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Projects carried out by English Majors in Fall 2004
Deborah Miranda, The Art of the Word
Jeremy Roberts (poetry chapbook and essay, "Book
Arts")
Denisio Truitt, "From Monrovia to
Adams Morgan": Many of the poems in this chapbook
concern the African and African American experience.
Asali Solomon, The Conscious Writer: A
Fiction Workshop for Readers
Suzanne La Fleur, "Rem": My story reflects on
the changing nature of friendships in middle school.
Lauren Partridge, "Speakless": This
thirty-page story explores the lives of three children in the
home of an empty woman. It employs elements of magical realism
and I particularly focused on the importance of imagery in
characterization.
Kary Smout, Cultural Conflicts in the
American West
Megan Brooks, "Identity and the Horse in Western American
Literature": This paper examines the various roles
that horses play in Western American literature by examining
their literal and symbolic functions in creating identity. I
treat works by Steinbeck, Stegner, and Momaday as well as essays
by Larry McMurtry, Edward Abbey, and Mark Spragg.
Amanda Lueders, "Not Quite Catholic: The Non-Universality of
Spirituality in Literary Representations of Chicano
Catholicism": I used three texts: Willa Cather's Death
Comes for the Archbishop, Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me Ultima,
and Ana Castillo's So Far From God to explore the
diversity of Chicano Catholicism. The authors suggest that many
Chicano Catholics embrace and integrate indigenous religious
beliefs into their Catholic worldview, while others re-imagine
traditional Catholic figures and concepts to suit their unique
social and political environment.
George Singeltary, "Culture of Honor: A Study of Native
American Aggression in Welch": My paper focuses on
aggression in James Welch's "Fools Crow" and
"Winter in the Blood" from a psychological standpoint.
It argues that a "culture of honor" exists within the
society of the Blackfoot Indians; when that honor is brought into
question their community accepts violence and aggression as the
proper response.
Meredith Walker, "Defining the Native American Sense of
Place through the Sacred Circle: An Analysis of Landscape and
Identity in N. Scott Momaday.s House Made of
Dawn": In this paper I
explored the concept of establishing a spiritual .sense of
place,. of comprehending ourselves in relation to the living
landscape. Momaday employs the sacred symbol of the circle,
thematically and structurally, to illustrate the interdependence
of Native American identity and place.In this book Abel, the
maturing protagonist, survives a devastating identity crisis
because he relearns how to connect to his particular landscape in
this circle.
Lesley Wheeler, Sound in Twentieth-Century
Poetry
Patricia Ballantyne, "Justice Big-Time.: Linking Irish and
African American Poetry Through Clifton and Heaney":
I establish a connection between African American and Irish
poetry by comparing their literary Renaissances and observing
historical parallels between the two cultures. Then I compare
Clifton.s .at the cemetery, walnut grove plantation, south
carolina, 1989. and Heaney.s .The Grauballe Man,. highlighting
their use of land to provoke a powerful memory of a past that
continues to affect the future.
Emily Ballengee, "Roots, Rasta and Reggae: The Influence of
Kamau Brathwaite and Bob Marley upon the Development of West
Indian Society." I discuss how these two writers,
approaching overlapping audiences through separate media, are
able to reconcile the islands' bitter history of colonial
oppression with a hopeful vision for the region.s future.
Patrick Hastings, "ATLienation in Hip Hop Culture: An
Investigation of Regional Distinctions in Rap": I
study the rise of Hip Hop culture and compare the lyrics of Tupac
Shakur and OutKast, paying specific attention to Hip Hoprosody
and regional identities.
Alison Irvin, "A Voice With Public Resonance: The Poetry of
Lorna Goodison": Goodison's poetic voice
exemplifies the tension between multiplicity and unity
characteristic of her Caribbean heritage. I argue that Goodison,
shaped by the women of her ancestry, shifts from an individual to
a collective focus while emphasizing fluidity among voices and
languages.
Kyle Meehan, "Poetic Healing": My essay begins
with the intersection of poetry and medicine both for physicians
and their patients. It concludes with the analysis of three poems
by different physician-poets.William Carlos Williams, Rafael
Campo, and Arthur Ginsberg.demonstrating how the process of
writing poetry makes these physicians more effective, insightful,
and balanced healers.