Creative Writing Commons^™

“By The Stroke Of A Pen”: A Brief Look At Writer’S Representations Of Race, Injustice, And Violence, Audra Kremer

Student Writing Awards

When studying American history, it is easy to dismiss racism as a thing of the past, something that we admit is still present but that we think must be better than it once was. Charles Chesnutt wrote The Marrow of Tradition over one hundred years ago, using the title itself to concentrate on how the very core of Southern Tradition is based on racism. Chesnutt would have been disappointed to see how far into the future this ideology extended, and that it would not be until the civil rights movement of the 1970’s that blacks and whites were granted equal …

Grandpa's Move, Emily Burney

Student Writing Awards

"Grandpa had a stroke." My dad’s voice echoed across a vast distance and my hand tightened around the phone. I heard my voice respond sympathetically, a reflex. It was like hearing something sad on the news, but what do you do? My parents are divorced, my dad lives thousands of miles away, and I barely know my grandpa.

Little ≠ Weak, Katie White

Student Writing Awards

"It’s about Little Grandma; she’s gone." As I hung up the phone, Dad’s words were still trailing in my ears. I sat down on the couch, the house completely empty, and let the tears cascade, and with them the memories…

Mass Transit, Elizabeth A. Cook

Student Writing Awards

The most embarrassing secrets are usually the most boring. I might, for instance, tell you that I am 39 and like to hum show tunes in the shower and wear briefs and not boxers, but I would never tell you that every Thursday, at precisely seven a.m., I step on to the Number 7 bus at the 100th Street stop and do not get off for hours.

Open-Toed Steps, Sarah Wagner

Student Writing Awards

"Today my friend Ralph told me that cheese is just as tasty three weeks past the expiration date. He says that cheese is meant to be moldy." It’s my Daughter Morgan’s voice echoing in the kitchen of our high-rise penthouse suite. She has quite the imagination. So much that she seems to have dreamed up a new friend she refers to as, Ralph.

Recovering From A Wardrobe Malfunction, Sarah Wagner

Student Writing Awards

I am finishing up the final day of my field experience in an English class filled with junior and senior high school students. I have a lesson prepared, so I leave my house plenty early in order to setup. I close the door behind me, breathing in the crisp October air, ready to take on whatever lies ahead. I am dressed from head to toe in a darling “teacher outfit” that I have reserved for this very day. A red turtleneck sweater, a brand-new black skirt (zipper included), a new pair of thigh-high panty hose, and a pair of black …

The Dream Vacation, Emily Burney

Student Writing Awards

Nora woke up before her alarm went off. She half-wished she could go back to sleep, but her internal clock was too stubborn to allow it. The room was still dark, and she lay for several minutes, listening to the silence and watching the glowing red numbers on the digital clock across the room. She treated the device warily, like a wild animal that sat encaged on her bookshelf. She hated the harsh sound of it enough to get up every morning and trot across the room to turn it off before it awoke.

"Stand And Unfold Yourself": The Subjectivity Of Interpretation In Hamlet, Josh Mahoney

Student Writing Awards

Critical interpretations of Hamlet are largely dependent upon the cultural zeitgeist that provides the cognitive paradigm through which critics formulate their ideas. The zeitgeist also influences which text of Hamlet to consider, since no single authoritative manuscript of the play exists. Critics must also consider Hamlet beyond a simple textual reading, since the competing documents of Q1, Q2 and F1—among later additions—only serve as the basis for theatrical representations. The inherent fluidity of performance is apparent to anyone who has ever been to the theater, even a modern one. Actors embodying characters on stage in front of an audience make …

The Moral Of That Old Story, Holly Malm

Student Writing Awards

If there is a moral to the story for Sister Carrie by Theodor Dreiser, it is not easily discovered. The story follows no set pattern. There is no music to bring the tale to a neat end. There is no repentance with clear cut reasons why each character failed. The reader must instead ferret out “the moral of the story” themselves. Strangely enough, it seems the only way to do this is to use the old formulaic moral stories themselves. And what formula can we use to evaluate Sister Carrie? At first, it seems apparent that this novel is a …

The Famished Class, Lindsay Ruter

Student Writing Awards

The korl woman portrayed within Rebecca Davis’ work, Life in the Iron-Mills is an essential element to understanding the story and its social implications. Additionally, one’s understanding of the possible representations the sculpture has is vital to one’s understanding of the class struggles existing during this time. According to editor of Life in the Iron-Mills, Cecelia Tichi, “korl”, as referred to throughout the story is colloquial speech for “scorl” or “scoria” a product of smelted iron ore (18). The sculpture Hugh creates from this substance represents several different ideas and issues prominent during this time, as well as bringing to …

Imagi-Nation, John Wagner

Student Writing Awards

For as long as I can remember I was constantly in my own little world. This was the case for most of my childhood and, well, is still the case to this day. While it may be more of a mental state these days, it was literal as I was growing up. This literal, physical world was my own backyard. I had a backyard worth boasting about; a backyard so inspiring that William Wordsworth himself would pump out a poem in five minutes or less. All right, so that might be a bit of an embellishment, especially considering he would …

The Next Finish Line, Emily Burney

Student Writing Awards

There are two great loves in my life: running and literature. Both allow me to embrace life to the fullest, and I believe both hold a power that helps me be a better person and connect with the generations of humanity who have walked this earth before us.

