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Articles 1 - 30 of 697
Full-Text Articles in Rhetoric and Composition
The N-Word As A Comma, Deshawn Vega
The N-Word As A Comma, Deshawn Vega
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Deshawn Vega is a Biology major from Boston, Massachusetts. Drawing on his experiences as a mixed-race Black man, his essay examines racism, cultural appropriation, and the ways prejudice can operate both inside and outside the home. Because part of his family is not Black, Deshawn has experienced racism in complex and sometimes unexpected ways. He describes the essay as “an opportunity for me to tell my story and exemplify the ways in which racism has impacted not only myself, but many others just like me.” The project’s creative freedom allowed him to combine personal narrative with a broader analysis of …
Soup Joumou Before Sunrise, Castra Raphael
Soup Joumou Before Sunrise, Castra Raphael
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Castra Raphael is an English major from Haiti. Her essay explores the ability of food to bring people together and preserve important memories of family, culture, and community. As Castra explains, she wanted to show that “some of life’s best memories are made around the table.” Writing the essay encouraged her to consider how ordinary shared meals can become meaningful markers of relationships and personal history. It also reminded her “how quickly time flies” and deepened her gratitude for the experiences and memories she has gathered over the years. Castra sees the essay as a reflection of both her cultural …
A^2 + B^2 ≠ Good Writing, Malachi Randolph-Benson
A^2 + B^2 ≠ Good Writing, Malachi Randolph-Benson
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Malachi Randolph-Benson is a Computer Science and Chemistry dual major from Dorchester, Massachusetts. After graduating from high school in 2023, he spent two years working as an Information Technology intern at Harvard Business School while also holding a position in guest services. Returning to the classroom, Malachi became interested in challenging conventional distinctions between mathematical and creative thinking. His essay explores the similarities between mathematics and writing, arguing that both are dynamic processes that respond to changing conditions and generate distinctive results. As he explains, that “this essay was a conscious step of rebellion against the rigidity of writing that …
The Sad Beige Trap: Why Bold Aesthetics Stay Online, Kauthar Maruf
The Sad Beige Trap: Why Bold Aesthetics Stay Online, Kauthar Maruf
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Kauthar Maruf is a Biology major from Boston, Massachusetts. Her essay began with an effort to find colorful inspiration for her family’s living room and developed into an investigation of the internet’s neutral “Sad Beige” aesthetic and the contrasting popularity of “Brat Green.” As she encountered increasingly similar homes, products, and social-media posts, Kauthar began asking whether personal preferences are genuinely individual or are shaped by algorithms, corporations, economics, and online culture. Conducting her own survey allowed her to compare her initial assumptions with the perspectives of others. She explains that the project encouraged her to begin “looking beyond the …
Combing Out The Kinks Of Identity: Why Black Hair Is More Than A Personal Choice, Christina Jouthe
Combing Out The Kinks Of Identity: Why Black Hair Is More Than A Personal Choice, Christina Jouthe
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Christina Jouthe is a Public Health major from Boston, Massachusetts. As a Black woman, she is drawn to subjects that allow her to examine Black culture, identity, representation, and femininity. Her essay gave her an opportunity to enter a discourse grounded in her own experiences while also expanding her understanding through research. Christina explains that “this semester allowed me to realize that writing can be fun and personable.” Previously, she had often been required to write about subjects that did not interest her or to follow formats that left little room for personal perspective. This particular project encouraged her to …
When The People You Love Are No Longer Down The Hall, Diego Hernández Hernández
When The People You Love Are No Longer Down The Hall, Diego Hernández Hernández
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Diego Hernández Hernández is a Computer Science major and prospective Mathematics minor. Originally from El Salvador, he grew up primarily in Revere and Holbrook, Massachusetts. A first-generation immigrant and nontraditional student, Diego returned to school seven years after graduating from high school. His essay examines how communication between emerging adults and their families changes after they leave home, drawing particularly on his relationship with his mother. To make that relationship visible to readers, he incorporated a series of their text messages into the project. Diego explains that this essay “was special to me because it revolved around my family and …
Trans Joy And The Lesson Of Authentic Living, Emma Victra Danvers
Trans Joy And The Lesson Of Authentic Living, Emma Victra Danvers
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Emma Victra Danvers is a Psychology major from North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Her essay investigates trans joy and the research demonstrating the positive effects of gender transition. As a trans woman writing during a particularly difficult period for the transgender community, Emma wanted to examine joy not as an escape from political realities but as a meaningful source of strength and resilience. She explains, “The more I started writing it, the more I realized how much I have to be happy about. I found that trans joy again that I lost for a little bit.” The project also helped Emma …
