English Language and Literature Commons^™

Texts Tell Truths, Emma R. Venetis

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The assignment for this essay was to provide a close reading analysis of a writing or visual strategy in the novel Watchmen by Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore, while making connections to how this strategy relates (or doesn't) to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT). To get started on this essay, I looked through various in-class writings we had done regarding rhetorical strategies in this novel. I also reviewed information about the CIT and typed a two-page-long brainstorm of all the rhetorical strategies I found that interested me, and the connections I could find between those and CIT. After deciding on …

Slenderize Me: Youth's Infatuation With Images In The Media, Madeline W. Collins

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

I began to compose this research paper based on an assignment in my English 200H Writing Seminar. The assignment was to use original and unoriginal research to argue and prove an opinion about a gender-related issue. I began the process by researching online articles about the effects of the images in the media on young adults. Being a young woman in the era of technology made me very interested in how the increased media exposure of today negatively affects the confidence levels and body images of myself and other girls my age. After gathering baseline information from online academic articles, …

Legitimacy Of Fan Fiction, Daniel J. Fesenmeier

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The process began began by exploring different possible topics related to the class theme of "remix culture". From there I met with Professor Biswas and formulated a strong thesis for my argument. Then I found sources applicable to my topic. I next constructed an outline, created a rough draft, had my draft peer edited by fellow students and Professor Biswas, and finally made appropriate revisions.

Forging Family Ties, Kristin Davis

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The assignment for this essay was to develop an argument related to gender in the United States and to use your own original research in addition to other sources. First, I thought about prominent issues in the United States and decided to focus on prejudice against homosexual couples who were attempting to adopt children. After doing some initial research, I decided that homosexual adoption rights need to be expanded on in the United States. I did more research on databases and in Roesch Library to find sources that would both support my side of the issue, but also some sources …

Just Desserts: Recipe Copyright And The Plagiarism Of Edible Creations, Allyson M. Ayoob

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

The theme of my ENG 200H class was "Remix Culture," which caused my classmates and me to explore the meanings of concepts such as creativity, authorship, originality, and plagiarism. My newfound interest in intellectual property law joined with my business major and a passion for food to create the topic of my research paper. The writing process was both fun and challenging, as I researched recipe copyright and came up with my own solutions to address this growing problem. As my paper evolved, I wrote and edited three drafts with the help of the constructive criticism of my professor and …

The Fight To The Top Of Educational Ladder, Nneoma M. Ezenagu

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

I completed this essay as part of my literacy narrative assignment. The essay narrated the story of a very significant part of my literacy journey. I included a lot of details to enable readers relate to my story and to make my essay clear and concise. I completed one draft of the essay, but with in class peer review and a visit to the Write Place, I was able to edit and revise my essay.

The Way I Learned To Read And Write, Jing Dang

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

In order to write this narrative essay, I began by brainstorming, and I thought about my early experiences of reading and writing. After I wrote the first draft, I took my paper to the Write Place and made some corrections based on what they told me. I also met with my professor and revised my paper again in order to create stronger transitions between paragraphs.

The Scent Of Bitter Almonds, Castellar Granados

Line by Line: A Journal of Beginning Student Writing

I was asked to write this project for my English 100 class. I was supposed to describe my own journey learning to read and write and to tell the literacy sponsors that help me to improve my reading and writing skills. The aspect that I really enjoyed about this project was the fact that we had to write a literacy narrative. As I see it, this kind of production is the most enjoyable and I had a great time while writing it. I talked to my parents and teachers at high school and I had a reunion with my inner …

Pervasive Parable: Christ And Ligeia, Todd Workman

Student Works

Common readings of "Ligeia" involve the sinister and supernatural. For many critics, Ligeia is a witch by default, shrouded in sorcery and evil powers. Alan Brown uses this kind of idea in his article, “Edgar Allan Poe’s Use of Gothic Conventions in ‘Ligeia;’” as he argues that this tale exemplifies the use of the Gothic (109). Certainly, the story contains undeniable Gothic aspects. Brown, though, fails to see certain evidence in any way other than the narrow Gothic scope. For Daryl E. Jones in “Poe’s Siren: Character and Meaning in Ligeia,” Ligeia is literally the siren from Greek myth, a …

The Happy Warrior: Wordsworthian Reception And The Georgian Tradition Of Siegfried Sassoon’S War Memoirs And Poems, Shane Peterson

Student Works

The following thesis analyzes how the poetry and aesthetic values of William Wordsworth inspired the Georgian poets who served in World War I and influenced the writings of Siegfried Sassoon.