The Quilt Enchiladas, Mallorie De Hoyos

Student Writing Awards

They say smell is a powerful sense that can trigger memories long forgotten. When I smell onions, bell pepper, and smoked jalapeños I see my grandmother—a vivid image of a woman, who has worked all her life and has never had it easy. As a child I would play in my grandmother’s backyard with my other cousins making mud pies and stuffing up all the ant holes that poke out of the ground. My grandmothers’ kitchen window overlooked the backyard and the aromas from her cooking would tickle our noses and made our mouths water until we ran inside to …

Dancing On The Edge Of Silence : Steps Towards Articulating The Experience Of Childhood Rape, Brenda Joy Downing

Theses : Honours

The experience and aftermath of male sexual violence is a lived reality for many girls and women. This qualitative study explores the subjective experience of childhood rape and its long-term impact focusing in particular on the implications of the silencing that continues to surround what is a deeply-felt and traumatic experience with profound life-altering consequences. The study thematically and theoretically reads the subjective experience of childhood rape within current feminist understandings of rape as a crime of violence and form of social control through the use of evocative autoethnographic writing and an exegesis.

A Praxis Mundi, Ryan Mcconnell

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Rain May Be Heavy At Times: A Collection Of Personal Essays, Natalie Mercer Worrell

Theses

Rain May Be Heavy at Times: A Collection of Personal Essays by Natalie Mercer Worrell is a candid, witty, and emotionally resonant exploration of modern womanhood, family life, and personal growth. Through a series of sharply observed and deeply personal essays, Worrell shares her experiences as a young mother, divorcee, student, and writer, balancing everyday chaos with moments of insight and humor. The collection opens with reflections on the challenges of rekindling a long-dormant writing practice, interrupted by illness, early motherhood, and financial hardship. Worrell charts a path from self-doubt to rediscovery, fueled by a return to education and a …

Mouse Of The Schoolyard, Kirk Stephen Lawless

Theses

This thesis consists of two parts that show the diversity and flexibility of the student as a writer.

The original story was drafted, originally culled from a vast array of childhood memories, albeit alone it was too short to fulfill the requirements for a culminating project. The richness of the characters as well as the story itself called out for additional attention. An attempt to develop the story into a larger project proved an exercise in futility, as I felt it could not survive enough additions to increase the success of the project. An attempt to do so found the …

Wise As Serpents, Harmless As Doves: A Collection Of Short Stories, Angela C. Fowle

Theses

This thesis is a collection of short stories inspired by many different women. While the pieces are truly works of fiction, the characters are an amalgam of individuals the author has encountered in her own life.

The collection focuses upon the experiences of several elderly women. each confronted with feelings of loneliness, envy, or longing. Although the stories address these sobering themes, they also present the reader with quirky. eccentric characters.

An important element in the collection is the examination of how the women interact with one another. One of the stories introduces a specific conflict between two characters, each …

Wind Through The Buffalo Grass: A Lakota Story Cycle, Paul A. Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

Wind Through the Buffalo Grass: A Lakota Story Cycle is a narrative history of the Pine Ridge Lakota tribe of South Dakota, following its history from 1850 to the present day through historical events and through the stories of four fictional Lakota children, each related by descent and separated from one another by two generations. The ecology of the Pine Ridge region, especially its mammalian and avian wildlife, is woven into the stories of the children. Illustrated by the author, the book indudes drawings of Pine Ridge wildlife, regional maps, and Native American pictorial art. Appendices indude a listing of …

Aph(L)Orisms (Maximus In Minimis), Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This collection of “aphlorisms” resulted from a search in my old manuscripts. At that time I was preoccupied everyday with noting down in my little notebook various interesting-to-me expressions that I heard or that came to my mind. Etymologically, aphorism + floral = aph(L)orism, which is a short reflection written on a floral design, or a short poetry accompanied by an artistic background. They are colorful contemplations. Maximus in minimis (Lat.) means very much in very little [max in min], or condensed thought, or ideating essence. They are actually maxims, adages, sayings mostly in one line (uni-stich) with a title, …

In The Spin, Kathryn Noel Beles

Theses and Dissertations

In the Spin is a semi-autobiographical collection of poetry, dealing primarily with themes of family, marital infidelity, loyalty, the female body, and the tension between political vs. aesthetic existence. This is a collection of poems influenced by the work of French Feminism, Shakespeare and Faulkner, and hybrid lyric-narrative poets of the last fifty years.

Convertible Night, Flurry Of Stones, Dzvinia Orlowsky

English Faculty Publications

Gertrude Stein writes: "Pink looks as pink, pink looks as pink, as pink as pink supposes, suppose." Dzvinia Orlowsky's poems in her new book are strung along the tension of a black thread stretched to near snapping as her tenacious, feisty speaker refuses for all women the typecast as another breast cancer statistic, another bumper sticker pink bow. Equal parts shepherd, punk, and auburn-wigged angel, Orlowsky, with torches in her hand, illuminates this dark passage with images of startling originality and honesty. The clear voice in this book joins those whose lives have been and continue to be altered by …