The Impacts Of Glp-1 Medication Use, Physically And Culturally, Jack Daley
The Impacts Of Glp-1 Medication Use, Physically And Culturally, Jack Daley
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Jack Daley is a Computer Science major from Williston, Vermont. Inspired by his family’s experience with GLP-1 medications, including his mother’s experience as a Type 1 diabetic, his essay examines the medical applications of these drugs beyond their increasingly popular association with weight loss. Because public conversations about GLP-1 medications were changing rapidly while he was writing, Jack found it especially rewarding to investigate “a topic that was developing in real time” and that he regularly encountered outside an academic setting. The project allowed him to move beyond personal experience and popular discussion to develop a more informed perspective on …
Hamburgers: Great For Dinner, Bad For Writing, Jameison Wirta
Hamburgers: Great For Dinner, Bad For Writing, Jameison Wirta
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Jameison Wirta is from Somerset, MA, and is a Psychology major with a Chemistry minor in the Pre-Medical Program. For Jameison, this essay was especially important because it completely transformed the way he thinks about writing. “I used to hate writing,” he explains, “but what I really hated was the cookie-cutter, check-the-box process I was always confined to. Learning to set myself a bit freer in my writing was an absolute blessing, and now I love it.” He hopes to share that same sense of freedom with others through his work. This semester was Jameison’s first time back in a …
Fuck The Academic Filter, Ana Swanson
Fuck The Academic Filter, Ana Swanson
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Ana Swanson is an Anthropology major from Warwick, RI. Ana explains that writing papers has always been challenging for her, not because of ability, but because of boredom. “I just don’t enjoy writing in a strict, buttoned-up tone—or the academic filter, as I call it in this essay,” she shares. Discovering that she didn’t have to conform to that filter felt revolutionary and opened up a new way of approaching her work. Returning to college after leaving her studies twice, Ana came back with a renewed sense of purpose and a focus on anthropology, a subject she genuinely loves. Writing …
Dead Trees And Dollar Bills: Are We Prepared For An Automated Future?, Alfred Michael Wing Iii
Dead Trees And Dollar Bills: Are We Prepared For An Automated Future?, Alfred Michael Wing Iii
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Alfred Michael Wing III is a Political Science major from Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Al explains that this essay gave him the opportunity to work through a question that had been weighing on his mind for some time: whether modern automation and artificial intelligence can truly give back what they take away. “I wanted to explore the systemic risks they pose,” he says, “not just as technological shifts, but as structural challenges that society is largely unprepared for.” The project was not about fearing technology, but rather about questioning whether the systems we have built are capable of introducing powerful innovations without …
To Speak Is To Survive: Language, Loss And Holding On, Mathilda Sanon
To Speak Is To Survive: Language, Loss And Holding On, Mathilda Sanon
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Mathilda Sanon is a Psychology major with an English minor from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Mathilda explains that this essay was deeply personal to her because it is tied to her family, her culture, and her own experiences of language. She thought often of her grandmother, who has lived in the United States for decades but has never let go of Haitian Kreyol. “Watching her speak her language so freely while I have spent years adjusting mine to fit into certain spaces really stuck with me,” Mathilda reflects. She says that she did not want to write about language loss as some …
Baby Fever, Meet Reality Check, Victoria R. Reginaldo
Baby Fever, Meet Reality Check, Victoria R. Reginaldo
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Victoria R. Reginaldo is a Biology major from Weymouth, MA; she was born in Brazil and speaks Portuguese. Victoria explains that this essay was meaningful to her because it allowed her to think about an idea she has carried with her since she was young, the desire to have children, and how that dream is shaped and complicated by the realities of today’s society. “As I get older and begin to realize that life isn’t so simple, it made me want to research and write about how society influences the decision to have children,” she shares. Victoria notes that this …
No One Really Cares About Ai-Generated Creative Work, Ruby Pearlman
No One Really Cares About Ai-Generated Creative Work, Ruby Pearlman
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Ruby Pearlman is a Nursing major from Santa Barbara, CA. Ruby explains that her essay was inspired by her frustration with the way artificial intelligence is often compared to human creativity. “Creating art is a big part of my life, and it’s frustrating to spend hours on something I’m proud of just to hear people’s comments about how they could ‘do the same thing’ in seconds with AI,” she shares. For her, this project was a chance to present a clearer distinction between AI-generated content and art made by a real person. At the time she was writing, Ruby was …
The Dystopian Landscape Of Short-Form Content, Leslie Payne
The Dystopian Landscape Of Short-Form Content, Leslie Payne
