaning-making symbols reflect the Gramercy neighborhood, home to Baruch College, particularly during the Gilded Age (1870s-1914). We’ll read literature of the period by authors with ties to this neighborhood, and study the 1913 Armory Show (which was held across the street at the 69th Regiment Armory), which blurred, challenged, and disrupted the social lines of Gilded Age New York.

Critical Introduction: Responsibility And Representation & Introduction To All My Mother’S Lovers, Ilana Masad

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This critical component of the creative thesis All My Mother’s Lovers explores the question of fiction writers’ responsibility to themselves, their work, and their readers in the age of social media and easy access of readers to writers and vice versa. Using two examples of recent online controversies, this piece explores the varying ways in which readers respond to writers and writers to readers and rhetorically analyzes the responses of those in positions of power (writers, publishers) as well as the cultural contexts from within which they respond. It then draws conclusions as to the trajectory of these two controversies, …

Eng 302 Playwriting Workshop, Hillary Miller

Open Educational Resources

Pedagogical materials created during Spring 2019 OER/Digital Literacy fellowship at Queens College, revising English 302: Playwriting Workshop.

Exploring The Academic/Creative Writing Binary, Jessica O'Leary

Honors College Theses

I began to work on this study in my ENG 201: Writing in the Disciplines class during my junior year at Pace University. After being asked to write a paper on what writing looks like in my discipline, I realized that my perceptions of the kinds of writing done by faculty and students in a university English department were limited and constricting as a result of the binary way in which I viewed academic and creative forms of writing. For instance, I had trouble believing that my creative writing professor studied pre-med in undergrad. I continued my research on this …