"In my writing process, I try not to waste time overthinking about order of ideas. I find it helpful to put my thoughts on paper as they come to me, before reorganizing everything to fit the proper chronology and embellishing the vocabulary with the help of a thesaurus. I particularly enjoyed writing this piece for my Science In Pop-Culture (INS) class, as I am passionate about the subject matter, futurology, and the assignment encouraged unconstrained, creative writing." - Jesse Freeling Brundage |
"I give the students a lot of creative freedom for how they choose to write their essays in my course. The assignment was to write about the visions of the future in a Batman comic book (Batman Year 100) and the film Blade Runner. That was the whole prompt. This was my favorite essay of the semester and possibly for many years teaching the course. It covers the themes of the two stories in good detail, adds extra relevant information, is funny and informative, and reads comfortably."
- Dr. Andrew Robak
"I appreciate Chelsi's commitment and complete engagement in this project. I witnessed tremendous growth in Chelsi's ability to link scholarly activity with practical social justice issues."
- Dr. Philip Miller
"'The Validity of Education' by Josh Fleishman is a well-written paper that speaks to the importance of education for each person and the benefit of education to mankind. Josh's paper lays down some of the groundwork of the fundamental philosophy and purpose of education as a global drive toward prosperity for all, self-realization, regard for our fellow humans, and a positive impact on our world."
- Dr. Patrick A. Varallo
"I am a freshman Occupational Therapy major. I chose Sensory Tools as my research topic for my first college research project simply because I wanted to learn more about something that lots of people are buzzing about. After the research I've conducted, I believe that these tools are extremely beneficial to many, and I hope that you as a reader enjoy reading about how they can be integrated into our lives." - Meghan Gaynor |
"Students were given some range between an informative essay and mini-research paper. Meghan's essay is a great example of a stellar final project in ENG110. Her paper is logically organized and has a well-developed thesis supported by evidence from both scholarly and popular sources. It was evident that Meghan put forth excellent effort throughout the project by including extra sources and making multiple revisions." - Prof. Kari Staley
"Since starting the MSW program, I have struggled with my writing. I learned that pausing for a few hours or even a day to come back to a paper is the best solution when I get stuck. Our professors have done a great job challenging us and providing feedback, and I think a combination of these things is what helped me get through this paper and have a finished product that I could be confident in." - Alise Gemmell |
"I was impressed with the way Alise systematically approached and addressed a very relevant but difficult topic. Alise's paper raises pertinent issues and challenges the reader to think critically about a marginalized group." - Dr. Philip Miller
"This essay discusses the complexity of the character Rosa Millard in The Unvanquished, proven by specific quotes from the book and Digital Yoknapatawpha. Although this was the hardest prompt I have been given, my essay consistently improved based on review and critiques with Dr. Joiner. When finished, I was proud of the essay I had written." - Emma Kinnetz |
"For this paper, students had to interpret graphics and text by close reading Faulkner's work in conjunction with analyzing graphic elements of the Digital Yoknapatawpha project and seeing how the two things related. Emma's approach to this extremely challenging assignment resulted in an interpretation of the passage and the graphic that are very complex, focusing on ethical and moral implications of a woman's prayer and putting those into dialogue with a graphic revealing her actions. Emma pays close attention to the language in the prayer and the implications of her words as a reflection of her character. This was, moreover, an incredibly difficult project for Emma. She spent a lot of time working through the frustration caused by her close attention to the language of the poem, but the result is a very thoughtful and insightful argument." - Dr. Jennie Joiner
"This was an incredibly difficult assignment. Students were asked to unpack the language of a passage and put their understanding of that passage in dialogue with graphic from the Digital Yoknapatawpha project in an effort to understand the relationship between graphics and words. Olivia's attention to the words in the passage she chose was excellent. She looks specifically at the connotations of words and how they work in relation to each other. She also takes these understandings to a deeper level by unpacking the importance of motion in terms of seeing and doing, and again offers insightful possibilities for what those differences mean in Faulkner's The Unvanquished overall." - Dr. Jennie Joiner
"I was given an opportunity to write about a topic that I had been interested in researching earlier that semester. When I received the prompt from my professor, I was really excited that I would finally be able to dig deeper into a topic that piqued my interest from the very beginning. I find that as long as I have a topic that drives me to keep searching for more information and answers, the easier it is for me to write about it. What took me the most time when writing the paper was making sure that I put the information in an order that felt right and in depth enough to satisfy my own expectations and answer the questions I had on the subject to the best of my abilities." - Sarah O'Connell |
"Undergraduate writing receives so much instructional attention and deservedly so: A good writer is seldom born but instead becomes proficient with practice. Sara O’Connell’s paper on the Chinese social credit system was very well researched and written, evidenced in the culmination of information literacy, critical thinking, and good writing." - Dr. Nancy Marksbury
"I am a psychology major with a concentration in mental health. My goal is to become a clinical psychologist. Writing this essay was a great learning experience for me, and it is something that will help me throughout the rest of my college years. Before coming into ENG112, I never had to do my own professional research. Although this writing was a tough process at first, it was a good way to take everything that I learned and test my knowledge and skills. I am glad that I had to take English 112 because I now feel more prepared for my future research and writing assignments." - Jasmyn Trumble |
"Often, when I read really good writing, I think, 'I wish I’d written that!' I had this reaction when I first read Jasmyn’s final essay from my ENG112 class last fall. It hits all the right notes—it tackles current, relevant, and complex issues, and it is smartly explicated from a unique perspective." - Dr. Steve Kapica