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Leslie Payne is a Psychology major with a Communications minor from Vienna, Virginia. Leslie explains that when her class began discussing the impact of social media, she immediately knew what her essay would focus on. “It felt like the only possible thing I could write about,” she recalls, noting how strongly she felt about its pervasive effects yet lacking the structured expression to articulate them before this assignment. She was particularly interested in the overlap between short-form content, identity formation, and media cycles, and writing this paper gave her both the research and framework to better understand those connections. She …
Saint Joan Of Arc And The Modern Transgender Liberation Movement, Nick King
Saint Joan Of Arc And The Modern Transgender Liberation Movement, Nick King
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Nick King is a Classical Languages and History major from Haverhill, MA. For Nick, this essay became a source of both comfort and empowerment, particularly within the context of our current political climate. He explains that “being a trans person is hard, and we need more role models of resilience,” and this writing project allowed him to give voice to those complexities. Written during his second semester of college, Nick notes that the atmosphere of political strife pushed him to pour even more passion and conviction into his work. This essay is especially meaningful to Nick because it reflects the …
Unraveling Labor: Crafting Between Hobby And Work, Samriddhi Khemka
Unraveling Labor: Crafting Between Hobby And Work, Samriddhi Khemka
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Samriddhi Khemka is a Nursing major from Natick, MA. Samriddhi explains that her essay was inspired by memories of crafting with her mom on the living room floor. “Whether it was making flowers out of pencil shavings, flower pressing without proper kits, or painting rocks, my mom undeniably taught me the art of creativity,” she recalls. More importantly, her mother taught her how to see possibility in scraps and to turn what others might throw away into something meaningful. She reflects: “Nothing was ever wasted if it could be remade.” One thing that stood out to Samriddhi while writing this …
Compelled By Darkness: Batman, Mental Instability, And The Blurred Line Of Heroism, Chloë Lucien
Compelled By Darkness: Batman, Mental Instability, And The Blurred Line Of Heroism, Chloë Lucien
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Chloë Lucien is a Music major with a Dance minor from Mattapan, MA. Chloë explains that this essay was deeply personal because Batman’s story has always been more than a comic book origin to her. “Batman himself has become a mirror I could look into, a reflection of my own journey from pain to purpose,” she shares. Writing about Bruce Wayne allowed her to explore how mental wounds can coexist with, and even fuel, acts of courage, challenging the simplistic “hero-versus-villain” narrative while bringing self-acceptance to her own ongoing work of healing. For Chloë, the essay became more than an …
Comforts With The "S", Reese Smith
Comforts With The "S", Reese Smith
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Reese Smith is a nursing major from Quincy, MA. She says that she has come to realize how as a society we have very little comfort in our everyday lives and “often live a robotic lifestyle day in and day out, without taking much time to appreciate what is around us and incorporating comforts into our daily routines.” When writing this essay, Reese felt that she was able to take her own research and apply it to her daily life by taking time to infiltrate comforts (with an “s”) into her own routines. Her research is special to her since …
Femininity On Social Media, Allison Peguero
Femininity On Social Media, Allison Peguero
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Allison Peguero is a biology major from Malden, MA. The inspiration for her research is having often “witnessed the hate women receive when sharing their interests and passions online.” Allison feels that this conduct has been “normalized” online and in social media. She also finds it interesting to witness the way people conduct themselves online versus the way they truly are offline. This juxtaposition inspired her essay “to not only explore this topic further, but to analyze how this connects with the misogyny that I and many other women have experienced online.” The freedom to pursue her interest in this …
Film's Depictions Of Mental Illness, Mandy May
Film's Depictions Of Mental Illness, Mandy May
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Mandy May is a psychology major from Canton, CT. Mandy’s purpose for writing her essay was to spread awareness of the impact that negative portrayals of mental illnesses in the media have on audiences. She shares that, as a psychology major, she has always been “hyper-aware of the way films exaggerate and emphasize unrealistic stereotypes surrounding mental illness.” Mandy feels that this essay gave her the opportunity to “finally research more about the reality of these depictions, and to hear about how people with mental disorders are affected by negative portrayals.” With a growing interest in child psychology, fueled by …
Music And Mental Health, Yelena Hernandez Bonilla
Music And Mental Health, Yelena Hernandez Bonilla
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Yelena Hernandez Bonilla is a public health major from Chelsea, MA. As an undergraduate student, Yelena began reflecting on her school experience and noticed how much music has helped her “whether feeling happy, stressed, overwhelmed, or just needing a moment to unwind.” She decided to write this essay because she sees how important music is for many students. Apart from just listening to music, Yelena has played the piano and guitar for many years. Her music has served as a crucial outlet and has become “a major part of who I am because it is something I love and enjoy …