The first section focuses on how Wordsworth became an essential part of the national literary character as a result of the war and how many Edwardian writers used his more nationalistic poems to defend England’s imperial interests and the war effort against Germany. The following section compares the Edwardians to the Georgians, who were essentially neo-romantics that adopted Wordsworth’s poetic style, particularly the Romantic lyric and the pastoral mode. Georgians …

You Grow This Way: An Analysis Of Mother And Daughter Selves In Anne Sexton’S Poem “Little Girl, My Stringbean, My Lovely Woman, Kennerley Roper

Student Works

The maternal speaker in Anne Sexton's poem “Little Girl, My Stringbean, My Lovely Woman” speaks to her maturing daughter about the wonders of the female body by revising the literary tradition that already exists about the female body. What the speaker ultimately conveys to her daughter is the power the body has through the use of parallel body and earth imagery. However, the daughter is distanced from this notion through a contrasting image: the string bean. The speaker uses that distance to show the mixed images of entanglement and separation of mother and daughter in order to expound wisdom to …

"Pain, Death, And Nazis: The Surprisingly Beautiful Function Death Plays As Narrator In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief,", Sarah K. Johnson

Student Works

Death, pain, illness, and war often feature heavily into the plots of Young Adult fiction, and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief is no exception. However, by presenting Death as the narrator of the novel, Zusak allows an outside, impartial view of humanity's pain, its causes, its effects, and its meanings. Through a close reading of The Book Thief this paper discovers that Death as a narrator reveals that pain is both unavoidable and necessary to life. Furthermore, though most everyone fears death, life, not death, causes the true pain. Through Death's haunting narration, pain confers eventual strength, endurance, and power. …

Black Intellectuals: The Transient Space Of Cultural Translation, Marissa Compton

Student Works

Among the many similarities between Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman and Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs, the similar storylines surrounding the black intellectual figures is among the most important, because the shared narrative allows each text to engage in a larger conversation concerning the role of intellectuals in the black community. Soyinka and Hansberry initially highlight the in-betweenness of black intellectuals as a seemingly positive mediatory role that allow for cultural translation and negotiation. Despite this initially positive perspective, Soyinka and Hansberry’s exploration of the mediatory role’s advantages is ultimately used to add weight the authors’ dramatization of …

The Folks Of The Postapocalypse: The Road, Religion, And Folklore Studies, Megan M. Toone

Student Works

Please use abstract submitted to enter conference if possible.

Presence In Absence In Shakespeare's King Lear, Kimberly Austin

Student Works

King Lear is imbedded with hidden Christian themes, expressed through characters like Cordelia and the Fool, to show that salvation and redemption can only be obtained in a world with Christ. The audience recognizes the absence of Christian principles in the play and through our desire for Christianity it becomes a present theme.The theory of presence in absence becomes clearer when analyzing Cordelia and the Fool. Their characteristics mimic those of Christ which reminds the audience of his absence in the play. Throughout the play King Lear repeats the theory of “nothing from nothing” and by analyzing this theme through …

Navigating Collective Activity Systems: An Approach Towards Rhetorical Inquiry, Katherine Jesse Royce

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this formative intervention was to design a professional and technical communications course around rhetorical inquiry. The participants, undergraduate health sciences majors (N=22 for section A, N=20 section B), were observed throughout the fall semester of the 2014-2015 academic year. A rhetorical inquiry framework was applied via activity systems, and data were collected using several methodologies including participant observations, research questionnaires, as well as participant deliverables, and were transcribed using Daisy Mwanza's Eight-Step Model. Results demonstrated students successfully used activity systems as a means of approaching rhetorical inquiry. Furthermore, students indicated a high level of engagement in the …

The Best Children's Books Of The Year [2016 Edition], Bank Street College Of Education. Children's Book Committee

The Center for Children's Literature

Includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee as the best of the best published in 2015. In choosing books for the annual list, committee members consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.

Is Literature Above Politics? James Joyce As An Author Of “Political Enthusiasm”, Lesli A. Mortensen

Student Works

James Joyce's stories "The Dead" and "Eveline" can be considered as "literatures of enthusiasm," a term previously used only to classify political literature in the American Revolution. By showing that Joyce joins in the tradition of writing "literatures of enthusiasm," or works that inspire revolution against colonial power and influence, readers can see how this strategy served to promote a postcolonial literary tradition in Ireland. Joyce sought to inspire the creation of a national identity in the wake of generations of British imperialism, as American authors did during the Revolutionary War. Joyce works towards this goal of inspiring social change …

The Power Of Speech: Speech-Recognition Software In The Writing Process, Lauren Fine

Student Works

Individual writing conferences—whether in writing centers or as extensions of composition classroom instruction—presume that talk about writing improves students’ writing. Composition scholars have discussed the benefits of prewriting or revising using speech. For instance, Leander and Prior (2004) have show how such conversations between students and teachers make their way into students’ writing. Woerkum (2007) has likewise demonstrated how considering readers’ oral responses can help technical writers integrate natural speech rhythms into their revisions. Elbow (2012) suggests these natural speech rhythms can mitigate several difficulties of writing, from prewriting to revision.

P-05 A Study In Red: The Codification And Practical Application Of A Copyediting Procedure, Nathan Berglund

Honors Scholars & Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium Programs

Editing is an integral part of publishing professional-level writing, but editing—specifically copyediting—can be very subjective, relying on the copyeditor’s best judgment. For novice editors such as myself, this responsibility can be intimidating. For this research project, I formulated and tested a step-by-step copyediting procedure aimed at alleviating these jitters. By reading copyediting guides and interviewing four active copyeditors, I developed a procedure. I then tested that procedure on Timothy Huck’s 115-page manuscript, The Lights of the Arno: A Novel. I conclude that even with a standardized editing methodology, editors will always need to rely on their subjective judgment.