Writing Is Really Really Scary, Brian Coughlin
Writing Is Really Really Scary, Brian Coughlin
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Brian Coughlin is a biology major from Melrose, MA. He believes that “everyone has the capacity to write something beautiful, but so many people are turned off of it because they think of some boring English essay they had to write about The Catcher in the Rye in eleventh grade.” Brian’s goal in this essay is to show that writing is “so much more than cracking open a thesaurus to impress your teacher.” This piece of writing is important to Brian because it was one of the first essays he wrote while trying to break away from the conventional writing …
Leaving Brushstrokes On The Page: Writing That Grabs You And Demands Attention, Lauren Brown
Leaving Brushstrokes On The Page: Writing That Grabs You And Demands Attention, Lauren Brown
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Lauren Brown is a biology major and film minor from Firestone, Colorado. She “adores writing” and enjoyed the freedom in experimentation with voice in this essay. She says, “I loved being exposed to different forms of writing a paper that all fell under analysis or research. There are so many ways to be flexible with style and incorporate your own voice that I was able to see, analyze, and try myself.” Lauren also wanted to explore “how education often sucks the joy out of writing as an artform and makes it into something easily replicated by a site like ChatGPT.” …
A Conversation Amongst Trees, Bella Brown
A Conversation Amongst Trees, Bella Brown
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Bella Brown is an environmental science major and a biology minor from Glastonbury, CT. Bella says that she is “super passionate about nature and finding new ways to preserve and understand it” and when she was presented with the task of writing a research paper she knew that she wanted to further explore a podcast episode about trees communicating through fungi, or “talking trees.” She says it “seemed like a huge breakthrough on understanding how our forests function as complex ecosystems.” Bella also notes that one thing she loved about writing this paper was the freedom to choose whatever topic …
2024 Editor's Introduction, Lauren M. Bowen
2024 Editor's Introduction, Lauren M. Bowen
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
No abstract provided.
The Case Against The Five-Paragraph Essay, An Tran
The Case Against The Five-Paragraph Essay, An Tran
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
An Tran is a double major in finance and psychology from Boston, MA. An notes that she came from an “underfunded elementary school” where “the curriculum has been rooted in standardized tests, and preparing for them in order to bring in funding.” Given that, she argues that “our value, as students, has become less about the investment of an upcoming generation and more about how much money we could bring in from our test scores.” An notes that the five-paragraph essay “is a core component of this pattern, and it hinders students from truly learning the craft of writing.” She …
Neurodiverse Authority, Gavin Pereira Scoccia
Neurodiverse Authority, Gavin Pereira Scoccia
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Gavin Pereira Scoccia is a biology major and anthropology minor from Brookline, MA. While writing this essay Gavin says, “I was so upset at the education system for not giving me, or my neurodivergent peers, a chance.” Gavin shares that he was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age but “never got accommodations despite needing them, leading me to fail in school.” Gavin often believed that he was lazy, did not try hard, and was simply not good enough, and he believes that schools often let students down because they have preconceived notions about what makes a “good student.” He …
Life's A Fashion Show (If You're A Teenage Girl), Madeline Murphy
Life's A Fashion Show (If You're A Teenage Girl), Madeline Murphy
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Madeline Murphy is a double major in physics and art from Dorchester, MA. Fashion is a hobby of Madeline’s, she felt it was important to look back and “explore the role of fashion in the world of middle and high school, to help myself and others better understand our outfit choices: a task we complete every day, yet maybe don’t analyze enough.” Madeline considers fashion to be an art form and often compares fashion trends to art movements. She enjoys sewing and has been working on enhancing her garment-making skills. Madeline enjoys painting portraits and reading books, particularly those related …
Who Are The "Chronically Online" And What Can They Teach Us About Public Discourse?, Avery Knott
Who Are The "Chronically Online" And What Can They Teach Us About Public Discourse?, Avery Knott
Undercurrents: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Composition
Avery Knott is a management major with a concentration in marketing from Sturbridge, MA. Avery writes that, “as someone who has grown up with social media as a constant throughout my life, I’ve begun to feel more and more distaste towards the apps and websites that have partially defined my social experience.” She has noticed that “particularly since COVID, interacting with people in person did not reflect the interactions she was having and seeing online.” She enjoyed the freedom that this paper allowed, and shares that “being able to explore a topic in depth that interests me was a freeing …